Guild Wars 2

Now we got a week to digest the news. Gather the interviews and what do we get in the end?

TL:DR
We got a lot of work in progress stuff shown, which they want to get in with HoT. However they only showed what they are focused on, not if it will b viable in the end.
HoT seems to be nothing more than a stepping stone, for further content like the Living Story. An experiment to see how they could push the game further.

What will we get?
We got promises and they have shown us some stuff people were asking for. Which is good, till you think about how much time it has been since the release of the game.
Everything shown were mostly things we asked for since day one.
However will we ge the amount and depth we are hoping for?
Some interviews might disagree.

Reading the recent reddit topic, Pax Afterparty Lessons learned , I am taking off my rose tinted glasses and try to look through the mist of the hype.

New Weapons
Acording to Colin, we won`t get new weapon types. The polearm in the trailer were just the artists having fun.
The only new weapons we will get is through spacialization and these will be old.

I personaly do not understand that. They seem to have the animations ready. Why not give the specializations a polearm, instead of an old weapon? It`s not like they wouldn`t just take the underwaterweapon models. The workload would be the same as with every other weapon in the end (aside from alocating all skins to land?)

New Borderlands
Work in progress. They build it, but have now idea how it will work or how they will implement it.

GvG
Yeah, it`s still PvP type. They said they do not have enough people to cater to a dedicated fourth type. They have no real idea how to handle it.

Masteries
While we can get stuff outside of HoT, new abilities will be only in the new zones.
This for me is not an expansion to my character, but a gimmick for a certain area. Like Zephirite chrystals, or bumper pads.

Spezialisations
We only get one and “all it does” is shifting the mainclass towards a new direction.
We get some new skills, traits and a new weapon type, while loosing others , for balance.
It is a poor mans subclass system in my book, since for me I see mostly a crippled mainclass. GW2 was allready restricted with the amount of skills and traits you could put on your character at any given time. So this could have been archieved by just adding the new stuff, since it appears we won`t get any other benefits, traditional subclass systems offer (unique armor, weapons, questlines, etc. )

However, I agree in terms of balancing, that it makes sense. It just feels like we got just 1 1/4 new classes, at most. Hope for a Samurai class with Cantha

Futhermore, under the assumption: Nothing is ready right now , the reason we aren`t shown any other specizialisations is simply that they are still tuning them, if they actually have an idea.

Fazit (mostly out of time for mre. Got to work)
Right now, given their trackrecord, I am really concerned about what we will get in the end. We are the testing ground for new features since the release. The LS is the open beta test for so many systems right now. I feel like we are back in season 1 at the moment all the things we are shown might crumble away.
For all the Hype , my stance on Anet at the moment is really unsecure. We were shown pretty graphics, heard some fancy words, but with no date and so many unanswered questions hanging in the air, it feels like they bit up more than they could chew.
I am more scared for a big burn, than hyped. Anet has played this card too often for me.

Remember that they have actually likely been working on this for quite awhile, there will even be a working demo in less than 6 weeks. They’re not announcing something they’ve just started.

Alright well what I think you should understand is that they didn’t go into this “with no idea how it will work or how it will be implemented.” That just isn’t intelligent development and a video game studio like Anet would not go and throw something out there that they haven’t been creating and planning for quite some time.

Sure people are going to feel like we should have gotten some of this stuff at release or at least soon after, however you have to account for the fact that GW2 was stepping into a different direction with MMORPGs and also that people whine and complain and beg for things, things that are being added in this expansion, and then when they announce such things are being released the other people whine and complain and beg about things that “could be different” or “should have been added”.

That is not our place to decide, not to mention quite a few of the things being introduced into this expansion, like specializations, are going to be foundations for further content releases and how they further advance professions and other mechanics of the game.

Relax.

Parts of the OP remind me of a quote from Hitchhiker’s Guide.

“In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move.”

Just replace Universe with either: expansion, GvG, New Borderlands, and/or Masteries.

It is too late to stop the hype train. But what we know about the paid expansion right now is, that it seems fairly small.

Doesn’t mean that it will be bad or anything, but “expanding the GW2 universe” sounded sort of huge. But in the end you can grow a whole universe by just adding and inch and it still expanded.

