Guild Wars 2

clay.7849:

Jemmi.6058:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

There are so many assumptions here.

You do not know the gear treadmill is something most players do not want.
You do not know that adding it backfired.
You do not know that the attention of the majority of the original customer base has been lost.
You do not know that the player base is declining
You do not know that the expansion was nixed.

???? Please do not post speculation as fact.

When I said “It seems to me…” That was your cue that everything I said was my opinion.

Therefore, don’t try to challenge my opinion with your opinion. I did make assumptions that I believe to be true. It is my opinion they are true.

Based on that context, you saying that the reason for the fact the expansion is declining is because of the fact that the playerbase is declining. Your opinion was that they were linked.

Jemmi.6058:

clay.7849:

Jemmi.6058:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

There are so many assumptions here.

You do not know the gear treadmill is something most players do not want.
You do not know that adding it backfired.
You do not know that the attention of the majority of the original customer base has been lost.
You do not know that the player base is declining
You do not know that the expansion was nixed.

???? Please do not post speculation as fact.

When I said “It seems to me…” That was your cue that everything I said was my opinion.

Therefore, don’t try to challenge my opinion with your opinion. I did make assumptions that I believe to be true. It is my opinion they are true.

Based on that context, you saying that the reason for the fact the expansion is declining is because of the fact that the playerbase is declining. Your opinion was that they were linked.

It is my opinion that there was one an expansion planned. It is also my opinion that this game is losing players faster than they can retain players. It is also my opinion that because I think the game is losing players, that NCSoft nixed the expansion because it wasn’t worth making for a game that, IMO, is dying.

That is all.

I won’t bother to engage the other posters in debate, but since I’m pretty much done playing, I will say that I agree with several of the OP’s points.

I really, really enjoyed the open world event style of content. I told all my friends about it, they all jumped into the game, and we all loved the concept. But once you’ve run through it, it gets less and less interesting very quickly. The same is true of most of the content I ran or sampled. You can try replaying with a different class or whatever, but its not terribly engaging or exciting to do so. “New Content” is invariably the same as old content, just dressed up differently. A quick comparison between Xmas and April Fool’s event content should be enough to make that clear. For me, this game is essentially a grind fest, but with nothing to really grind for.

I retired from the game I used to play and don’t want to go back, so now I have to find another game. I guess its good that Neverwinter is in open beta. That’s probably where I’ll wind up next.

clay.7849:

Jemmi.6058:

clay.7849:

Jemmi.6058:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

There are so many assumptions here.

You do not know the gear treadmill is something most players do not want.
You do not know that adding it backfired.
You do not know that the attention of the majority of the original customer base has been lost.
You do not know that the player base is declining
You do not know that the expansion was nixed.

???? Please do not post speculation as fact.

When I said “It seems to me…” That was your cue that everything I said was my opinion.

Therefore, don’t try to challenge my opinion with your opinion. I did make assumptions that I believe to be true. It is my opinion they are true.

Based on that context, you saying that the reason for the fact the expansion is declining is because of the fact that the playerbase is declining. Your opinion was that they were linked.

It is my opinion that there was one an expansion planned. It is also my opinion that this game is losing players faster than they can retain players. It is also my opinion that because I think the game is losing players, that NCSoft nixed the expansion because it wasn’t worth making for a game that, IMO, is dying.

That is all.

appreciate it!

Personally, I think that they were planning on an expansion, and still are. However, I think they did not give any details and continuously say they are not working on it, so that they can delay it as long as they need/want without ‘looking bad’. I also think that the playerbase is increasing, I believe I read that somewhere.

I think that adding Ascended gear made a lot of people happier, and also upset a lot of people. Naturally you cannot make everyone happy. The forums are a poor place to look for the over-all opinion on it. If I were to wager, I’d guess that most people do not have great feelings either way (upwards of 80% of the players) while the people who love and people who hate it are probably pretty near split for the remaining 20%. Again that’s a huge guess, and the imprecise numbers are merely to show trends.

