Guild Wars 2

RuneScape was at it’s glory days around 2007 until JaGeX started massively overhauling the game and changing starting areas, tutorials, EOC combat among many other aspects -similar to the current path that Guild Wars 2 is heading on.

JaGeX thought that players would like these changes over the years – they didn’t. Guess what happened to RuneScape? I won’t explain the details because it basically comes down to not listening to their player base (sound familiar?) but losing over 70% of your player base is kind of a big deal.

Now, JaGeX is basically reverting all of the bad changes that they made to the game in hopes to revive their game, but the reverted changes will still be totally different than what people loved and the game will become massively more confusing than they already are. Currently, there are 3 different combat modes and they are adding a new one. There are too many negative aspects to discuss, but…

…You’re heading down the same path ArenaNet!

A couple quotes from different RuneScape forums about why RuneScape died.
Do these quotes seem at all similar to the complaining about Guild Wars 2?

RSRandom

To me their attempts at making the game more appealing have only made the game seem worse (to me). It seems like its individuality and uniqueness was lost a long time ago, which I know a lot of people loved._

China/KongZhong anyone?

It started declining ages ago, pretty much as soon as IVP bought controlling interest of the company. RS3 doesn’t look too promising either.

RSRandom

Some people feel like Jagex is ignoring their community, and completely focusing on the money.

RSRandom

Jagex is definitely in decline. The management don’t listen to the players, and keep driving away large sections of the player base with unpopular changes.

RSRandom

It used to be good before they really dumbed it down so much and made it more a kid game.

RSRandom

Jagex alienated their own community by releasing the SoF and the other store. Less good updates as well, it seems that most updates these days, are for the SoF or the store thingy.

It’s not what it used to be, when we got a quest each month, with some other useful bug fixes/content.

RSRandom

People have demands, Jagex isn’t filling those demands thus making them lose players.

There was also the issue of a businessman being put in charge and then investors taking over the company with a majority share – trying to force online subscription, micro-transactions and store bought game time cards at once, but yes… all of this is still relevant.

Attract new players by actually improving the game or large amounts of new content.

But you know they’re never going to do that….

They’ll just keep adding more gem store items and dumbing the game down even more….

Even as the game slowly dies….

They won’t listen….

They won’t act….

It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

Corporate culture is ruining games.

Go with independent developers, like CIG and indie games.

At this rate we should all… run!escape!

Hey A-Net guys …………………..

I was just wondering how you guys get the idea that new players will stick longer to the game with the new starting contend ?????

If i assume i am a new player who looks for a quality game and lock into GW2.
I get exiting after i had this great character creating experience.
And what do i have to face right after ???
Dancing for cows and stroking corn ………………..
I would turn off the game instantly and never ever touch it again.
Don’t you guys have any quality management ???
I don’t even want to mention how “unlucky” the activity of “F-ing” cows is who send a lot of love to you after you F-ed them.

Is it so difficult to keep at least a mediocre level of quality ???

It wouldn’t be bad to have some class devs from Anet here talking and discussing possible changes of the classes as that would help in knowing what might come and what people would like to see.

All it takes is a little time, the devs making a few threads and making sure trolls are kept out of them

ipan.4356:

But you know they’re never going to do that….

They’ll just keep adding more gem store items and dumbing the game down even more….

Even as the game slowly dies….

They won’t listen….

They won’t act….

It’s like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

Corporate culture is ruining games.

Go with independent developers, like CIG and indie games.

This is incredibly true and sad.

Runescape has had a more twitch viewers on a regular basis than anet has even gotten for their ToL finals… that’s what is sad…when runescapes PvP is more popular than GW2…

Runescape did have its glory days and somehow, its still trucking along, but GW2 has only been out for 2 years and it seems to be heading down a bad path…Runescape didn’t do this until 5-6 years down the road, where they had a golden age of multiple years of 300k+ concurrent users…something GW2 will never hit, not like this at least

Porterhouse.6304:

Personally, I would have also said they are pulling a Star Wars Galaxies. There is a great link to the death of that game here…

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/loadFeature/714/gameID/6

Some great quotes from that article. Do they seem familiar to GW2?

“The problem is summed up nicely: Antagonizing your existing playerbase in the hopes of attracting a mythical “audience who doesn’t play, but will once we make these changes” almost never works. The “silent majority” never materializes, and your current base is alienated due to changes that they did not want.”

“While marketing campaigns no doubt contribute some assistance, true marketing comes from word of mouth. The veterans of a game are the ones who bring their friends and family to these games, and in turn they recruit more. You need to retain veterans in order to get them to bring in new customers. The veterans are also those who help out the new players to achieve veteran status themselves. We gamers all have our stories of starting an MMO, being completely lost and clueless, until a veteran came along and provided their insight and wisdom on how to progress in the game. A marketing campaign cannot achieve this, no matter how slick. With substantially fewer veterans to help out new players, their chances of sticking around are reduced, and fewer subscriptions are retained.”

I can easily picture a bunch of suits, who have never played a video game in their life, sitting around a large office table trying to come up with idea’s on how to boost sales. And if you’re not a Yes Man, you loose your job.

We’re already riding the death spiral.

Well said. That’s exactly what’s going on here.

Correct Porterhouse, I’ve recommended the game to many based on the unique experience you can have learning to play the game.
I wouldn’t recommend it as it stands now.

Porterhouse.6304:

Personally, I would have also said they are pulling a Star Wars Galaxies. There is a great link to the death of that game here…

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/loadFeature/714/gameID/6

Some great quotes from that article. Do they seem familiar to GW2?