We will have to wait and see. Let’s just hope we do not end up with a single zone being a gigantic jumping puzzle and you need to grind mastery so you can solve it…

you cant fight with a staff like rytlock did, it will break in minuts

I am just saying that many of the things aren`t ready at the moment and everything they have said is taken with a lot of caution.
They made a lot of promises on how they want things to be.

It also begs the question on how we should judge the whole “expansion”.
They said themselves: It`s setting the groundwork for things to come
However, aren`t they already doing that?
Don`t they have several groundworks in place?
How much more do they need?

We got the base game, this is elevated through the LS and Feature Packs to something I jokingly call Guild Wars 2 2.0.
Isn`t their way of providing content in GW2 right now the supposed groundwork?

Aside from the fact that it is bundled with an apparent “big story and lore” part, it is basically things which are still being worked on (beta?) and mostly on the level of FP changes (hopefully more refined).

I am burned, I admit. However I am also very excited about the whole stuff.
That doesn`t changes the fact however that with all their PR-Hype, they did not show much confidence in their work. That things are on the table, but might be released at another point.
These are things we heard for over 2 years.
If they wanted to show confidence, then there would have been an release date with the reveal.
There would be no “we will begin testing” or “we build it, but are not entirely sure how to use it”.

Again, I am excited for this expansion. I am just saying that we should be really careful.

I really hope they put out an blog post, take all of the big questions and answer them sincerely.

No PR. If they don`t think it will make it into the expansion, than they should just say so.
If the art team had fun with spears, then say that they won`t be in.
It is not right that we have to run through interviews, subreddits, etc. just to get simple answers.

That`s how a big amount of hype get`s created, however after the high, comes the fall.

Yes. I believe the expansion will be good. It will look and sound amazing. It might even be challenging.
They should take that as confidence and not the out of control hype train.
Please, clear things up

Rich Fuel.7253:

you cant fight with a staff like rytlock did, it will break in minuts

It’s maaaaaaagic.

With it, little is impossible

It’s pretty funny to see how you’re twisting everything from real interviews to make it looks bad, continue please!

Man you guys really like to complain, but lets not forget the most important bit of news they put out regarding things like masteries. We can take a mordrem’s skin and presumably beat them with it. Score one for tyria, two I guess for selling zhaitan’s tail for karma to the priory.

Shirogatsu.3150:

It’s pretty funny to see how you’re twisting everything from real interviews to make it looks bad, continue please!

So saying that not everything is roses and rainbows is a bad thing?
Never said all will be bad. I asked a question. I asked, if it will be as good as they proclaimed.

It is not a unfounded question if you ask me. Of course we have to wait and see.

No new weapon type has been confirmed. (People were wishing for it and it was seen in the trailer, so hype was there)

Some things are still a work in progress (guessing finalizing the specializations, implementing the new maps, etc. ), or unsure how they implement it. (It was a lot said, but not a lot shown. PR or because it is unfinished. Interviews say that the WvW and PvP parts are still a work in progress)

Masteries have been confirmed to mostly affect the new areas, but you are able to get mastery points outside. (Which is is a good thing, however it has to be seen in how much it ends up being a gimmick. I do not believe the language mastery, for example, will allow us to talk to races outside of the new content)

GvG is not a real focus, since they won`t introduce a new playstyle, due to the fact that they don`t have enough manpower. (understandable, don`t know how the GvG community likes that, though. However I guess they are happy to get at least something)
Subsequently GvG is “just” a new PvP mode (which is not bad. It does what it should)

So please tell me, how is all of that bad? These are honest answers from the devs. This is all actually good news, because it is not based on hype and speculations.
Even discouraging news, can be good.
They create a much more realistic picture of the things we might get, than saying that all is good and there is no bad news out there.

Jaken.6801:

So saying that not everything is roses and rainbows is a bad thing?
Never said all will be bad. I asked a question. I asked, if it will be as good as they proclaimed.

I still think this is something people have to decide for themselves. Hyping the game is stupid but trying to badmouth the game for others is just as stupid.

Albert Einstein once said that imagination will always be more important than intelligence, since imagination has no limits.
I highly doubt that every expectation from our imaginations will be met, but I still think the expansion has shown enough to be a fun piece of software. So why not join the hypetrain for a while?

