Guild Wars 2

Vayne.8563:

@Valandil Dragonhart.2371

You seeing less people in LA continually can’t be compared to metrics though, for a whole lot of reasons. For example, there might be more people in different areas. There might be more people in Rata Sum or Divnities reach. Those programs that track player hours (and in one case player unique log ins) give actual data, which is better than any annecdotal evidence. For one thing, the human mind absolutely has issues with memory and seeing what it wants to see. There’s tons of evidence to support that. Testified to the fact that I haven’t seen less people in LA and you say you have. My own observatuions are largely worthless and can’t really be quantified.

At any rate, the ebbs and flows of the game are always going to be strongest on new release, then less until the next release In WoW it happens too, and no one says WoW is dying. WoW lost more people in the last two years than are likely still playing Guild Wars 2. But no one says they’re dying. WoW players, many, will be back with the next expansion.

Guild Wars 2 players, many, will be back for Halloween. And those tracking sites, particularly Xfire, show those ups and downs.

Seeing less people between updates if people log in for updates is nothing to comment on. Annecdotal evidence is inherently flawed, where as tracked data is more likely to be accurate.

Using the term a game is dying and using langage like funeral or buried, when a game is making millions and millions of dollars a month can’t be classed as anything but hyperbole. Why defend the indefensible?

He could have said that I don’t like stuff, instead he drew an unwarranted conclusion and expects us to swallow it. Why? Where’s the evidence? You see less people. Okay.

I’m biased and your biased. That’s why I prefer to depend on tracking software, and not any opinion.

Xfire and Overwolf have millions of players each. It’s statistically significant enough to judge how a game is doing, or at least trending.

This game is trending in the same spot across all three tracking sites for a long long time.

Many of us are still playing…no matter what spin you try to put on it.

See this quote here, Vayne?

GuzziHero.2467:

I don’t really, anymore.

The way Ascended gear was implemented planned the funeral. April megafailpatch dug the hole. Anet not giving a half a kitten about our concerns made the coffin. The ridiculous, mindless changes to the storyline hammered the lid shut.

I stick around in the vain hope that there are some signs of life before they start shovelling in the soil.

This is what I was quoting. Do not try to put words in my mouth that clearly aren’t mine. The fact that I support that quoted hypothesis is irrelevant — I’m still not the one who said it. It doesn’t matter about who makes how much off which people, the quote was about how one person felt about the game.

The conclusion being unwarranted is totally subjective, and in your eyes, it might appear biased. Maybe he doesn’t get as much out of the game as you do. But I’m yet to see any really excited and joyous people where I go in the game. Much can be said to the contrary when I first started.

Btw, I don’t use spin – I leave that to the professionals. I call it as I see it.

I don’t. I’m a PvE player and it stopped being remotely challenging a year ago. I stuck around because I had a slight gaming addiction and was just getting more and more and even more ascended gear. Then some day I hooked up my Xbox again, played Bayonetta (had just read reviews about Bayonetta 2) and since then I haven’t logged in. I suddenly realized how nice it is to not feel compelled to run my daily dungeons for money, to have a complex and skill heavy combat system and to be able to play on my own schedule instead of having alarm clocks for Karka, Teq, daily dungeons and then waiting for people for FotM 30,40,50.
I had fun exploring GW2, I enjoyed becoming a hardcore PvE player, but I guess my MMO times are over unless someone were to release an MMO that caters to competitive players. Furthermore I really miss subscription based MMOs. The gem store ruins everything.

Vayne.8563:

no one says WoW is dying. WoW lost more people in the last two years than are likely still playing Guild Wars 2. But no one says they’re dying. WoW players, many, will be back with the next expansion.

Actually some people, a lot of them in my experience, are saying that WoW is dying….its just taking a while to complete the process.

Vayne.8563:

Using the term a game is dying and using langage like funeral or buried, when a game is making millions and millions of dollars a month can’t be classed as anything but hyperbole.

Using those terms and language could be honest opinion. Of course I think that the poster using those terms/language is wrong, but being wrong (IMO) doesn’t make it hyperbole.

Vayne.8563:

He could have said that I don’t like stuff, instead he drew an unwarranted conclusion and expects us to swallow it.

The conclusion was unwarranted in your opinion, and in mine as well for that matter, but obviously it was not unwarranted in his.

Vayne.8563:

Xfire and Overwolf have millions of players each. It’s statistically significant enough to judge how a game is doing, or at least trending.

Statistics without proper sampling techniques are suspect, but I tend to believe that the game is doing fairly well.

I am down to just making dailies …90% of time even excluding world bosses. Nothing to do now and for the foreseeable future. Might play the next living story update..which should add roughly 30min of gameplay to finish it all, purely because i like being up to date with these things. Nothing more.

Vayne.8563:

Scipio.3204:

I’d say wether GW2 is dying or not can be decided by using the logic of supply & demand. If something has high demand it is logical to deliver high supply or in other words if GW2 does have a stable or increasing playerbase that would mean anet has a stable or increasing income through gemstore and could deliver content in a nice & steady pace.
But that’s not the case. Content delivery is slower than ever and they show no sign of long term projects even after two year.
As for why I’m still playing, I’m not . I usually log in daily to see who is still online but I just stand around in a city.

This is backwards logic. Most games, when they go into a lull, produce more content to get people back. They come out with expansions to increase the playerbase. They make expansions to renew interest.