It’s kind of interesting to see this thread sink down to just before a thread whose last update was 2 days ago. In less than 8 hours. Interesing indeed.

The one thing that has prevented me from ever taking this game serious is one simple thing : class balance.

There has been a couple classes out of balance since the games release and they are still significantly better than the competition. It is also obvious because all the leet kiddies have flocked to those classes because being OP is where the fun is at.

It is impossible to take a pvp game seriously when its like that. Numbers can be adjusted quickly, they don’t have to be left unbalanced for 6 months.

Devata.6589:

What most people prefer is farming for the item itself. If I want to get some specific item and I know it has an 1/10.000 drop-change from a mob and you place that mob a lot in one area then I can go there farming those mob for that item.

I seriously doubt that most people really want to do that. They are used to do it cause WoW and its clones told them that that’s the only way to get items and they adjusted.
For me the GW2 way of farming is way less boring cause I don’t have to kill the same kind of mob for hours to get what I want.

Jemmi.6058:

Personally, I think that they were planning on an expansion, and still are. However, I think they did not give any details and continuously say they are not working on it, so that they can delay it as long as they need/want without ‘looking bad’. I also think that the playerbase is increasing, I believe I read that somewhere.

It was Korean analysts that were predicting an expansion this year and Arenanet that said ‘Uh, no.’ So I think you’re more on the money.

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Vayne.8563:

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

The release date for MoP was announced shortly after GW2’s, and would release exactly one month after GW2, banking on the idea that most MMOs crash after a month.

If MoP hadn’t been an april fools expansion, it may have worked. If GW2 wasn’t the best MMO on the market right now, it may have worked. However GW2 is the best game in the genre right now and MoP is a joke.

marnick.4305:

Vayne.8563:

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

The release date for MoP was announced shortly after GW2’s, and would release exactly one month after GW2, banking on the idea that most MMOs crash after a month.

If MoP hadn’t been an april fools expansion, it may have worked. If GW2 wasn’t the best MMO on the market right now, it may have worked. However GW2 is the best game in the genre right now and MoP is a joke.

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

falyero.3078:

expansion like karka? omg…
this game was better six months ago……

Karka was good!

at least we had two jumping, and an area to visit!

Now they do not add more areas …

I’d really love outside additions like that!

yellow human

red charr

blue: norn

Green sylvari and asura

violet: elona after to gradually and measure!

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

I have played on and off since release. I usually take a break for a month or two then come back. The main reason I get bored is the lack of any PvP content other than conquest, the bad balance and lack of diversity in builds, and classes just get boring so easy because they are so limited.

Drew.1865:

marnick.4305:

Vayne.8563:

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

The release date for MoP was announced shortly after GW2’s, and would release exactly one month after GW2, banking on the idea that most MMOs crash after a month.

If MoP hadn’t been an april fools expansion, it may have worked. If GW2 wasn’t the best MMO on the market right now, it may have worked. However GW2 is the best game in the genre right now and MoP is a joke.

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

We have a different interpretation of content then. For being an expansion, MoP destroys more content than it adds.

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

I hit the daily reputation brick wall, and ended up back in GW2.

Here’s hoping a future patch there makes Arenanet rethink their priorities, since the release of the xpac itself didn’t do so.

Drew.1865:

marnick.4305:

Vayne.8563:

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

The release date for MoP was announced shortly after GW2’s, and would release exactly one month after GW2, banking on the idea that most MMOs crash after a month.

If MoP hadn’t been an april fools expansion, it may have worked. If GW2 wasn’t the best MMO on the market right now, it may have worked. However GW2 is the best game in the genre right now and MoP is a joke.

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I actually like diminishing returns, it was a whole new level of time management added to combat whilst solving the issue of never being able to fight back. I don’t get while everyone hates on it.

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

Judge Banks.9018:

Drew.1865:

marnick.4305:

Vayne.8563:

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

The release date for MoP was announced shortly after GW2’s, and would release exactly one month after GW2, banking on the idea that most MMOs crash after a month.

