Guild Wars 2

I’ve been reading, and invloved in, several threads concerning the April Feature pack. Many people seem to really dislike some of the changes. Now I understand that many people come on to the forums to vent/complain, but with talking to my guildies, and others, more seem excited about the changes. I often see posts that a certain change will hurt players, and cause them to quit playing. But I find it hard to believe that many people after spending so much time, effort, and money into the game will just up and leave over something like a daily and monthly AP cap, or the upcoming changes to the traits.

How many people are considering ACTUALLY quitting because of this update? Or it is just blowing off steam and venting? Or threatening so that Anet will go with, or not go with, the changes they want to see?

Thoughts?

Regardless of whether you like the changes or not, none of them are a good reason to leave the game.

None of them are significant enough.

The only valid reason anyone has for leaving is that there aren’t enough changes, not that there are too many.

The forums represent such a tiny amount of people in the community, neitehr answer you would get would be representative. I think BeardRex summed it up when saying that none of the changes are a good reason to leave on their own (well in my opinion, others will vary obviously).

It’s a free to play game. People will come, people will go, people will will return.

Count me among the people heading for the exits entirely because of the nature and timing of these changes… and I used to buy a lot of gems…

Having looked at the changes as they have been described thus far, some I really like; some I am more ambivalent about; and perhaps some…not so much. That said, there is nothing that even comes remotely close to causing me to leave the game.

I think there’s a minority who isn’t happy with the overall changes. There are issues, like always. But overall, I’m happy.

I totally agree! Yet I see more and more threatening posts and threads saying that people are going to leave because of this. I was told “to get off my high horse” in a thread because I disagreed with someone about people leaving. I just don’t see it. I am curious to see if any will actually leave because of these updates.

This is actually the first game, and I’ve played a LOT, that I’m not afraid of people leaving. I honestly don’t see anything similar in depth and breadth out there that would seriously make a run against GW2. Even what I’ve seen of ESO looks like the old tired and true. I’m on the GW2 rollarcoaster at least until something significantly better comes along. As for the forums, most of the complainers here are just that, complainers. The minority state their reasons and offer a solution – the rest just vent. I can’t wait for the changes to hit – they seem to be eliminating a lot of the multi-toon grind.

The only thing that I can see causing people to leave the game, is the town clothing issue.

That is something people spent a TON of real money on, and now it is being taken away from them. They were constant supporters of Anet, giving them more than a monthly fee every month so they could customize their look via the town clothing system, and now Anet is taking away all of that and their excuse is basically “oh well, deal with it”. And Anet won’t even let them have refunds either.

So yeah, the people that have been spending money on this game and supporting it, are royally getting the shaft with this update. So I could see them leaving (or at least never spending a dime again on this game).

If Anet reacted out of fear every time someone say they are leaving or quitting because of a change made in the game. They would have been out of business years ago.

Daddar.5971:

Count me among the people heading for the exits entirely because of the nature and timing of these changes… and I used to buy a lot of gems…

Would you care to expound on that? To me the nature of the changes is a way to bring more balance to the game, and encourage people to explore different aspects of the game as a whole. As far as the timing? I personally think the timing is great. We have a breather from the last LS, people are now getting back into doing what they enjoy without feeling pressured to play the new content.

danielrjones.8759:

If Anet reacted out of fear every time someone say they are leaving or quitting because of a change made in the game. They would have been out of business years ago.

I take it you weren’t here for the November patch then eh? :p

The features pack as a overall package I like and when it is released will play GW2 a lot more.

Not been playing at all recently because I have nothing to do in game and rewards in GW2 are boring, uninspiring and generally rubbish. I play GW2 just for content, I play other games for exciting rewards/drops.

Also, even through as I said I like the features package and think its great as a whole. There are small bits of it I hate, mainly the negative nerfs and some of the stuff that’s being permanently deleted from the game as a whole. Those drive me crazy mad!

SpyderArachnid.5619:

The only thing that I can see causing people to leave the game, is the town clothing issue.

That is something people spent a TON of real money on, and now it is being taken away from them. They were constant supporters of Anet, giving them more than a monthly fee every month so they could customize their look via the town clothing system, and now Anet is taking away all of that and their excuse is basically “oh well, deal with it”. And Anet won’t even let them have refunds either.

So yeah, the people that have been spending money on this game and supporting it, are royally getting the shaft with this update. So I could see them leaving (or at least never spending a dime again on this game).

I don’t see where the town clothes are being affected much at all. Yeah the basic ones will go away and be replaced by tonics. (I read default set you start with) but all the other outfits you bought though the gem store will still be available.

