Guild Wars 2

As far as I could tell from the information given the new area is going to be one large zone with 3 levels, the roots the lowest level, the jungle floor the middle level, and the jungle canopy the upper level. This looks to me that there will be only one map, the largest in the game with these 3 levels. I could be wrong but this is the way I inturprited it from what was said at PAX, so we will have to wait to see.

FrizzFreston.5290:

silvermember.8941:

Yes gw2 has 5 races adding more doesn’t add anything important other than a waste of resources and a check mark. Also funny the majority of people play humans which makes adding new races and even bigger waste.

A waste of roughly 65% being something else than human. One might say by using that as an argument against new races, because people relate the best to a human race, the creation of the 4 other races was completely a waste of time.

Adding more races isn’t just there for options as well as adding lore and background to the race in that world. It’s of course a question whether the game needs that, or if it’s just extra fancy. But it’s not a waste based on your argumentation.

I am impressed at your attempt turn my argument against me, but the conclusion you reached wasn’t support by your argument.

I think the narrative became significantly weaker by adding the 4 other races, that is just me. Adding 4 other races simply took away resources that could have been used to make on really strong race and for what? Playing an asura isn’t significantly different than playing a human the only differences are the animations.

It is a waste based on my argumentation, I don’t know how you could ea

Feirlista Xv.1425:

As far as I could tell from the information given the new area is going to be one large zone with 3 levels, the roots the lowest level, the jungle floor the middle level, and the jungle canopy the upper level. This looks to me that there will be only one map, the largest in the game with these 3 levels. I could be wrong but this is the way I inturprited it from what was said at PAX, so we will have to wait to see.

Ye we now ahve confirmation that there are multiple zones.

“We were able to confirm that the Heart of Maguuma is a region that will consist of multiple maps.”

http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=35650&storypage=2

Iason Evan.3806:

More so when you consider that they are getting rid of the new, poorly received trait system.

Wait wait wait, where was this information. I didn’t hear anything about changing this.

Kal Spiro.9745:

Iason Evan.3806:

More so when you consider that they are getting rid of the new, poorly received trait system.

Wait wait wait, where was this information. I didn’t hear anything about changing this.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Game-Updates-Traits/page/78#post4733414

Sooooo what you get if you buy an expansion:

• Heart of Maguuma content
• Revenant

What you get if you don’t buy an expansion:

• Everything else announced

That’s considering ANet not liking to split playerbase (PvP/WvW) and setting up core systems to expand on.

dsslive.8473:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Iason Evan.3806:

More so when you consider that they are getting rid of the new, poorly received trait system.

Wait wait wait, where was this information. I didn’t hear anything about changing this.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Game-Updates-Traits/page/78#post4733414

So not removing traits at all, but the part where you have to jump through unreasonable hoops to unlock some of them, while others unlocked so easily you do it without even realizing it was a thing.

Metatail.1306:

Sooooo what you get if you buy an expansion:

• Heart of Maguuma content
• Revenant

What you get if you don’t buy an expansion:

• Everything else announced

That’s considering ANet not liking to split playerbase (PvP/WvW) and setting up core systems to expand on.

I can see why you can assume you have access to the new WvW map, but why would you assume you have access to the new PvP type, or Specializations, or potentially even guild halls without HoT?

Kal Spiro.9745:

I can see why you can assume you have access to the new WvW map, but why would you assume you have access to the new PvP type, or Specializations, or potentially even guild halls without HoT?

If every expansion added an exclusive PvP mode it would be a huge pain to build a team. That’s just another check and it’s splitting an already (according to players) declining/low playerbase. Guild Halls sound like a core guild content especially when looking how they were handled in GW1 – new guild halls added in new campaigns but you could purchase them even without owning any addons. Can’t really tell when it comes to specializations, just an assumption as before and considering the point of this thread I do think that HoT looks like Feature Pack 3 + Living Story Season 3, something we’ve already had for free over the course of 2 years.

Metatail.1306:

Kal Spiro.9745:

I can see why you can assume you have access to the new WvW map, but why would you assume you have access to the new PvP type, or Specializations, or potentially even guild halls without HoT?

If every expansion added an exclusive PvP mode it would be a huge pain to build a team. That’s just another check and it’s splitting an already (according to players) declining/low playerbase. Guild Halls sound like a core guild content especially when looking how they were handled in GW1 – new guild halls added in new campaigns but you could purchase them even without owning any addons. Can’t really tell when it comes to specializations, just an assumption as before and considering the point of this thread I do think that HoT looks like Feature Pack 3 + Living Story Season 3, something we’ve already had for free over the course of 2 years.