If MoP hadn’t been an april fools expansion, it may have worked. If GW2 wasn’t the best MMO on the market right now, it may have worked. However GW2 is the best game in the genre right now and MoP is a joke.

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I actually like diminishing returns, it was a whole new level of time management added to combat whilst solving the issue of never being able to fight back. I don’t get while everyone hates on it.

You do realize that your comment makes no sense whatsoever right? It’s like saying you like getting a speeding ticket when you weren’t speeding but just driving the speed limit.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

Everyone is a dev on an mmo forum and an expert in gaming and some are just more experienced than others.

RebelYell.7132:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

I hit the daily reputation brick wall, and ended up back in GW2.

Here’s hoping a future patch there makes Arenanet rethink their priorities, since the release of the xpac itself didn’t do so.

I think with all the new games coming out and with how flooded the mmo market is and will be any game that doesn’t read their forums and listen to their players input won’t last long term. This game and Tortanic are the only 2 games I’ve played that got worse with every patch.

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

Drew.1865:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

Everyone is a dev on an mmo forum and an expert in gaming and some are just more experienced than others.

MMORPGs have been around in packaged, commercial form since 1995, dial-up games like the original gold box Neverwinter for longer than that, and MUDs for even longer than personal computing. That is a long time to become acquainted with this type of game. It is possible to have been playing them before a developer was even BORN.

But no, everyone is a 13 year old buying games with mom’s credit card, or that gimpy guy from the WoW episode of South Park. It’s not possible that people on forums might actually have worked or actively work in video games, one of the biggest and fastest-growing entertainment industries on the planet. Especially not anyone who is critical of GW2!

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

RebelYell.7132:

Drew.1865:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

Everyone is a dev on an mmo forum and an expert in gaming and some are just more experienced than others.

MMORPGs have been around in packaged, commercial form since 1995, dial-up games like the original gold box Neverwinter for longer than that, and MUDs for even longer than personal computing. That is a long time to become acquainted with this type of game. It is possible to have been playing them before a developer was even BORN.

But no, everyone is a 13 year old buying games with mom’s credit card, or that gimpy guy from the WoW episode of South Park. It’s not possible that people on forums might actually have worked or actively work in video games, one of the biggest and fastest-growing entertainment industries on the planet. Especially not anyone who is critical of GW2!

Oh there are employees of gaming companies posting on forums. One of the biggest fanboys of any mmo I’ve seen was accused of being an employee of the game he/she was commenting on but I left that game and have no idea if it was true.

Aarean.5398:

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

Yes but when I kill something in that game it drops something every time. It might be trash but it’s something lol.

Drew.1865:

Aarean.5398:

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

Yes but when I kill something in that game it drops something every time. It might be trash but it’s something lol.

oh wow, look at that new insert line of code here i bet that will really make you feel strong and not be completely worthless in less than a week.

its a game the only thing that matters is enjoying the content at hand, from moment to moment. I didn’t play all my old Nintendo game’s over and over again for the epic lootzzzz because in the end all that junk is worthless.

UnderdogSMO.9428:

Drew.1865:

Aarean.5398:

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

Yes but when I kill something in that game it drops something every time. It might be trash but it’s something lol.

oh wow, look at that new insert line of code here i bet that will really make you feel strong and not be completely worthless in less than a week.

its a game the only thing that matters is enjoying the content at hand, from moment to moment. I didn’t play all my old Nintendo game’s over and over again for the epic lootzzzz because in the end all that junk is worthless.

You play for lines of coding and I like loot. We just have different definitions of fun.

UnderdogSMO.9428:

Drew.1865:

Aarean.5398:

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

Yes but when I kill something in that game it drops something every time. It might be trash but it’s something lol.

oh wow, look at that new insert line of code here i bet that will really make you feel strong and not be completely worthless in less than a week.

its a game the only thing that matters is enjoying the content at hand, from moment to moment. I didn’t play all my old Nintendo game’s over and over again for the epic lootzzzz because in the end all that junk is worthless.