“Town Clothes sold through the gem store as outfits, such as the Pirate Captain’s Outfit, will be usable as a single outfit skin through the Wardrobe. Purchasing an outfit will unlock it for all characters on your account to use. Outfits will replace the look of equipped armors, are equipped in a separate appearance slot, and do not require Transmutation Charges to use. Single items, such as the Fuzzy Hats and Scarlet’s Spaulders, will be unlocked for your entire account and usable with any armor weight. Some basic clothing items that are no longer available for purchase will be converted into endless tonics.”

Normally I cringe when someone passes off valid criticisms as belonging only to the “vocal minority,” but I do think the term applies here. I’ve offered up some complaints and maybe even been a part of that negativity, myself, but have no plans to stop playing. I’m sure there are plenty of others in the same boat.

The thing about human nature is that we are quick to provide criticism but slow to provide gratitude. Most people that are enjoying their time do not come to the forums. They keep playing and having fun. You only ever hear from the players who are unhappy and feel the need to vent or provide their opinion of how things should run because they feel mistreated.

Im excited about allll updates, only downside i might see is that if somebody has 2 legendary weapons, or bought the same armor skin for 800 gems just for their different chars. But what the hell else is there to complain lol.

BeardRex.6739:

The only valid reason anyone has for leaving is that there aren’t enough changes, not that there are too many.

This. I’d like to see more changes. The Wardrobe and Dye systems both feel major. Traits are… well, it’ll be annoying but I’ll live with it. Personally I’d rather see personal/guild housing, additional weapon options and utility/elite skills for the professions, crafted precursors, and a few more minor convenience additions (a 20 slot bag shared across all characters, accessible from the inventory).

I’ll probably end up spending more on gems because the value of skins from the gem store and dyes is worth more to me now, moving forward, since I can use them on all my alts!

I know some friends that have duplicate legendaries that aren’t quitting. I didn’t spend a legendary monetary amount to get double Fused dagger skins, but it would be significant to someone else, I’m sure – and I’m not quitting. <3

No. In fact, everyone I speak to in game is overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and quality of the upcoming updates. At best there are small problems here and there to most people, but on the whole these seem to be viewed very positively.

I have no problem with any part of the update server for plex being added to SPvP. All of it sounds absolutely amazing and I’m totally blown away personally.

Quite the contrary.

I have four or five friends who will be coming back to the game after I mentioned the wardrobe and dye changes.

I think stopping a game for unsignifical matters is stupid..

Regardless of the downsides to these changes/additions, the positive aspects vastly outweigh all the negative. Got to make some sacrifices for the greater good. There’s definitely some things I myself don’t like, like the town clothes butchering but the Wardrobe overall is a must-have if that’s what it takes.

Anyone who’s leaving feel free to mail me your stuff. I plan on closing this game down. :P

I can see people leaving the game because these feature changes are too little too late… but leaving because of the changes — it doesn’t seem like there are many people who will do that.

I actually know people who are coming back just because of the patch

I think the issue is that the changes brought to the game’s systems, while major quality of life improvements and such for the players, still aren’t addressing the real problem; there is no end game, at least, not one that requires intense grinding.

When I first started playing, the end-game to me seemed like making a Legendary. A Legendary would become the last thing for my character to do before they were complete. When I saw I’d need stacks of 250 of every Tier 6 mat like blood and dust, on top of having to shell out 10G per ‘Gift,’ recipe I needed, my reaction was, ‘Lolnope!’

That didn’t come off as end game to me. It came off as one of those masochistic challenges for people who seriously enjoyed it. The fact that the Legendaries weren’t even much more powerful than exotics likewise turned me off from it.

Guild Wars 2 -needs- some kind of end-game content. All it has is grinding. The Living Story was a good idea, but it ultimately ended up being… well… temporary. We need permanent content. Especially if it helps with the insane crafting requirements for Ascended and Legendaries.

It’s usually “haterz” who spam the forums while regular people play the game, so you shouldn’t take every comment here with heart. Talk to your guildies and comment and see the real issue. A lot of people get caught up on the forums so it’s not a good measure appropriate criticism.

Nah, if anything I think some of these changes will bring some people back.

• Some people have threatened to and will leave the game.
• Others have threatened to leave but won’t. Could be they’re using the threat as a means to get their dissatisfaction across to the developer.
• Others like the changes and will stay.
• Some who’ve left may come back as a result of these features.