Games that are doing well don’t have to do that. That’s the logic of business.

The exception is when a game is in it’s last throws and you abandon it. Since the 9/9 patch was pretty robust, there’s no sign the game is being abandoned. Since we get new stuff on November 4th there’s no sign.

But if people weren’t playing and paying, the logical move would be an expansion.

Less money → more content sounds like backwards logic to me. They try to get back players that’s obvious, that’s why they decided to release features in packs instead of launch them when they are ready. This way they can produce the same amount of content but also they also release patches big enough to send email about to players who left long ago.

Also I just think GW2 didn’t live up to Anet’s expectations. We still haven’t heard new sold copy milestone since when? 3.5 million sold was the last we heard without china. No wonder they pushed china release & 54 gemstore update a year.

To OP – it’s a force of habit, and as with every bad habit, the sooner you get rid of it, the better.

As for the debate on whether a business should keep evolving (develop new content/features/etc) in its heydays – if it has half a brain and a will to survive, then it will. A business that is complacent and only feel like putting in effort when in dire straits won’t be sticking around for very long.
Logic of competition, and all that.

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

Scipio.3204:

I’d say wether GW2 is dying or not can be decided by using the logic of supply & demand. If something has high demand it is logical to deliver high supply or in other words if GW2 does have a stable or increasing playerbase that would mean anet has a stable or increasing income through gemstore and could deliver content in a nice & steady pace.
But that’s not the case. Content delivery is slower than ever and they show no sign of long term projects even after two year.
As for why I’m still playing, I’m not . I usually log in daily to see who is still online but I just stand around in a city.

This is backwards logic. Most games, when they go into a lull, produce more content to get people back. They come out with expansions to increase the playerbase. They make expansions to renew interest.

Games that are doing well don’t have to do that. That’s the logic of business.

The exception is when a game is in it’s last throws and you abandon it. Since the 9/9 patch was pretty robust, there’s no sign the game is being abandoned. Since we get new stuff on November 4th there’s no sign.

But if people weren’t playing and paying, the logical move would be an expansion.

Less money -> more content sounds like backwards logic to me. They try to get back players that’s obvious, that’s why they decided to release features in packs instead of launch them when they are ready. This way they can produce the same amount of content but also they also release patches big enough to send email about to players who left long ago.

Also I just think GW2 didn’t live up to Anet’s expectations. We still haven’t heard new sold copy milestone since when? 3.5 million sold was the last we heard without china. No wonder they pushed china release & 54 gemstore update a year.

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Vayne.8563:

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Cause and effect. MMO’s active population increases when they release major content patch or such meaning the population’s the highest when the content hits release, but anet doesn’t seem to intend to do that. With living story at best they can achieve a stable, somewhat bigger active population compared to other MMOs between expansions ,but it’s more likely they just slowed the population decrease.

But by saying MMOs don’t release content when their population is high is like saying MMOs don’t release content when they release content.

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Cause and effect. MMO’s active population increases when they release major content patch or such meaning the population’s the highest when the content hits release, but anet doesn’t seem to intend to do that. With living story at best they can achieve a stable, somewhat bigger active population compared to other MMOs between expansions ,but it’s more likely they just slowed the population decrease.

But by saying MMOs don’t release content when their population is high is like saying MMOs don’t release content when they release content.

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Vayne.8563:

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Yet anet is capable to provide ten times more content than they did in the last two year. It’s almost like the majority of anet’s resources aren’t spent on GW2…. combining that with their strict company policy on what they are working on we get a pretty intresting result.

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Yet anet is capable to provide ten times more content than they did in the last two year. It’s almost like the majority of anet’s resources aren’t spent on GW2…. combining that with their strict company policy on what they are working on we get a pretty intresting result.

Watch out! You’re going to be questioned about that.

Vayne.8563:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Cause and effect. MMO’s active population increases when they release major content patch or such meaning the population’s the highest when the content hits release, but anet doesn’t seem to intend to do that. With living story at best they can achieve a stable, somewhat bigger active population compared to other MMOs between expansions ,but it’s more likely they just slowed the population decrease.

But by saying MMOs don’t release content when their population is high is like saying MMOs don’t release content when they release content.

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Well Vayne…seeing things as they are, they will need it some time soon. I just hope for their own sake, that the amount of new players they get is higher than the amount of veterans who leave~

Yoroiookami.3485:

Vayne.8563:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Cause and effect. MMO’s active population increases when they release major content patch or such meaning the population’s the highest when the content hits release, but anet doesn’t seem to intend to do that. With living story at best they can achieve a stable, somewhat bigger active population compared to other MMOs between expansions ,but it’s more likely they just slowed the population decrease.

But by saying MMOs don’t release content when their population is high is like saying MMOs don’t release content when they release content.

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Well Vayne…seeing things as they are, they will need it some time soon. I just hope for their own sake, that the amount of new players they get is higher than the amount of veterans who leave~

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

I am relatively new here, but for me, what makes or breaks an MMO is the community. I’ve stuck with some absolutely horrid games just because the people there are fantastic GW2 has one of the better communities I’ve come across in the long list of MMO’s I’ve played, and is definitely one of the highest quality MMO’s I’ve ever played. I imagine I’ll be staying around for a long time yet

Vayne.8563:

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

I can’t say I understand fully how Xfire works nor it’s purpose , only looked up to it now, but taking a first glance at it, GW2 has 400 unique logins , I don’t see how that proves anything. Taking a second glance, a first person shooter has more than 20x more unique logins than GW2, and that game was released at 2007. To cut it short, I don’t see how 400 active player proves GW2 is in a healthy state.

