Dear ArenaNet,
Map completion has always been a GW2 achievement. One of many optional achievements players could elect to go after in the game. After completing our personal story and dungeons in the core game many of us did not elect to do map completion because… Well, because it can be quite boring! Although not grind, it’s just not a lot of fun and takes a very long time to complete.
So why have you chosen to make it so players who elected and finished the map completion achievement in the core game are now gifted going into HoT with over half of their Ellie Specialization unlocked?!? These players and only these players are the ones who will get to experience most of the HoT content with their Elite Specialization play mechanic. That is what has so many of us very upset.
Seeing this as a gift to those who elected and performed map competition is just a perspective. Another valid perspective is that you have chosen to punish those who elected to spend their GW2 end-game time in WvW, PvP, Fracticals or one of many other paths other than map competition that you made available to us in the core game and encouraged us to find whatever path was most fun. Why are we now being punished for making a decision other than map completion?
A big part of your marketing for the core game was focused on anti-grind philosophy. Many of us have limited time in game. Many of us picked your game because of the emphasis you put on being casual player friendly. How is punishing players who did not get map competition in the core game in line with the original tenants of your GW2 manifesto?
With other MMOs I would say it’s the sort of thing that should be expected but other MMOs weren’t pulling players in on with a manifesto of building a better MMO for the causal players. Given the original manifesto and the lack of a public amendment to it, as a company do you really believe the Elite Specialization unlock system is just? Is it ethical?
A player who has completed the core game has 214 hero challenge points going into HoT. As implemented,the Elite Specialization unlock will require a player without the 218 hero challenge points to work through map completion of the first two maps of HoT and most of the third map. You’ve designed it so a character who has not done map completion doesn’t really get to make an effective Elite Spec build for level 80 zones until they are over 70% done with the content of HoT!!!! Have you considered that from the perspective of the gamer? Do you see why so many are upset? From our perspective you have made it so the Elite Specialization has become part of our reward for finishing HoT and not a functional part of playing though HoT.
ArenaNet, you have some of the brightest minds in the industry working in your office. Developers, artist, designers, writers people I deeply respect. I’m not a professional game designer, but I have studied game design and read many books on theory of design and I don’t understand something that seems so core to the novelity of the game’s play an end-game reward? Doesn’t the Mastery training offer an excellent progression path on it’s own?. You could have made a big part of the Elite Spec end-game reward. For example the unique skins could have been a progression path that’s available after the entire Elite trait line and utilities are all unlocked.
The bottom line is you could have kept a great deal of achievement based progression on the Elite Specializations and still allowed even players without all the core game hero challenge points the ability to use the unique play mechanics of their elite’s very early on in the game. The only rational I can come to for your decision is that you believe the approach as designed will funnel more players to the gem store/cash shop.
As a casual player I am all for the gem store. I love the gem store, but for a publisher to take the unique and fun play mechanics of a game like HoT and rip them apart and turn them into some end game reward that will just encourage players to grind hero points and xp is just very disappointing.
Heart of Thorns is a beautiful expansion. During the BWEs being able to enter these beautiful maps with unique play mechanics of the Elite’s right away, made it truly feel like a new game. I’m very disappointed you made the decision to take that away from all of us. I don’t think what you’ve chosen is ethical. I think you’ll find in these forms many here don’t either. I hope and trust you will do the right thing and find some way to make so more causal players and players who did not get map competition have some options open to them other than to spend the 30-60 hours needed to run their character around he core game maps doing hero challenges 1 point at a time.
Regards,
A long time fan
(edited by SamTheGuardian.2938)