All updates to a game are a mixed bag. No matter how positive they look to be to one person, someone else will find a way they make his game experience worse. No update in any game is going to please everyone. So, will there be an exodus as a result of the patch? No, though there will probably be some churn.

As much as I criticize ArenaNet, this patch does have some good changes in it. The only real rowdy people I see are the ones against the crit damage nerf and it was known since day 1 that cirt/critdmg was way over the top. If you somehow subscribed that it was okay then the varying levels of crit dmg per point of other stats on gear was a red flag that logicially it would get fixed. Even with some of the changes being bad this patch at least shows that ArenaNet is starting to actually make big changes to the game. If they can continue to do so every 3 months then GW2 will be better off than it was for the past 1.5 years. If they actually start consulting the community and listening, not these ignored CDI threads, they will be even better off. Through in a test server and you’ll definitely have people taking off the life jackets.

Anyone threatening to leave the game at the first real sign that ArenaNet is finally willing to make changes is bonkers. The real test is the patches after this one. They’ve already said offhand that the crit damage change was done in order for further changes to happen. Will conditions be addressed in both PvE and PVP? Maybe CDI stuff will actually be implemented?! This patch is just a door, what’s behind the door is what will determine if players leave or stay.

It doesn’t matter if they leave.

This is Guild Wars.

They will come back. They always come back. I can’t count how many people gave away accounts and ended up buying new ones to play again.

It’s simply inevitable.

@SpyderArachnid.5619 been here from the start, still loving it. If I didn’t wouldn’t be here.

don’t know….don’t really care. i like the game and will play it casually as long as they keep it going. But i think it would be really wise for Anet to balance/bug fix/add permanent features more often than they currently do (ideally once a month). If it means living story stuff is once a month or every 6 weeks, so be it.

as for patch……great QoL changes…..garbage new GM traits (and likely poor balance of existing traits/skills)….and jury is still out on sigil/rune changes.

Count me as one coming back because of the changes.

danielrjones.8759:

@SpyderArachnid.5619 been here from the start, still loving it. If I didn’t wouldn’t be here.

I wasn’t meaning you were going to quit or anything. I think you misunderstood what I said.

SpyderArachnid.5619:

danielrjones.8759:

If Anet reacted out of fear every time someone say they are leaving or quitting because of a change made in the game. They would have been out of business years ago.

I take it you weren’t here for the November patch then eh? :p

I was saying that the November patch is exactly what you described. The introduction of Ascended gear. It was a panic move to save players quitting who wanted vertical progression. Cause if you remember (since you’ve been here since the beginning), GW2 was a horizontal progression game. But the “mmo jumpers” wanted vertical progression and complained and threatened to leave. So they started quitting, and Anet panicked and released Ascended gear to cater to the vertical progression crowd.

Anet admitted it themselves. So yeah, Anet does cater to quitters if there is enough of them leaving for the same reasons.

pdavis.8031:

SpyderArachnid.5619:

The only thing that I can see causing people to leave the game, is the town clothing issue.

That is something people spent a TON of real money on, and now it is being taken away from them. They were constant supporters of Anet, giving them more than a monthly fee every month so they could customize their look via the town clothing system, and now Anet is taking away all of that and their excuse is basically “oh well, deal with it”. And Anet won’t even let them have refunds either.

So yeah, the people that have been spending money on this game and supporting it, are royally getting the shaft with this update. So I could see them leaving (or at least never spending a dime again on this game).

I don’t see where the town clothes are being affected much at all. Yeah the basic ones will go away and be replaced by tonics. (I read default set you start with) but all the other outfits you bought though the gem store will still be available.

They won’t be actually. They are all being turned into tonics, except for a few head pieces and a couple others. And we all know how well tonics work in this game.

The issue is, people paid money for these items to be able to mix and match them and dye them how they wish. Now, as tonics, you are not allowed to mix and match and you can’t dye them the way you choose anymore. And to top it off, you now have to pay to use the skins, when before they were free to swap out.

So no more mixing and matching, no more choosing dyes for multiple pieces, and now you have to pay to change your outfit when it was free before. And they are tonics now.

There will be an influx of players. I lead a medium sized guild and none of my active players are anything but happy about it. I even have players that haven’t played in months that will be returning.

Some will leave. Will it be “an exodus”? No.

Some will think about leaving, and continue playing. But they’ll play less and less, the game having lost some of it’s appeal. Also, if their friends quit or play less, that makes it all the easier to stop playing. (This is me, by the way.)

Some don’t care, at all. They’ll adjust to the changes and keep right on playing, neither liking or disliking them.