Nanashi.6297:

Jaken.6801:

So saying that not everything is roses and rainbows is a bad thing?
Never said all will be bad. I asked a question. I asked, if it will be as good as they proclaimed.

I still think this is something people have to decide for themselves. Hyping the game is stupid but trying to badmouth the game for others is just as stupid.

Wait. Am I really badmouthing? I just pulled out info devs (appearently) said, that is not hype conform and I am the bad guy?

Saying that things will be good, but maybe not on the level people expect?
Saying that there is still room for doubt and initial appearance might be missleading.

I learned something new.

tekfan.3179:

Albert Einstein once said that imagination will always be more important than intelligence, since imagination has no limits.
I highly doubt that every expectation from our imaginations will be met, but I still think the expansion has shown enough to be a fun piece of software. So why not join the hypetrain for a while?

Well, that`s something I can get behind. (hey, I want my reveant. Just waiting for the next char slot discount. I am also pretty hyped for the new areas and story.)

Neverless, I am just being cautious, since I have been burned before.

Info is coming starting next week (said Gaile).
Playable demo in 6 weeks (how expansive remains to be seen).
“It’s going to go fast now”.

I think them saying we haven’t pinned this and that down is just them being cautious with the info. We know Anet likes to control the info output (and thus the hype?). Just step of the hype train and wait for the info to drip in. The ‘deep dives’ are coming soon.

I hope this isn’t the case. If so, then truly Arena Net is unique in their approach. Most MMOs strive to ship completed features with their expansions, not stepping stones to new content. Things like epic and complete story lines , new progression systems, and complete continents/regions are the expectations of MMO expansion packs. Colin’s comments on the team not being large enough for a fourth game play mode is concerning, as I now have to wonder with the amount of stepping stones being considered expansion worthy features if Arena Net is large enough to produce an MMO expansion at all. Tentatively, I think some of the features look like worthy expansion features, like the Mastery system, but I’m not without my concerns on the other features, mostly due to lack of information on them. The news about there being only a single path of profession advancement ¹ certainly makes me wonder about the rest of these features.

¹ – “Specialization” is not the correct term if there is only one path.

Jaken.6801:

Nanashi.6297:

Jaken.6801:

So saying that not everything is roses and rainbows is a bad thing?
Never said all will be bad. I asked a question. I asked, if it will be as good as they proclaimed.

I still think this is something people have to decide for themselves. Hyping the game is stupid but trying to badmouth the game for others is just as stupid.

Wait. Am I really badmouthing? I just pulled out info devs (appearently) said, that is not hype conform and I am the bad guy?

Saying that things will be good, but maybe not on the level people expect?
Saying that there is still room for doubt and initial appearance might be missleading.

I learned something new.

I guess I should stop expecting people to read between lines. I only used your first sentence for a reason. The reason is that my answer was meant for everybody and not just for you.

A thread title like that will pull in EVERYBODY. Including people who just want to hate on the game for whatever reasons.

butch.8136:

Info is coming starting next week (said Gaile).
Playable demo in 6 weeks (how expansive remains to be seen).
“It’s going to go fast now”.

I think them saying we haven’t pinned this and that down is just them being cautious with the info. We know Anet likes to control the info output (and thus the hype?). Just step of the hype train and wait for the info to drip in. The ‘deep dives’ are coming soon.

I think she said early February. That could be up to two more weeks (from this Friday), which is what I’m guessing. If it starts next week, I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Nanashi.6297:

Jaken.6801:

Nanashi.6297:

Jaken.6801:

So saying that not everything is roses and rainbows is a bad thing?
Never said all will be bad. I asked a question. I asked, if it will be as good as they proclaimed.

I still think this is something people have to decide for themselves. Hyping the game is stupid but trying to badmouth the game for others is just as stupid.

Wait. Am I really badmouthing? I just pulled out info devs (appearently) said, that is not hype conform and I am the bad guy?

Saying that things will be good, but maybe not on the level people expect?
Saying that there is still room for doubt and initial appearance might be missleading.

I learned something new.

I guess I should stop expecting people to read between lines. I only used your first sentence for a reason. The reason is that my answer was meant for everybody and not just for you.