Oh, I can’t argue with that last point, it absolutely is. But it also defeats the point of even making it if any, let alone most, of the content is freely available to anyone who isn’t buying it. That’s not a reasonable business model.

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

This is what the expansion feels like in terms of story.

Living Story since the beginning has lead up to Mordremoth.

Does this expansion let you kill Mordremoth? It feels kind of messed up to play Living Story all the way to the climax and then be blocked by a pay wall.

IMO Living Story was a success because even though it was tiny 2 week updates it matches the amount of time to push out an expansion. Like pushing out content when it gets finished instead of building up to a release date to vomit all over the game.

It was like the players were on a ride with the developers with Living Story , now its like the developers are sitting back watching the ants in their new ant farm theme park. Living Story has improved greatly and it feels like we won’t be getting any more LS because some conservatives wanted an expac.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

Drarnor Kunoram.5180:

Iason Evan.3806:

One of the things I feel like they contradicted themselves with is when they said there isn’t going to be a new race because it doesn’t add to the story, but they also said they want the original game to still be populated. What better way to populate all the old maps than to add a new race? More so when you consider that they are getting rid of the new, poorly received trait system.

New players and vets and altoholics alike would flock together to make, well, flocks of Tengu if they were the new race and the new zones would be heavily populated.

I also wonder how much new content will be added to existing zones for this x-pac. If they want the old content to keep being played they need to bolster the areas with new stuff to do. The world is supposed to be changing and if we aren’t getting myriad new maps to play, then add to the existing world!

Think carefully about what adding Tengu as a playable race would mean. Yes, they have a home city already set, but even ignoring the resources needed to include them in the personal story, where would they go after that? They wouldn’t have a starter zone, since the Dominion of Winds is surrounded by existing zones on three sides and ocean on the other.

“Oh, they’d go to Caeladon Forest.” Would they? Where the Dominion of Winds enters Caeladon Forest, it’s a level 12 area, far too high for level 2 characters. Altering that would screw up the entire map dynamic and would end up not making any sense.

So, what if there were another race added? The problem there is that they would need a home city which, funnily enough, would have to be placed in a new region, thus defeating the purpose of having players going back to the old areas.

Their starter one could be underground their main city. Remember in the current expansion we will be going into a region divided by layers . So I don’t see why a major city can’t also have layers for a starter zone for a new race.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

This is what the expansion feels like in terms of story.

Living Story since the beginning has lead up to Mordremoth.

Does this expansion let you kill Mordremoth? It feels kind of messed up to play Living Story all the way to the climax and then be blocked by a pay wall.

IMO Living Story was a success because even though it was tiny 2 week updates it matches the amount of time to push out an expansion. Like pushing out content when it gets finished instead of building up to a release date to vomit all over the game.

It was like the players were on a ride with the developers with Living Story , now its like the developers are sitting back watching the ants in their new ant farm theme park. Living Story has improved greatly and it feels like we won’t be getting any more LS because some conservatives wanted an expac.

Sorry all expansions and MMOs are like that. They have a main story that is in the base game that doesn’t last forever.
Expansions expand on the story.
In WoW vanilla the final fight was against the Undead. But we never finish off the undead leader until two expansions later. Both the vanilla and the second expansion had its own well done storyline. So I don’t see a problem there.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

This is what the expansion feels like in terms of story.

Living Story since the beginning has lead up to Mordremoth.

Does this expansion let you kill Mordremoth? It feels kind of messed up to play Living Story all the way to the climax and then be blocked by a pay wall.

IMO Living Story was a success because even though it was tiny 2 week updates it matches the amount of time to push out an expansion. Like pushing out content when it gets finished instead of building up to a release date to vomit all over the game.

It was like the players were on a ride with the developers with Living Story , now its like the developers are sitting back watching the ants in their new ant farm theme park. Living Story has improved greatly and it feels like we won’t be getting any more LS because some conservatives wanted an expac.

Personally, I attribute this approach to intelligent marketing … people should stop feeling so entitled to free stuff, including the conclusion of LS.

Put it this way … what if ALL of LS was behind a paywall. It would suck way more.

Feirlista Xv.1425:

As far as I could tell from the information given the new area is going to be one large zone with 3 levels, the roots the lowest level, the jungle floor the middle level, and the jungle canopy the upper level. This looks to me that there will be only one map, the largest in the game with these 3 levels. I could be wrong but this is the way I inturprited it from what was said at PAX, so we will have to wait to see.

Anet has confirmed that it’s more than one zone.