Some will come back. If they stay or not will depend on what they think of what they find. Some will, some won’t.

And some love the changes and are here to stay.

clarkcd.6532:

I plan on closing this game down. :P

You may get your wish sooner than you’d like.

Let’s be honest here, the important thing is how well this game will do in China. Even if it sells well at first, if it doesn’t have staying power, then the game will be doomed. NCSoft will kill it, as they have other games before, if it doesn’t make enough money. Just making a profit isn’t enough for them, if every $1 they invest in this game gets them $2 back, but Wildstar brings back $3 for every $1, they’ll throw it under the bus and put all their money behind Wildstar. Or for whatever other game they think is a better use of their money.

So, will it do well in China? I’m sorry, but I don’t really see a reason to think it will. Yes, this game has some core features that set it apart, but not by much and they’ve done very little to build on them. There are also other areas (guild functions, housing, wardrobe) where it’s painfully behind the average of what’s coming out soon, or out already. Add in the fact that absolutely ALL of that market has missed the entirety of LS Season 1, and I think there’s good reason to ask why anyone would think the game would do well enough over there to keep NCSoft supporting it.

There are three blogs remaining. ANet had better lube up some crowbars because if they don’t pull/pry out something big, this time next year GW2 may face the same exodus CoH hit.

The final one.

There will always be people who leave because of an update, even fairly innocuous ones. The question is will more people start/keep playing because of the update than those that leave.

How many PvPers hated that their progress was basically meaningless in the higher context of the game. Some of those guys could start playing again.

People have left and rejoined all along. I see posts on reddit almost every day by people who stopped playing six months or a year ago and now they’re back, asking that has changed.

I’m pretty sure this update won’t hurt the game over all, and it will probably help the game considerably.

I don’t think anyone will actually leave the game because of those changes specifically. It doesn’t mean this patch won’t end up in people leaving however. Some will leave because they waited for more meaningful changes, and didn’t get them. Others were already one foot in the door, due to many previous issues and some of the more problematic changes in this one will finally make the decision for them.
Yes, some people will return, but…

Nage.1520:

I see posts on reddit almost every day by people who stopped playing six months or a year ago and now they’re back, asking that has changed.

The answer (so far) always remains the same – of the things that made those people leave, nothing has really changed (or at least not for the better).

People that stopped playing for longer time for reasons other than pure RL sometimes decide to come back, but they never stay long. They end up leaving again eventually.
Only some really meaningful changes for the better can really bring people back. This patch isn’kitten

so you think the ascended gear was a last ditch effort to stop people from leaving? If so the people who work at anet must be exceptional to put that content out in such a short time. I on the other hand believe ascended has been in the works for much longer. But since I don’t work there, its just an opinion.

Exodius.3087:

Im excited about allll updates, only downside i might see is that if somebody has 2 legendary weapons, or bought the same armor skin for 800 gems just for their different chars. But what the hell else is there to complain lol.

This is going to happen to me, but i’m not going to quit over it. If anything, I have left over pieces just sitting in my bank gathering dust.

If anything, all I ask for is getting transmutation charges for them, thats all.

No there will not be an exodus. People that enjoy GW2 will stay. Most of the new features so far are great for those that enjoy GW2 and are QOL updates. People that don’t enjoy GW2 will continue to post here because they feel like it is their mission to trash the game. These are the people that, as much as I hate to say it, GW2 is not for them and they should explore other options. But they will still post here and scream their hate for the game. Because why not? I suppose they feel they will encourage others to hate the game too. Really I don’t get it. It seems like they are just wasting their time to me when they could be off enjoying whatever game it is they enjoy.

I’m not seeing an exodus. In fact a few friend are coming back as problems are fixed.

Astralporing.1957:

I don’t think anyone will actually leave the game because of those changes specifically. It doesn’t mean this patch won’t end up in people leaving however. Some will leave because they waited for more meaningful changes, and didn’t get them. Others were already one foot in the door, due to many previous issues and some of the more problematic changes in this one will finally make the decision for them.
Yes, some people will return, but…

Nage.1520:

I see posts on reddit almost every day by people who stopped playing six months or a year ago and now they’re back, asking that has changed.

The answer (so far) always remains the same – of the things that made those people leave, nothing has really changed (or at least not for the better).

People that stopped playing for longer time for reasons other than pure RL sometimes decide to come back, but they never stay long. They end up leaving again eventually.
Only some really meaningful changes for the better can really bring people back. This patch isn’kitten

I don’t know. Some people stopped playing PvP because it wasn’t rewarding. It’s now more rewarding. That’s one thing that’s changed.