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

I can’t say I understand fully how Xfire works nor it’s purpose , only looked up to it now, but taking a first glance at it, GW2 has 400 unique logins , I don’t see how that proves anything. Taking a second glance, a first person shooter has more than 20x more unique logins than GW2, and that game was released at 2007. To cut it short, I don’t see how 400 active player proves GW2 is in a healthy state.

crossfire/xfire is crappy software that only takes in to account users that log in with xfire installed and that allow xfire to track their game activity. it’s not an accurate measurement of game activity.

The only actually accurate measure of activity would have to come from ANet themselves

“Why do you still play?”

Because I’m still enjoying myself. It’s just that simple.

Have I done all of the stuff I’m doing currently before? Sure. I’m on my 16th or 17th character on just my account. I play on my husband’s account too, I do a lot of leveling on his characters, and he has 16 characters on his account. Sure I haven’t done everything, but I’ve done a lot, and I do large chunks of it over and over again. Do I get bored? Sure, at times. But you know what? When that happens, I log off and go do something else for a little while until I feel like playing again. It’s the same thing I do when I get bored with anything in life. Work getting to me? I take a day off, maybe make it a 3 day weekend so I can have a bit of a breather and then return ready to accomplish something. Can’t find a book in my sizable library that interests me? Maybe go find a game to play instead, or go out and do some yard work. When you get bored, just take a break, it’s healthy, and normal.

Why are WE still playing? Because we have an internet connection and free time to do so.

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Anonymous Player.3079:

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Unfair. You don’t have to buy anything with gems to be in pair with anyone else, GemStore is just about facilities and skins. Of course there has been too much content item-wise being released in GemStore, and if one likes itemization it’s a HUGE letdown, but it’s definitely not pay-to-win.

Valento.9852:

Anonymous Player.3079:

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Unfair. You don’t have to buy anything with gems to be in pair with anyone else, GemStore is just about facilities and skins. Of course there has been too much content item-wise being released in GemStore, and if one likes itemization it’s a HUGE letdown, but it’s definitely not pay-to-win.

Did he say pay to win?

I log in for living story and map completion. But mostly living story. Finally made it to lvl 80 and trying to catch up before it continutes in November.

Scipio.3204:

Valento.9852:

Anonymous Player.3079:

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Unfair. You don’t have to buy anything with gems to be in pair with anyone else, GemStore is just about facilities and skins. Of course there has been too much content item-wise being released in GemStore, and if one likes itemization it’s a HUGE letdown, but it’s definitely not pay-to-win.

Did he say pay to win?

What are you getting at then?

All items in the gem store are available with gold, mind you.

The reason people are asking them self’s why do they keep playing gw2 (imo) is cause the whole game doesn’t have that much depth to drag you into it, to keep you interested, to keep pushing you in different directions so you can experience new exciting things you can do in the game.

There are plenty of reasons why the game doesn’t have that much depth… ill name a few:

1: Skills
You’re expected to play a mmo for years, yet you only have a handful of skills on your disposal… not to mention the mobs and enemies you face don’t seem to have any of them either.

special immunity, a condi atack, a aoe atack and a normal 2 sec delay attack is all i can see on the mobs that roam around.
The differences between them are just that some look different,hit harder or have more hp…

Solution? well…constantly changing traits and skills every now and then wont rely solve the problem.

2.Community

The community itself isnt the problem, its the game that doesn’t encourage the players to do anything more than simply pile up, buff up and bash anything that stands in front of them…and i did just describe what kind of mobs there are in the game..

dungeons, wvw, some LS content …it all reminds me of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_As592BYWU

note the low lvl guy in the end of the video that tries to follow the blob in order to lvl up and pick up some loot

3.Socialization

Because communication, planing and organizing groups isnt encouraged you could lvl up from 1-80, do wvw, spvp, LS…even dungeons without even talking with a single player.

dont get me wrong, some people love to be able to solo….but imo a mmo should encourage player interaction/socialization other than pressing F on a downed player or pressing a 3 on a combo field from another player….

Players that DO love chatting, running around with friends and doing content together with people will have a hard time in this game… and this influences a lot on ones motivation to keep playing

Azure The Heartless.3261:

Scipio.3204:

Valento.9852:

Anonymous Player.3079:

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Unfair. You don’t have to buy anything with gems to be in pair with anyone else, GemStore is just about facilities and skins. Of course there has been too much content item-wise being released in GemStore, and if one likes itemization it’s a HUGE letdown, but it’s definitely not pay-to-win.

Did he say pay to win?

What are you getting at then?

All items in the gem store are available with gold, mind you.

Works vica-versa. All legendaries & other gold based items can be bought with gems too. The point is if you look at last year they clearly added more skins of any kind through their ingame store than to the actual game itself. Except back items .

It’s getting more and more difficult to log in.
I figured out it’s more of a habit and it’s simply annoying me.
I did everything, i have all legendarys, dungeons done 1000’s of times
zero interest in PvP.