Yup. I enjoyed sab for what it is. Not in hopes of making a bit of gold. Wow is always a means to an end. Its a game. All about the journey.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

How do you know I’m spouting garbage? That’s what I’d like to know. Because you think so? Well, that puts that into perspective.

I’m really glad you say stuff like that. Then everyone can read what we write and decide which of us is “spouting garbage” as you so quaintly put it.

You really do entertain me.

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

How do you know I’m spouting garbage? That’s what I’d like to know. Because you think so? Well, that puts that into perspective.

I’m really glad you say stuff like that. Then everyone can read what we write and decide which of us is “spouting garbage” as you so quaintly put it.

You really do entertain me.

If you are going to make broad statements like developers only make expansions when games aren’t doing well, please provide proof. The burden is on you. Russell’s Teapot, etc.

Until then, when you state it as fact as you do, it is pure garbage.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

clay.7849:

Chuo.4238:

Tachenon.5270:

.

Was Ascended Gear truly in the works before the game launched? Is there any mention of Ascended Gear prior to its unveiling in November? If Ascended Gear had been mentioned in the Manifesto, how would it have affected the launch of GW2?

It was never mentioned before the Lost Shores update was mentioned. I think it was a knee-jerk reaction to a declining playerbase (normal after a couple months in any game) that backfired horribly, because they didn’t believe that all those people who didn’t want Ascended gear really meant it.

They were convinced, I believe, that the gear treadmill formula was something most players wanted.

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

Traditionally in MMO space, expansions are made when games aren’t doing as well. If a game is doing well, you hold off on the expansion. The idea is to get people back into the game when most people have left…and it usually works. That’s why smaller games like Perfect World keep making expansions.

Games that are doing really well hold their expansions for a time when another big game is coming out.

Your expertise on the matter is greatly appreciated. I’m glad we have someone so knowledgeable about the MMO business to tell us why and when MMO’s make expansions.

Seriously man, you don’t know any of this to be true. You’re just spouting garbage.

How do you know I’m spouting garbage? That’s what I’d like to know. Because you think so? Well, that puts that into perspective.

I’m really glad you say stuff like that. Then everyone can read what we write and decide which of us is “spouting garbage” as you so quaintly put it.

You really do entertain me.

If you are going to make broad statements like developers only make expansions when games aren’t doing well, please provide proof. The burden is on you. Russell’s Teapot, etc.

Actually I don’t feel burdened at all. It’s pretty logical, and anyone who’s followed MMOS for years will tell you that people get tired and bored and then they stop playing and then expansions are released. MMOs that are doing well, they have high numbers, they don’t really need to put time and effort into an expansion, because logically, they still have a strong player base.

Ask anyone that plays WoW how much the game play drops off before expansions and how expansions bring people back to the game. Rift has done it too. In fact, I can give you many MANY examples of people saving expansions to release when a new game releases or another expansion from a different game releases. It’s almost business as usual.

These business time expansions to compete with stuff, and get players back. Or to try to hold onto the players they have.

And then you have canny operators like Trion who went completely silent when SWToR came out. Not at word about anything. Nothing new. No promotion. Because they knew they couldn’t compete with Star Wars ToR in advertising dollars, so they figured they’d let it get some steam, wait till people were disatisfied and then start putting out material again. It’s a smart move.

Some of this stuff is discussed on shows like TWIMMO (This week in MMO) hosted by Gary Ganon on Gamebreaker TV. They talk about this kind of stuff all the time. There’s even a quick question and answer show on gamebreaker about the business of MMOs.

But the real thing is actually just following the games and the forums and making observations over the years. It’s called experience. It’s very much under-rated…particularly by people who don’t have it.

Guild Wars 2 isn’t doing well and that’s why they’re not working on an expansion. This is your theory. Instead they’re giving away free content every month, because they’re not doing well. Instead they’re just laying down and dying after the five years of work they put into the game.