A thread title like that will pull in EVERYBODY. Including people who just want to hate on the game for whatever reasons.

I am sorry then. Saw that as an extension of your first sentence.
However, i hope I made clear that I am not hating on the game (a certain degree is allowed though. Can`t please everybody, right? )

You have some good reasons to be concerned.

But why do you care to stop the hype train? I understand You’ve observed and put on your cautionary brakes because you don’t want to be disappointed but why do you care if others buy into the hype or not?

Lazaar.9123:

Remember that they have actually likely been working on this for quite awhile, there will even be a working demo in less than 6 weeks. They’re not announcing something they’ve just started.

This. They have planned releases for info. Which is why they not doing a lot of talking.

That’s why they let the trait thread go for 100+ pages without updating us.

They can’t reveal much until their planned events which they paid for floor space for.

But I agree with the OP in many ways.

If today’s patch is any indication, we won’t be getting any content until this thing comes out.

A working demo in 6 weeks? That we get to play? Or does that mean they will demo it for us and we can watch?

Johje Holan.4607:

A working demo in 6 weeks? That we get to play? Or does that mean they will demo it for us and we can watch?

ANET mentioned they will try to have a working beta in 6 weeks, at the next PAX east in Boston, first weekend of March. So you only get a chance to play it, or more likely watch someone else play it, if you are going to that PAX.

It was also stated in MMOhuts interview that there will be a beta opening soon after the demo at PAX. And also according to this interview, they’re been working on the expansion for quite awhile:

Imo this isn’t an expansion, it is a big update. We’ve had big updates in the past, for free. They need to look at fundamental issues that have been asked for ages, like learning how to implement the camera (FoV) in fast PvP action etc., and not least of all a proper balance pass of all classes.

Well it’s not going to be free, and we don’t have enough details yet to judge how much content it has. All we know is sort of how the specialization and mastery systems will work.

Vague Memory.2817:

Imo this isn’t an expansion, it is a big update. We’ve had big updates in the past, for free. They need to look at fundamental issues that have been asked for ages, like learning how to implement the camera (FoV) in fast PvP action etc., and not least of all a proper balance pass of all classes.

That’s the one issue with Guild Wars 2 living story, we’ve been given small scale expansion content in small portions since launch so it’s hard for them to call something an expansion and have everyone hooked on the fact that it’s different to a normal living story update.

It’s an expansion for a few reasons:
1. New class and 9 new specialisations. New classes and skill sets are usually reserved for expansion content in most mmos (not all, lets not get into that argument)
2. Large chunk of story, as opposed to small dribbles of story that the living story provides, this expansion will likely have a whole seasons worth of story content.
3. Higher quality content (with possible raid like content) with the living story coming out every 2 weeks the quality of the content can be a hit or a miss but with an expansion like this where people have been working on the story, art and level design for years they won’t likely have to make any last minute changes before release.

New map areas and the masteries whilst being nice and fitting into the expansion content, is nothing more than what they’ve given us in the past feature packs so I would consider them “lovely extras” rather than expansion content.

And you never know, they might add some quality of life changes too, like FOV settings to let us make the most out of the highly vertical maps they’ve made. Also, the specialisations are set to give classes skills and traits that they were lacking in an attempt to balance classes actively, giving players more options and with the option of adding more specialisations in future, it’s set to be a great addition to the game, in my opinion.

I think you all should note that the link in the OP is all hearsay. We don’t know what exactly was said it was written in the players words not verbatim and interperatation of words is subjective often.

We all have seen it time and again Anet says something and someone or many someones twist what was said to make it mean something it didn’t.

Just a word of caution, take all of this that is not directly from their mouths with caution, and even take some of that with a grain of salt. We will know more soon and “worrying” about it is silly.

Anet should slap a great big red sticker on anything they say (or release) simply stating ‘All information is subject to change!’.
Bye bye ‘hypetrain’ thread, bye bye speculative ‘hypetrain’ thread, bye bye son of speculative ‘hypetrain’ thread…ad infinitum.

well… i as a charr \engineer player already got a massive kick to the jaw by the hype train…

http://i.imgur.com/pD8QIg4.png

Stupid me.. expecting something nice for armor for charr…