This game has nothing to offer anymore.
Since i am not interested in another game i spend my spare time else where.

Maybe when A-Net is deciding to go back to what made them so good
i will come back.

Scipio.3204:

Azure The Heartless.3261:

Scipio.3204:

Valento.9852:

Anonymous Player.3079:

Veydar.5017:

The gem store ruins everything.

Totally agree

They should now rename to “Pay Wars2”

Unfair. You don’t have to buy anything with gems to be in pair with anyone else, GemStore is just about facilities and skins. Of course there has been too much content item-wise being released in GemStore, and if one likes itemization it’s a HUGE letdown, but it’s definitely not pay-to-win.

Did he say pay to win?

What are you getting at then?

All items in the gem store are available with gold, mind you.

Works vica-versa. All legendaries & other gold based items can be bought with gems too. The point is if you look at last year they clearly added more skins of any kind through their ingame store than to the actual game itself. Except back items .

That doesnt exclude them from gold purchase. it just trivializes payment for people who don’t want to grind for them.

and for the people that want to grind for them, they can do so doing any content they like instead of being forced into an aspect of the game they dont like just to get a prize they want from it.

It sure as hell isnt a new zone but you can definitely build a quest around it if you want to buy one.

I keep playing because this is the best MMO out there hands down. The community is one of the best. The game content is expanding and the world feels more alive than ever. No sub fee. No grind (unless you like that). Good friends that I like to adventure with. Light RP’ing when/if I want. Beautiful environments and simply a gorgeous game. All in one very enjoyable package.

For those that say “nothing left to do” I feel sorry for you. Most likely you powered through everything just like a typical grind (WoW) player and now look around and yep, you’re out of ideas. Did all Fractals, did all World Complete, have ascended on all (or most) your characters. Have all the ranks in WvW, mastered PvP and are unbeatable in all classes. Have a Legendary or 2 (or 3+) and tons of specialty armor and weapons and most of the skins in the game. For you I feel sorry and hope you find a new game you can appropriately chew through and leave the rest of us to enjoy our game.

Me … well I never found it necessary to power through a game. I like to sit back, relax, and enjoy the game play, the environment, the combat and warfare. Zerg or party just doesn’t mater as it’s just fun, but then that’s just me. Spending 10-12 hours a day to get the latest Ascended weapon/armor or for a Legendary just wasn’t and isn’t high on my list. To fret I don’t have the best … meh.

So I continue to play this MMO because it’s the best and it’s where I have the most fun and hang my “hat” online. It’s not the first and won’t be the last. All good things come to an end but I don’t see that happening here for the next 5-10 years. I also don’t see anything on the horizon replacing it so far.

Peace.

I haven’t done everything in PvE yet.
So when I finish all those accomplishments, I’ll just play the Trading Post for a while.
Then whenever the new storyline comes out, I’ll do that.

I’ll keep going until the only thing left is PvP related stuff.
After that I’ll take a break to play another game until more fun stuff comes back.

Ok let’s be clear and give some sample how gw² is becoming all about money farm or use your credit card (aka gems) masta powa
Average player make 10-20g MAX a day → ok
Legendary : look price on tp, do some math, better buy ! You don’t have gold, wait gem is the solution (so credit card) that’s why some 2k ap have 2-3 legendary (thx mum)
Now let speak about the new pro system “collection” : once again look price on tp. The best joke is about Black Lion. 1 collection is arround 1900g. Atm there is “only” 13 to do so …
Last but not least pvp : oh wait they already bashed it low time ago, just look game tab and count “farm” server … How do you make private server ? gems …

I’m maybe totally wrong, but i’m really really disappointed

Vayne.8563:

Yoroiookami.3485:

Vayne.8563:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

You should probably watch the business more, rather than formulating opinions without watching the business. Because MMOs do add content when the population drops, not when it’s at a high.

That’s pretty much every MMO everywhere…with very very few exceptions.

Cause and effect. MMO’s active population increases when they release major content patch or such meaning the population’s the highest when the content hits release, but anet doesn’t seem to intend to do that. With living story at best they can achieve a stable, somewhat bigger active population compared to other MMOs between expansions ,but it’s more likely they just slowed the population decrease.

But by saying MMOs don’t release content when their population is high is like saying MMOs don’t release content when they release content.

Sigh. It’s really much simpler than that. WoW is the best example. They pretty much have content releases with major expansions. Before those expansions, the cash income is the lowest. They require those expansions to reinvigorate the game.

Releasing that content when the population is high servers no purpose, because it’s not going to get MORE players. That’s their formula and it works for them.

Guild Wars 2 releases smaller patches more often. Why? Because that keeps players coming back to the game more often. You can see it in the tracking programs. That’s the Guild Wars 2 formula.

No company can release constant content no matter how much money they make. It’s just not reasonable. So logically you hold back the big release for when you need it. That’s business.

Well Vayne…seeing things as they are, they will need it some time soon. I just hope for their own sake, that the amount of new players they get is higher than the amount of veterans who leave~

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

Evidence? Take a glance at the forums. It’s obvious to me and anyone with a healthy sight that there are (hundreds?) of topics now dedicated to saying “buhbai”. The majority of veteran players are clearly unhappy with what’s been happening lately. It’s a bit like anet stopped caring about their players at all.
The biggest patches this year were:
- More gem store items
- Even more gem store items
- We could use one map and some living story
- Hmm…GEM STORE ITEMS!