Some people stopped playing the game because of bugs to their favorite profession and many of those are being fixed.

Some people stopped playing the game because they like the idea of town clothes but they couldn’t do anything with them, because you could only use them in towns.

Some people stopped playing the game because of the ascended armor grind and having multiple alts.

There ARE changes happening that can bring some people back.

And no one knows what the meta will be like three months after these changes, so yeah…I’m not quite sure what you mean.

Edit: Oh and some people left because they hated Scarlet. Our next LS is going to be against a dragon which some people will find more interesting.

Nage.1520:

Edit: Oh and some people left because they hated Scarlet. Our next LS is going to be against a dragon which some people will find more interesting.

Just to be clear here, where have the devs said that we’ll be going up against a dragon?

Yes, that’s what it appears that they’ve set up, but have they actually said that we’ll be facing off with it at any point? Have they even said we’ll be facing its minions?

Palador.2170:

Some will leave. Will it be “an exodus”? No.

Some will think about leaving, and continue playing. But they’ll play less and less, the game having lost some of it’s appeal. Also, if their friends quit or play less, that makes it all the easier to stop playing. (This is me, by the way.)

Some don’t care, at all. They’ll adjust to the changes and keep right on playing, neither liking or disliking them.

Some will come back. If they stay or not will depend on what they think of what they find. Some will, some won’t.

And some love the changes and are here to stay.

clarkcd.6532:

I plan on closing this game down. :P

You may get your wish sooner than you’d like.

Let’s be honest here, the important thing is how well this game will do in China. Even if it sells well at first, if it doesn’t have staying power, then the game will be doomed. NCSoft will kill it, as they have other games before, if it doesn’t make enough money. Just making a profit isn’t enough for them, if every $1 they invest in this game gets them $2 back, but Wildstar brings back $3 for every $1, they’ll throw it under the bus and put all their money behind Wildstar. Or for whatever other game they think is a better use of their money.

So, will it do well in China? I’m sorry, but I don’t really see a reason to think it will. Yes, this game has some core features that set it apart, but not by much and they’ve done very little to build on them. There are also other areas (guild functions, housing, wardrobe) where it’s painfully behind the average of what’s coming out soon, or out already. Add in the fact that absolutely ALL of that market has missed the entirety of LS Season 1, and I think there’s good reason to ask why anyone would think the game would do well enough over there to keep NCSoft supporting it.

There are three blogs remaining. ANet had better lube up some crowbars because if they don’t pull/pry out something big, this time next year GW2 may face the same exodus CoH hit.

The final one.

FenrirSlakt.3692:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDii69YCh_Q

I present to you a bit of information about NCSoft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCSOFT

Note the list of closed games. It’s not just one or two, and it includes MMOs. If you want a bit more fun, feel free to read further down about the protests about CoH shutting down, and the Richard Garriott lawsuits. Interesting stuff there, and you can easily find information about it beyond Wikipedia.

Basically, if they think they have reason to, NCSoft will kill any game they have, and bury it in a shallow grave. It doesn’t matter if the players of the game love it or not, they’ll kill it anyway and put their money elsewhere.

And where would that “elsewhere” be? Well, there’s always Lineage 3 to support, for starters.

Palador.2170:

FenrirSlakt.3692:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDii69YCh_Q

I present to you a bit of information about NCSoft: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCSOFT

Note the list of closed games. It’s not just one or two, and it includes MMOs. If you want a bit more fun, feel free to read further down about the protests about CoH shutting down, and the Richard Garriott lawsuits. Interesting stuff there, and you can easily find information about it beyond Wikipedia.

Basically, if they think they have reason to, NCSoft will kill any game they have, and bury it in a shallow grave. It doesn’t matter if the players of the game love it or not, they’ll kill it anyway and put their money elsewhere.

And where would that “elsewhere” be? Well, there’s always Lineage 3 to support, for starters.

Oh, yes, I can pull out wikipedia links too and perhaps just as well as I can with youtube links..

You see, most of the closed games on that list were not very famous to begin with. In fact, the only two whose names I can recall are CoH and LA, and kitten , both did last quite a while. Now, Lineage is still available, just not the NA server. That said, MMOs going active and then dead is a very natural part of the cycle, so it’s not something to shed tears about.

I’m not a fan of NCSoft either, to be honest, but I don’t see GW2 dying as soon as you’re claiming. Yes, it will die someday, just like every game out there. When? I don’t know.