They didn’t just increase the server size again, did they, to keep up with the demand? Or did you miss that thread.

See, you don’t like this game as much as Guild Wars 1, so you don’t want it to do well. It’s called self-fulfilling prophecy. But I made my comment in response to your comment, which said they’re not doing an expansion because they’re not doing well. You said the burden of proof is on me. How come, since you started this, the burden of proof isn’t on you?

Posting consecutively instead of using Multi-quote. . . must be a Norn.

Vayne.8563:

Actually I don’t feel burdened at all. It’s pretty logical, and anyone who’s followed MMOS for years will tell you that people get tired and bored and then they stop playing and then expansions are released. MMOs that are doing well, they have high numbers, they don’t really need to put time and effort into an expansion, because logically, they still have a strong player base.

(snip)

See, you don’t like this game as much as Guild Wars 1, so you don’t want it to do well. It’s called self-fulfilling prophecy. But I made my comment in response to your comment, which said they’re not doing an expansion because they’re not doing well. You said the burden of proof is on me. How come, since you started this, the burden of proof isn’t on you?

Ah, again, your experience makes you an expert. I see. No need for actual proof of your garbage statements, we should just believe you because you are smarter than all of us. LMFAO. And, arguments like Russell’s Teapot don’t apply to you because you don’t FEEL the burden of proof is on you. Good one.

Also, everything I said was my opinion. I don’t need any proof to have an opinion. If, on the other hand, you are going to say I am wrong based on facts, you better back those facts up with something better than, “because I say so…”

You do understand that, right?

I can’t speak for everyone but personally I don’t feel attached to my character.

There is a reasonable variety of endgame stuff to do imo (although not enough to keep you entertain for too long) but the number one reason why I haven’t logged in during the past few months is because I don’t feel as though I have any effect on the game nor does it have an effect on my character.

I’m gonna let myself down now by mentioning SWG* but I could kill mobs and collect loot in that game and display it in my house – it was miles from anywhere but I’d return there every night before I logged and display my latest achievement. Its all well and good looking through a list of stuff I’ve achieved but if I’ve killed an ‘epic’ monster I want to loot his skull/whatever and display it in my house for others to see. I want a little corner of the world I can call my own and see my progress visually.

*I’m not saying SWG system was perfect – far from it, but the point is you could create your own little space in the universe, display your achievements and feel like you belong/feel attached to your character.

@Clay

This is your original post on the subject:

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

You say it seems to you that the declining player base is the reason the expansion was nixed. That implies it’s your opinion about why it is nixed.

In order to have that opinion you first most prove there’s a declining player base. You not only have no proof of this, but you completely ignore things like servers being expanded. No lay offs. No server mergers. No evidence at all except that you don’t want this game to do well because you feel betrayed.

You make comments about what you think NCsoft wants to or doesn’t want to do. Have you looked at the NCsoft quarterly report. Guild Wars 2 was their most profitable title. Blade and Soul didn’t sell nearly as well as expected. The entire company is pinning their hopes now on this and Wild Star.

See, I look at these things before making generalized statements with no proof to back them up. Then I state something I’ve observed and has been talked about over the years and you ask me to prove it.

You’re very funny. Can I keep you?

Vayne.8563:

@Clay

This is your original post on the subject:

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

You say it seems to you that the declining player base is the reason the expansion was nixed. That implies it’s your opinion about why it is nixed.

In order to have that opinion you first most prove there’s a declining player base. You not only have no proof of this, but you completely ignore things like servers being expanded. No lay offs. No server mergers. No evidence at all except that you don’t want this game to do well because you feel betrayed.

You make comments about what you think NCsoft wants to or doesn’t want to do. Have you looked at the NCsoft quarterly report. Guild Wars 2 was their most profitable title. Blade and Soul didn’t sell nearly as well as expected. The entire company is pinning their hopes now on this and Wild Star.

See, I look at these things before making generalized statements with no proof to back them up. Then I state something I’ve observed and has been talked about over the years and you ask me to prove it.