I just don’t understand why do you defend this game so blindly. All I can see is devs slapping their older players in the face time after time. The game becomes less and less original and becomes more of a grind each day.
Mawdrey takes like a month to make, unless you plan it really well. OR you can spend a lot of gold on it. (Meaning – grind gold)
Everything comes down to this, which is a bit dissappointing.

I’m saying this, because I care about the game. It’s like being in an abusive relationship in which you put your most effort into loving the game, but it keeps b*tchslapping you.
That’s at least how I feel.

So yeah, I do hope that it was at least worth it for the new players.

Pandaman.4758:

1) Not done finishing my characters’ looks (ranger and necromancer are the only ones left) and gear (four characters still need ascended trinkets, one of which is stuck because there are no ascended zealot/keeper trinkets).

2) Blade & Soul isn’t out yet.

B&S is likely never coming to NA :/ … I just want Black Desert, omg that Blader looks so amazing.

kitten .9460:

Pandaman.4758:

1) Not done finishing my characters’ looks (ranger and necromancer are the only ones left) and gear (four characters still need ascended trinkets, one of which is stuck because there are no ascended zealot/keeper trinkets).

2) Blade & Soul isn’t out yet.

B&S is likely never coming to NA :/ … I just want Black Desert, omg that Blader looks so amazing.

Pretty much. I was so looking forward to Blade and Soul but at this point, it’s probably never coming. Like seriously, have they announced any news about the delay??? Hopefully Black Desert will be coming to the west soon. The Sorceress looks awesome!

I only play for the boring same ole weekly missions and monthly jump puzzles.

Most of us still only play bc we once absolutly loved this game and we are all hoping the deva smarten the flip up. Plus we put so much time and effort in that we cant leave bc so much was invested.

But im on a long break while playing and loving destiny on my ps4. I will be playing alot during the halloween event, but not the LS bc that just boring dynamic events recycled.

I only play for the boring same ole weekly missions and monthly jump puzzles.

Most of us still only play bc we once absolutly loved this game and we are all hoping the deva smarten the flip up. Plus we put so much time and effort in that we cant leave bc so much was invested.

But im on a long break while playing and loving destiny on my ps4. I will be playing alot during the halloween event, but not the LS bc that just boring dynamic events recycled.

Anonymous Player.3079:

Ok let’s be clear and give some sample how gw² is becoming all about money farm or use your credit card (aka gems) masta powa
Average player make 10-20g MAX a day -> ok

I’d say less, actually. 5g is a pipedream for most, even if it is easily attainable by running dungeons.

Anonymous Player.3079:

Legendary : look price on tp, do some math, better buy ! You don’t have gold, wait gem is the solution (so credit card) that’s why some 2k ap have 2-3 legendary (thx mum)

So that’s what we have to jump to? Some player that can barely manage his game finances thinks that he’s just going to pop by the corner store and pick up a legendary? It really speaks to how off your own expectations are.

As far as paying for a fortune via gems, as much as players kitten and moan about it being the only way to get there, I have yet to hear of anyone actually doing it.

Anonymous Player.3079:

Now let speak about the new pro system “collection” : once again look price on tp. The best joke is about Black Lion. 1 collection is arround 1900g. Atm there is “only” 13 to do so …

Once again, your expectations are off the mark. The collections weren’t intended to be filled in a day. Weren’t intended to be something you just went off and bought. They were intended to be something you filled in as you played or used as a guide to tackle other things. The rewards being as ridiculously low as they are should have been a clue. You weren’t going to get jack for filling them, so you shouldn’t have felt pressured to do so.

But then the speculators came in and ruined everyone’s day, but you’ll blame ANet for that one too. Because it’s what you do. Because they somehow were able to control their constituents to snap up available supply and hold it for ransom. Because ideas like that don’t occur to anyone without explicit goading from the developers.

Anonymous Player.3079:

Last but not least pvp : oh wait they already bashed it low time ago, just look game tab and count “farm” server … How do you make private server ? gems …

According to wiki, if the owners want to be able to farm points, they can’t be private. So the next time you find a labeled farm server, feel free to crash.

Also, you don’t make them with gems. They’re bought with 200 gold. And before you go weeping about gem conversion again, the intention was for guilds to buy these. Whole guilds chipping in. They aren’t personal toys, even if they get treated that way.

Anonymous Player.3079:

I’m maybe totally wrong, but i’m really really disappointed

Run with that. I’ll be lucky to not get an infraction saying this much.

I forgot.
takes a drink

Vayne.8563:

GuzziHero.2467:

I don’t really, anymore.

The way Ascended gear was implemented planned the funeral. April megafailpatch dug the hole. Anet not giving a half a kitten about our concerns made the coffin. The ridiculous, mindless changes to the storyline hammered the lid shut.

I stick around in the vain hope that there are some signs of life before they start shovelling in the soil.

Pretty strong on the hyperbole.

It’s not hyperbole if that’s how Guzzi truly feels about the game.

bored @ work so i read this post…so anyway for me, i still play this game MOSTLY for DAILYS & Achievements….why….cuz i am bored of the same thing for 2 yrs…..i have done all pve has to give(dungeons, living story, map completion, world events), i have done wvw(zerging, roaming, dueling @ OS, GvGing @ OS) and eotm, i have also done soloq and teamq pvps with the occasional hot joins in between….idk what else so i turned to achievements….living story got me going every 2 weeks but when they stop i just lose any incentive of playing outside dailys….so yes i still do play on a daily basis but unlike 6 months to 2 yrs ago where i would spend 8-10 hrs a night on this game, the last few months id spend 1-2 hrs just doing dailys then logging off to play another game to have my fix.