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Didn’t realize Witcher 3 was free after purchasing Witcher 1 or 2.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

um did you just say that 1/4 = 10%

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Didn’t realize Witcher 3 was free after purchasing Witcher 1 or 2.

Its not and it would be stupid to think that the Witcher 3 is an expansion.

Anyway , Witcher 3 will be getting free DLC and they said they would wouldn’t ever charge for anything small, but Anet over here wants to charge for features that should have been in the game already and a new region that basically equals all of the new zones we have been given over the course of 2 years.

Maybe anet should have just stuck with living story and rolled out these features on the bi-weekly basis , or if they couldn’t handle the work load go monthly basis?

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Didn’t realize Witcher 3 was free after purchasing Witcher 1 or 2.

Its not and it would be stupid to think that the Witcher 3 is an expansion.

Anyway , Witcher 3 will be getting free DLC and they said they would wouldn’t ever charge for anything small, but Anet over here wants to charge for features that should have been in the game already and a new region that basically equals all of the new zones we have been given over the course of 2 years.

Maybe anet should have just stuck with living story and rolled out these features on the bi-weekly basis , or if they couldn’t handle the work load go monthly basis?

So basically the smaller dlcs are free (living story cough), but when they want to pump out much larger content all at once they pump out a b2p game? Or maybe CDPR should just keep pumping out their free content for Witcher 2 and forget about Witcher 3.

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Didn’t realize Witcher 3 was free after purchasing Witcher 1 or 2.

Its not and it would be stupid to think that the Witcher 3 is an expansion.

Anyway , Witcher 3 will be getting free DLC and they said they would wouldn’t ever charge for anything small, but Anet over here wants to charge for features that should have been in the game already and a new region that basically equals all of the new zones we have been given over the course of 2 years.

Maybe anet should have just stuck with living story and rolled out these features on the bi-weekly basis , or if they couldn’t handle the work load go monthly basis?

So basically the smaller dlcs are free (living story cough), but when they want to pump out much larger content all at once they pump out a b2p game? Or maybe CDPR should just keep pumping out their free content for Witcher 2 and forget about Witcher 3.

except that this expansion is actually going to be small despite the region we are getting and actual features. Adding a new map to WvW was probably a mistake. One single new spvp mode? ONE! ONE new profession!

Maybe if Anet was working harder on Living Story quality instead of secretly putting their resources into an expansion they probably would be better off.

Also Anet isn’t doing LW/LS updates between now and release. Who knows if they will actually do LW ever again.

Ragnarox.9601:

Guild Wars 2 :
~
30+ maps
8+ dungeons
8 classes
4 wvw maps
5+ spvp maps
+ items, armors, weapons….

= totally worth 50€.

HoT=
~
1 area (maybe 3+ maps)
0 dungeons
1 classes
class specializations
1 wvw map
spvp map??
new armor, weapon??
= ppl say 50€?? Too much
compare gw2 content with exp content

-> 20€ max. It would be bad move to charge more than 20€ for this expansion. Sucking money from its customers is for f2p games.

compare this and their previous free releases to the average sizes of mmo expansions. Remember, when considering, all the free content we got leading up to this, that most MMOs (none that I recall honestly) don’t release that kind of free content generally.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

GoldenTruth.2853:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

teh persun.6517:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Picture this.

You buy a ew $60 game , you get through 3/4 of the game with tons of lore. The last 10% is blocked off behind a pay wall.

Yes! How dare Anet charge money for the content they create! I’ve already gave them money a few years ago, so now I should have access to everything!
/sarcasm off

CDPR and some more characters

Didn’t realize Witcher 3 was free after purchasing Witcher 1 or 2.

Its not and it would be stupid to think that the Witcher 3 is an expansion.

Anyway , Witcher 3 will be getting free DLC and they said they would wouldn’t ever charge for anything small, but Anet over here wants to charge for features that should have been in the game already and a new region that basically equals all of the new zones we have been given over the course of 2 years.

Maybe anet should have just stuck with living story and rolled out these features on the bi-weekly basis , or if they couldn’t handle the work load go monthly basis?

So basically the smaller dlcs are free (living story cough), but when they want to pump out much larger content all at once they pump out a b2p game? Or maybe CDPR should just keep pumping out their free content for Witcher 2 and forget about Witcher 3.

except that this expansion is actually going to be small despite the region we are getting and actual features. Adding a new map to WvW was probably a mistake. One single new spvp mode? ONE! ONE new profession!

Maybe if Anet was working harder on Living Story quality instead of secretly putting their resources into an expansion they probably would be better off.