“The problem is summed up nicely: Antagonizing your existing playerbase in the hopes of attracting a mythical “audience who doesn’t play, but will once we make these changes” almost never works. The “silent majority” never materializes, and your current base is alienated due to changes that they did not want.”

“While marketing campaigns no doubt contribute some assistance, true marketing comes from word of mouth. The veterans of a game are the ones who bring their friends and family to these games, and in turn they recruit more. You need to retain veterans in order to get them to bring in new customers. The veterans are also those who help out the new players to achieve veteran status themselves. We gamers all have our stories of starting an MMO, being completely lost and clueless, until a veteran came along and provided their insight and wisdom on how to progress in the game. A marketing campaign cannot achieve this, no matter how slick. With substantially fewer veterans to help out new players, their chances of sticking around are reduced, and fewer subscriptions are retained.”

I can easily picture a bunch of suits, who have never played a video game in their life, sitting around a large office table trying to come up with idea’s on how to boost sales. And if you’re not a Yes Man, you loose your job.

We’re already riding the death spiral.

Exactly.

And this is what we’ve been trying to get across to Anet, and they keep temp banning and deleting our threads for it.

You know, I bet the real dev’s are as sad about it as we are, but their hands are tied and they can’t do or say anything about it.

5 years from now we’ll read their true thoughts on the subject in an interview somewhere, but not here, not today.

One real expansion is all it would take to earn back the vets, which are the ones they need to keep. If you can’t keep players around, why do you expect trying to attract new players will solve anything?

Yeah sorry, but no. If you have to lie and exaggerate to make a point, then your case is weak. Too much of what has been said here about RuneScape is horribly inaccurate and I feel that someone needs to step in.

First off – the game doesn’t have four combat modes. It has two: the old one you know and love, and the “new” one that was released in 2012. Switching between the two is a matter of opening game settings and checking a box.

In the “golden years,” RuneScape used to top out at ~250k players online simultaneously. These days, it tops out at ~70k. The claim that it’s therefore lost 70% of its players might then be true were it not for the fact that bots are gone. Yeah. Bots are pretty much dead these days. Do you have any idea how many of those 250k players were bots and not real players? A crapload. 70% isn’t even close.

The claim that Jagex completely ignores its players is also bogus. They interact more with the players these days than ever before – like using social media, offering power-to-the-player polls, adding ingame Twitch support, and increased Jmod interactions, and more. Hell, two of the four updates coming out this month were requested by the players.

The game isn’t dying, either. It’s actually grown players – albeit very slowly – over the last year.

I love both GW2 and RuneScape, but don’t use lies and blind nostalgia to try and build an argument. “Pulling a RuneScape,” in GW2’s case, would be a good thing. At this rate, however, GW2 won’t last a whole lot longer.

70% is bs but yeah not many people were happy

Tharomir.6985:

One real expansion is all it would take to earn back the vets, which are the ones they need to keep. If you can’t keep players around, why do you expect trying to attract new players will solve anything?

Yes! I would buy an expansion. I’m a college student. Blueberries are a luxury item is how poor I am. I still buy every Crusader Kings 2 expansion. I would buy a GW2 expansion. This model worked for GW1. I believe it would work for GW2.

Porterhouse.6304:

Personally, I would have also said they are pulling a Star Wars Galaxies. There is a great link to the death of that game here…

http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setview/features/loadFeature/714/gameID/6

Some great quotes from that article. Do they seem familiar to GW2?

“The problem is summed up nicely: Antagonizing your existing playerbase in the hopes of attracting a mythical “audience who doesn’t play, but will once we make these changes” almost never works. The “silent majority” never materializes, and your current base is alienated due to changes that they did not want.”

“While marketing campaigns no doubt contribute some assistance, true marketing comes from word of mouth. The veterans of a game are the ones who bring their friends and family to these games, and in turn they recruit more. You need to retain veterans in order to get them to bring in new customers. The veterans are also those who help out the new players to achieve veteran status themselves. We gamers all have our stories of starting an MMO, being completely lost and clueless, until a veteran came along and provided their insight and wisdom on how to progress in the game. A marketing campaign cannot achieve this, no matter how slick. With substantially fewer veterans to help out new players, their chances of sticking around are reduced, and fewer subscriptions are retained.”

I can easily picture a bunch of suits, who have never played a video game in their life, sitting around a large office table trying to come up with idea’s on how to boost sales. And if you’re not a Yes Man, you loose your job.

We’re already riding the death spiral.

This EXACTLY describes how I feel! Great post.

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

Vikkela.7261:

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

dem feels…. karamja fishing ftw

Zackie.8923:

Vikkela.7261:

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

dem feels…. karamja fishing ftw

Wanna buy a full Mithril, m8?

Vikkela.7261:

Zackie.8923:

Vikkela.7261:

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

dem feels…. karamja fishing ftw

Wanna buy a full Mithril, m8?

hahahaha don’t scam me when you trade please

Zackie.8923:

hahahaha don’t scam me when you trade please

Haha of course not, you can trust me. Now, just follow me, past those signs with the skulls, just ignore them

Chameleon Dude.1564:

Attract new players by actually improving the game or large amounts of new content.

^This!

Vikkela.7261:

Zackie.8923:

Vikkela.7261:

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

dem feels…. karamja fishing ftw

Wanna buy a full Mithril, m8?

I’ll trim it for you if you want.

Eponet.4829:

Vikkela.7261:

Zackie.8923:

Vikkela.7261:

Ah, the good times 10 years ago, walking around wearing a CAPE, while relying on a few lobsters in my inventory to stay alive so I don’t lose my valuable items

dem feels…. karamja fishing ftw

Wanna buy a full Mithril, m8?

I’ll trim it for you if you want.