I stopped crying to anet to release an expansions worth of content because they are sticking to there guns about the whole living story thing, but at the end of the day i would spend a few hrs to do those achievements then get bored right after as well, so i asked myself what should i do since gw2 just isn’t what it was for me a year or 2 so ago…..answer….play other games beside it…..

I’m not pushing anyone to leave gw2…but since gw2 has lack of updates outside gemstore updates every 2 weeks, i found that playing other games such as Archeage, Destiny, Shadow of Mordor, Alien….and other ps4 games got my fix just right. In every game i look for certain aspects. GW2 used to do it all for me but that ended 1 yr ago when i have tried and accomplished most parts of the game, not trying to be the best (insert class here) or any of that crap but i have done well competitively in all facets of this game and grown tired of it.

going to the past….i played gw1 from 2005-2011(when i finished HoM), i also played WoW for 5 yrs around the same time to and i played both games for the same reason that 1 game grows stale after sometime and i would play the other game instead, just like how i’m playing other games right now bcuz gw2 has been stale for me. But i dont burn down bridges whenever a new update comes, i’’m usually there right away and ready to tackle on the new content for GW1 and now i am doing the same for GW2.

TL;DR if gw2 dont do it for you anymore, try playing other games with it. You dont have to quit, you can still hop on every now and then, but crying over anet, whether they hear your pleas or not no one knows, and if you say you dont have the money for that, well you can always find free 2 play games to play with. As for me, i will keep doing what i’ve been doing, and when anet finally has made an update that is expansions worth of content i will be ready to hop on the board, but until then playing other games will keep me sane and give me the fix that i need.

rapthorne.7345:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

I can’t say I understand fully how Xfire works nor it’s purpose , only looked up to it now, but taking a first glance at it, GW2 has 400 unique logins , I don’t see how that proves anything. Taking a second glance, a first person shooter has more than 20x more unique logins than GW2, and that game was released at 2007. To cut it short, I don’t see how 400 active player proves GW2 is in a healthy state.

crossfire/xfire is crappy software that only takes in to account users that log in with xfire installed and that allow xfire to track their game activity. it’s not an accurate measurement of game activity.

The only actually accurate measure of activity would have to come from ANet themselves

Right, Xfire means nothing, because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Raptr means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Overwolf means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. Your personal observations and a few posts from forum strangers are much more accurate.

If someone doesn’t know how Xfire works btw, I’m not really sure they should be commenting on it, but as a comparison of hours played (without knowing how often it’s updated) it can be compared to other games on the same service.

So in the time frame (unpresented) we see Guild Wars 2 has at this time 1110 hours clocked up. Something like Archeage has 605. Diablo 3 has 2197 or almost double Guild Wars 2 hours.

You don’t get an idea of exactly how many people play but…if Guild Wars 2 isn’t healthy in that list, then no game is healthy.

Of course in addition to this, Anet still shows a healthy quarterly profit, still shows it’s hiring (without any mass layoffs), and is still coming out with updates (admittedly not as fast as many would like).

There’s a whole lot more evidence the game is doing well then the game is not doing well. It always amazes me that people who don’t personally like a game just assume it’s doing badly.

For the record, I’m playing less than I used to because of the trait update…and I don’t think it matters at all. In fact, if I were to stop playing I’m one guy. It won’t change the overall popularity of the game.

Anonymous Player.3079:

Ok let’s be clear and give some sample how gw² is becoming all about money farm or use your credit card (aka gems) masta powa
Average player make 10-20g MAX a day -> ok
Legendary : look price on tp, do some math, better buy ! You don’t have gold, wait gem is the solution (so credit card) that’s why some 2k ap have 2-3 legendary (thx mum)
Now let speak about the new pro system “collection” : once again look price on tp. The best joke is about Black Lion. 1 collection is arround 1900g. Atm there is “only” 13 to do so …

legendary weapons are 100% completely unnecessary to play the game. It’s a luxury item that you can chose to persue as a long term goal. If you don’t have the patience to farm (Some of my guildies have been playing since the game’s release and don’t have a legendary, because they don’t want one), that’s your problem, not ANet’s.

If you want to buy your way through the game, then for sure, you can expect to pay a lot to do so, but the point is, you are not, EVER forced to shell out money. It’s your choice, and yours alone, to pump money in to the game if you don’t have the patience to complete collections/other content over time.

Don’t blame the developers – Whose goal it is to create long term content and objectives for players - for your lack of patience

I quit playing before I even hit level 60. Grinding 6 levels out just to get one measly adept trait was too boring for me.

Vayne.8563:

rapthorne.7345:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

What’s your evidence? The game hasn’t gone down in any significant way in any of the sites that track it. It has essentially the same number of unique log ins and the same number of hours played.

People keep saying that the game is dying or becoming a ghost town but nothing, and I do mean nothing, supports this with the exception of their personal observations.