You’re very funny. Can I keep you?

I don’t need to prove anything. It is MY OPINION that there is a declining player base. Nothing I stated was intended to be stated as fact – just opinion.

You, on the other hand, as always, use YOUR OPINION AS FACT to try and disprove my opinion. This is why the burden is on you to prove yourself right.

Otherwise, just state your opinion, without the necessity to try and disprove mine, and we can all live comfy cozy without the need to step on each other’s toes unless we have facts to back up our opinions. Which, by the way, neither of us do.

See, you think I care about making my opinion right. I don’t. I’m just stating my opinion as part of this community of forum goers. Nothing more, nothing less.

As far as i can see no one has given a reason why the game is losing active players (its not) at best ppl are just given reason IF ppl are leaving this is why the poster think. In effect this is more about the inside thoughts of the poster then what going on in the game.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

@Clay

This is your original post on the subject:

Agreed. It seems to me that the declining player base may also be why the expansion was nixed to quickly. I doubt NCSoft wants to continue to fund an expansion for a game that failed to hold the attention of the majority of it’s original customer base.

You say it seems to you that the declining player base is the reason the expansion was nixed. That implies it’s your opinion about why it is nixed.

In order to have that opinion you first most prove there’s a declining player base. You not only have no proof of this, but you completely ignore things like servers being expanded. No lay offs. No server mergers. No evidence at all except that you don’t want this game to do well because you feel betrayed.

You make comments about what you think NCsoft wants to or doesn’t want to do. Have you looked at the NCsoft quarterly report. Guild Wars 2 was their most profitable title. Blade and Soul didn’t sell nearly as well as expected. The entire company is pinning their hopes now on this and Wild Star.

See, I look at these things before making generalized statements with no proof to back them up. Then I state something I’ve observed and has been talked about over the years and you ask me to prove it.

You’re very funny. Can I keep you?

I don’t need to prove anything. It is MY OPINION that there is a declining player base. Nothing I stated was intended to be stated as fact – just opinion.

You, on the other hand, as always, use YOUR OPINION AS FACT to try and disprove my opinion. This is why the burden is on you to prove yourself right.

Otherwise, just state your opinion, without the necessity to try and disprove mine, and we can all live comfy cozy without the need to step on each other’s toes unless we have facts to back up our opinions. Which, by the way, neither of us do.

See, you think I care about making my opinion right. I don’t. I’m just stating my opinion as part of this community of forum goers. Nothing more, nothing less.

You can’t really have an opinion about whether the game is losing active players, because that’s either fact or not fact. There’s no real opinion to be had here. You may THINK the game is losing players, but that’s hardly an opinion. It’s simply something you think from whatever observations you make. I don’t know what you’re basing it on, but then you go and continue to make a logical conclusion based on something that is simply not provable anyway, in any form.

Your conclusion is that NCsoft abandoned work on an expansion because of low revenue. And they did this without laying off any of the 270 Anet employees while actively hiring more. See, is is a fact that Anet is hiring and if there was a layoff, we’d know about it, because NCSoft is a public company. They’d have to tell investors or they could get into trouble.

What you have an opinion based on an axiomatic statement. You’re taking it as given, with no proof whatsoever, that the game’s population is actually declining. Not one single shred of evidence.

At least I have circumstantial evidence to back me up, if not facts. If you base opinions like that, on axiomatic statements with no evidence, you should expect to be called on them.

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

Drew.1865:

UnderdogSMO.9428:

Drew.1865:

Aarean.5398:

Drew.1865:

nachtnebel.9168:

Drew.1865:

Strange it’s a very fun joke and there is more gated content in that expansion than in this whole game. Pandas are almost as funny as diminishing returns and RNG.

I fixed that for you.

MoP embodies everything that is wrong in this genre, instead of innovation it just brings more mainstreaming.

Yeah they need to add a dungeon with old Atari graphics. That’s real innovation.