I think we should all just keep an eye on Xfire for the Halloween content and the new living story content and see just how that affects the traffic. Since I’ve been following those sites, the people who report the game isn’t doing well make me wonder on what they base their information.

I can’t say I understand fully how Xfire works nor it’s purpose , only looked up to it now, but taking a first glance at it, GW2 has 400 unique logins , I don’t see how that proves anything. Taking a second glance, a first person shooter has more than 20x more unique logins than GW2, and that game was released at 2007. To cut it short, I don’t see how 400 active player proves GW2 is in a healthy state.

crossfire/xfire is crappy software that only takes in to account users that log in with xfire installed and that allow xfire to track their game activity. it’s not an accurate measurement of game activity.

The only actually accurate measure of activity would have to come from ANet themselves

Right, Xfire means nothing, because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Raptr means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Overwolf means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. Your personal observations and a few posts from forum strangers are much more accurate.

If someone doesn’t know how Xfire works btw, I’m not really sure they should be commenting on it, but as a comparison of hours played (without knowing how often it’s updated) it can be compared to other games on the same service.

So in the time frame (unpresented) we see Guild Wars 2 has at this time 1110 hours clocked up. Something like Archeage has 605. Diablo 3 has 2197 or almost double Guild Wars 2 hours.

You don’t get an idea of exactly how many people play but…if Guild Wars 2 isn’t healthy in that list, then no game is healthy.

Of course in addition to this, Anet still shows a healthy quarterly profit, still shows it’s hiring (without any mass layoffs), and is still coming out with updates (admittedly not as fast as many would like).

There’s a whole lot more evidence the game is doing well then the game is not doing well. It always amazes me that people who don’t personally like a game just assume it’s doing badly.

For the record, I’m playing less than I used to because of the trait update…and I don’t think it matters at all. In fact, if I were to stop playing I’m one guy. It won’t change the overall popularity of the game.

Not sure if this is directed at me or not, but I was actually trying to emphasise that xfire’s statistics can’t be used to argue that the game is inactive, due to the small sample size, same with raptr.

I myself don’t think the game is going down any dark paths for some time yet. The game seems healthy, there’s always people to find on maps, the pvp lobby area is stuffed to the brim with people, eotm is always full (even on overflow) for my server (Northern Shiverpeaks).

Perhaps the game is quieter than it’s first year (I wasn’t around to judge) but that’s to be expected from absolutely every MMORPG. The vast majority of MMORPG’s will experience their highest traffic in the first few months of release. As time goes by it’s only natural that the hype generated from the wait on development dies down a little, as people get comfortable with the game and settle in.

GW2’s forum is more active than most MMO forums I’ve been a part of, the community is friendlier than most MMO communities, and the active population most definitely seems much higher than a majority of MMO’s I’ve been a part of.

I don’t think there’s any reason to worry about GW2’s health just yet.

tofumon.5924:

I quit playing before I even hit level 60. Grinding 6 levels out just to get one measly adept trait was too boring for me.

I’ve personally level considered GW2 leveling a grind. it’s very easy and casual for me, given the nature of the scaled exp system.

It is a pity you decided to stop playing before 60. the power spike you experience when obtaining a new trait tier is pretty darn awesome.

rapthorne.7345:

Vayne.8563:

rapthorne.7345:

Scipio.3204:

Vayne.8563:

snip

I can’t say I understand fully how Xfire works nor it’s purpose , only looked up to it now, but taking a first glance at it, GW2 has 400 unique logins , I don’t see how that proves anything. Taking a second glance, a first person shooter has more than 20x more unique logins than GW2, and that game was released at 2007. To cut it short, I don’t see how 400 active player proves GW2 is in a healthy state.

crossfire/xfire is crappy software that only takes in to account users that log in with xfire installed and that allow xfire to track their game activity. it’s not an accurate measurement of game activity.

The only actually accurate measure of activity would have to come from ANet themselves

Right, Xfire means nothing, because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Raptr means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. And Overwolf means nothing because it doesn’t fit your theory. Your personal observations and a few posts from forum strangers are much more accurate.

If someone doesn’t know how Xfire works btw, I’m not really sure they should be commenting on it, but as a comparison of hours played (without knowing how often it’s updated) it can be compared to other games on the same service.

So in the time frame (unpresented) we see Guild Wars 2 has at this time 1110 hours clocked up. Something like Archeage has 605. Diablo 3 has 2197 or almost double Guild Wars 2 hours.

You don’t get an idea of exactly how many people play but…if Guild Wars 2 isn’t healthy in that list, then no game is healthy.

Of course in addition to this, Anet still shows a healthy quarterly profit, still shows it’s hiring (without any mass layoffs), and is still coming out with updates (admittedly not as fast as many would like).

There’s a whole lot more evidence the game is doing well then the game is not doing well. It always amazes me that people who don’t personally like a game just assume it’s doing badly.

For the record, I’m playing less than I used to because of the trait update…and I don’t think it matters at all. In fact, if I were to stop playing I’m one guy. It won’t change the overall popularity of the game.

Not sure if this is directed at me or not, but I was actually trying to emphasise that xfire’s statistics can’t be used to argue that the game is inactive, due to the small sample size, same with raptr.

I myself don’t think the game is going down any dark paths for some time yet. The game seems healthy, there’s always people to find on maps, the pvp lobby area is stuffed to the brim with people, eotm is always full (even on overflow) for my server (Northern Shiverpeaks).