As a long time gamer and played wow countless hours i have yet to be impressed by blizzard as i have from arenanets creativity with super adventure box. Got sick of rehashed content and mop felt so unnew.

Yes but when I kill something in that game it drops something every time. It might be trash but it’s something lol.

oh wow, look at that new insert line of code here i bet that will really make you feel strong and not be completely worthless in less than a week.

its a game the only thing that matters is enjoying the content at hand, from moment to moment. I didn’t play all my old Nintendo game’s over and over again for the epic lootzzzz because in the end all that junk is worthless.

You play for lines of coding and I like loot. We just have different definitions of fun.

Lines of code = Loot…. i was mocking you…..

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

You know your taking that out of context you should at least use the full quote.
You can have an opinion about any thing but its pointless if its base off of nothing. “I think rice is good because i like water” yes you have an opinion about rice but you have no reason for that opinion making its an non opinion.

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

“that the game is lossing players” he’s right. it ether is or it isn’t.

UnderdogSMO.9428:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

“that the game is lossing players” he’s right. it ether is or it isn’t.

But since none of us know whether it is true or not, I am allowed to have my opinion. He’s not right. I am never not allowed to have an opinion, no matter how many people don’t like it.

UnderdogSMO.9428:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

“that the game is lossing players” he’s right. it ether is or it isn’t.

Well with what we know they had to make the server size bigger so from that the game is not losing more then its getting back. So where are they getting that its losing ppl more then its getting back?

Jski.6180:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

You know your taking that out of context you should at least use the full quote.
You can have an opinion about any thing but its pointless if its base off of nothing. “I think rice is good because i like water” yes you have an opinion about rice but you have no reason for that opinion making its an non opinion.

I didn’t take it out of context. In no way am I not allowed to have an opinion, regardless of whether it is true or not. Especially, since none of us know what is true and what isn’t.

Jski.6180:

UnderdogSMO.9428:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

“that the game is lossing players” he’s right. it ether is or it isn’t.

Well with what we know they had to make the server size bigger so from that the game is not losing more then its getting back. So where are you getting that its losing ppl more then its getting back?

It’s just my opinion. You are entitled to yours. Although, what you say doesn’t necessitate that the population isn’t declining. Just my opinion… Sorry if you don’t like it.

clay.7849:

Jski.6180:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

You know your taking that out of context you should at least use the full quote.
You can have an opinion about any thing but its pointless if its base off of nothing. “I think rice is good because i like water” yes you have an opinion about rice but you have no reason for that opinion making its an non opinion.

I didn’t take it out of context. In no way am I not allowed to have an opinion, regardless of whether it is true or not. Especially, since none of us know what is true and what isn’t.

No your making this into a personal thing where you are evoking indignation to try to avoid the point that you have no reason for the way you think.
We KNOW that they made server bigger. Why do ppl think the game is losing ppl?

I like cheese.

Also, since I have started playing again back in February, only half the servers were above medium population. Until they updated the capacity a week or so ago, they had pretty much all moved to Very High or at least High. I know that’s just a count of accounts tied to the server for their home world, but that certainly means people are still buying the game in droves.

Jski.6180:

clay.7849:

Jski.6180:

clay.7849:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t really have an opinion…

Sorry Vayne, that’s where you lost me. I couldn’t get over that statement and gave up reading the rest. That might be the dumbest thing someone has ever said.

You know your taking that out of context you should at least use the full quote.
You can have an opinion about any thing but its pointless if its base off of nothing. “I think rice is good because i like water” yes you have an opinion about rice but you have no reason for that opinion making its an non opinion.

I didn’t take it out of context. In no way am I not allowed to have an opinion, regardless of whether it is true or not. Especially, since none of us know what is true and what isn’t.

No your making this into a personal thing where you are evoking indignation to try to avoid the point that you have no reason for the way you think.
We KNOW that they made server bigger. Why do ppl think the game is losing ppl?

You don’t need to think the way I think. Nor, do you need to try to change the way I think. It’s my opinion. Yours isn’t any better than mine.