Perhaps the game is quieter than it’s first year (I wasn’t around to judge) but that’s to be expected from absolutely every MMORPG. The vast majority of MMORPG’s will experience their highest traffic in the first few months of release. As time goes by it’s only natural that the hype generated from the wait on development dies down a little, as people get comfortable with the game and settle in.

GW2’s forum is more active than most MMO forums I’ve been a part of, the community is friendlier than most MMO communities, and the active population most definitely seems much higher than a majority of MMO’s I’ve been a part of.

I don’t think there’s any reason to worry about GW2’s health just yet.

Overwolf at least, has 8 million people using it (and it’s there that Guild Wars 2 does the best). Xfire has over 25 million registered users, it’s fair to say at least a small percentage still use it. If it’s 500,00 it’s enough people to give you an indication.

Raptr probably has as many people as Xfire now, since it was made by one of the Xfire devs who left, but offers more features.

And I don’t use any of them, but enough people do to use it as a barometer…and that’s the only way I’m using them.

Unless you think for some reasons the hundreds of thousands of people on Raptr or Xfire or Overwolf, for some reason,. like Guild Wars 2 more than everyone else who’s not on those services (which doesn’t really make sense).

And in case you didn’t see it, there are people saying the game is dying….I responded to your quote responding to another quote and just continued the conversation.

I started playing GW1, because is seemed cool. I stayed and bought Factions, Nightfall, and EotN because Anet grasped and suitably represented an ideal that had seemed to have long been forgotten by society in general.

That NO, not “everything” needs to be decided by money. That you owe your loyal players a reciprocated loyalty, and make visible, palpable, amends when a mistake is made, and you talk to them in a serious manner, and take none of their ideas for granted. That your responsibility to the craft of the game does not end once the money hits the counter. That intentional mediocrity for the sake of profit is not acceptable.

GW 2 placed a fresh face on a game I loved, better graphics, more freedom, more immersion; and at the start, those same ideals, steadfastly in place. Now. I increasingly question why, or even IF I want to play anymore. The graphics are still good, the freedom to roam is still there, the immersion is a little worn, due to time. But the ideals. The ideals that made me a player, fan, and customer; are dead.

I don’t know when or why, but someone killed them.

So maybe I keep playing for the vain hope I will see those ideals restored to the company, one day.

gathering gold for crystals to unlock the living story episodes that I have missed… 600 crystals to go
that’s about… 1 month of ‘work’ I guess

KDXX.9520:

I started playing GW1, because is seemed cool. I stayed and bought Factions, Nightfall, and EotN because Anet grasped and suitably represented an ideal that had seemed to have long been forgotten by society in general.

That NO, not “everything” needs to be decided by money. That you owe your loyal players a reciprocated loyalty, and make visible, palpable, amends when a mistake is made, and you talk to them in a serious manner, and take none of their ideas for granted. That your responsibility to the craft of the game does not end once the money hits the counter. That intentional mediocrity for the sake of profit is not acceptable.

GW 2 placed a fresh face on a game I loved, better graphics, more freedom, more immersion; and at the start, those same ideals, steadfastly in place. Now. I increasingly question why, or even IF I want to play anymore. The graphics are still good, the freedom to roam is still there, the immersion is a little worn, due to time. But the ideals. The ideals that made me a player, fan, and customer; are dead.

I don’t know when or why, but someone killed them.

So maybe I keep playing for the vain hope I will see those ideals restored to the company, one day.

This. This is the truth. :I

The reason why I wrote “The gem store ruins everything” is that most of the new skins that I consider worth getting (just my opinion!) are gem store items. Its understandable though, seeing that it is ANETs primary source of revenue or at least that’s what I’m guessing. I do realize that you can buy those armors with in game gold and if you do the entire daily dungeon tour you’ll have more than enough gold. On the other hand, it makes the game seem like work more often than not if the best way to get anything is gold.
Subscriptions theoretically give developers the freedom to do what they want without always having to consider revenue options. Anyhow, I had a lot of fun in gw2 and its a really great game. Best MMO I ever played. That’s also why I sometimes get so very angry with the current direction of the game, simply because of my (formerly) strong emotional attachment to it.

KDXX.9520:

I started playing GW1, because is seemed cool. I stayed and bought Factions, Nightfall, and EotN because Anet grasped and suitably represented an ideal that had seemed to have long been forgotten by society in general.

That NO, not “everything” needs to be decided by money. That you owe your loyal players a reciprocated loyalty, and make visible, palpable, amends when a mistake is made, and you talk to them in a serious manner, and take none of their ideas for granted. That your responsibility to the craft of the game does not end once the money hits the counter. That intentional mediocrity for the sake of profit is not acceptable.

GW 2 placed a fresh face on a game I loved, better graphics, more freedom, more immersion; and at the start, those same ideals, steadfastly in place. Now. I increasingly question why, or even IF I want to play anymore. The graphics are still good, the freedom to roam is still there, the immersion is a little worn, due to time. But the ideals. The ideals that made me a player, fan, and customer; are dead.

I don’t know when or why, but someone killed them.

So maybe I keep playing for the vain hope I will see those ideals restored to the company, one day.

Exactly.

Sadly I’m afraid no amount of hope will bring us/you back the company that made the game of your dreams~
Most of us have been disillusioned some time ago.