Also Anet isn’t doing LW/LS updates between now and release. Who knows if they will actually do LW ever again.

Yes, but they added specializations, which is almost like making 8 new classes sorta kinda. And masteries. Hang gliding!!! Precursor scavenger hunt!

Come on guys, its not just about the one class and such.

And recall we don’t know for sure if this region is divided into several maps or one. But we do know they claimed this area is huge (I read somewhere that its as large as kryta or ascalon), and has three tiers: ground, roots, and treetop, so that is x3 the real estate.

Morfedel.4165:

Ragnarox.9601:

Guild Wars 2 :
~
30+ maps
8+ dungeons
8 classes
4 wvw maps
5+ spvp maps
+ items, armors, weapons….

= totally worth 50€.

HoT=
~
1 area (maybe 3+ maps)
0 dungeons
1 classes
class specializations
1 wvw map
spvp map??
new armor, weapon??
= ppl say 50€?? Too much
compare gw2 content with exp content

-> 20€ max. It would be bad move to charge more than 20€ for this expansion. Sucking money from its customers is for f2p games.

compare this and their previous free releases to the average sizes of mmo expansions. Remember, when considering, all the free content we got leading up to this, that most MMOs (none that I recall honestly) don’t release that kind of free content generally.

AION , RIFT, are those MMOs?

http://www.pcgamer.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-interview/#page-1

" PCG: How big is the new region, Heart of Maguuma?

Colin: You know, we picked a different philosophy for building out this REGION. We’re really focusing on doing less broad development and more deep development. I think historically you’ll see expansions for MMOs do a bunch of maps that players progress through very quickly and leave a wasteland of empty worlds behind them. We’re really focusing on doing less total MAPS and instead making THEM really, really deep, filled with a ton of replay value; a ton of content to explore and see. A LOT of content that, as you progress through it, you’ll see for the first time and you won’t be able to get there, or you’ll encounter challenges that you can’t overcome the first time that you see them. As you progress and build through our mastery system, you’ll be able to return and overcome those challenges and get to those places you couldn’t get to the first time through. And so we’re really focusing on: let’s do a little bit in the grand scheme of things; let’s do a smaller sized area for total scope, and focus really on depth. Make MAPS that have an incredible amount of replay value, so every time that you log in you can go back in there and have a new experience. Have an incredibly deep experience and enjoy playing over and over again in that content.

I think in a lot of ways, philosophically, you look at what makes a lot of games have really good replay value, and often times you look at competitive games where a lot of them have a game mode and people will play it over and over again for years. We’re really trying to take that concept and that experience with our PvE and provide that same type of experience where you don’t have a ton of maps that you tear through and go away. Instead, they have really deep experiences that you can play over and over again and have an amazing time with."

He uses plural for maps a lot and does say region that means at least 2 zones/maps. when talking about the depth/biomes he is also plural. Also we know that the new maps will have 3 layers. 2×3=6 so at the very least we are getting 6 zones worth of content and that is the average for expansions from other games. Also that is only the min estimate the smallest in game region is Orr which has 3 zones so 3×3=9. So we will get somewhere around 6-9 zones worth of content.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Morfedel.4165:

Ragnarox.9601:

Guild Wars 2 :
~
30+ maps
8+ dungeons
8 classes
4 wvw maps
5+ spvp maps
+ items, armors, weapons….

= totally worth 50€.

HoT=
~
1 area (maybe 3+ maps)
0 dungeons
1 classes
class specializations
1 wvw map
spvp map??
new armor, weapon??
= ppl say 50€?? Too much
compare gw2 content with exp content

-> 20€ max. It would be bad move to charge more than 20€ for this expansion. Sucking money from its customers is for f2p games.

compare this and their previous free releases to the average sizes of mmo expansions. Remember, when considering, all the free content we got leading up to this, that most MMOs (none that I recall honestly) don’t release that kind of free content generally.

AION , RIFT, are those MMOs?

Sure. But how many mmos do that. WoW certainly didn’t, and it’s been the biggest boy on the block.

I think instead of counting the number of features or how large the maps are, we need to be thinking in terms of hours per dollar spent.

By that, I mean how long we play before repetition and boredom set in. The number of features and map size can add to these, but so can diverse and adapting dynamic events, unique builds and a truly competitive pvp scene. if they can pull those off in ways that keep us engaged, things like map size and the exact number of features becomes much less important.

To repeat what many are saying, it is way too early to have an idea of this, but what would people consider reasonable? With single player RPGs, we usually look for between 20 and 60 hours of gameplay for a 60 dollar game (so between 1 and 3 dollars per hour of unique gameplay). If HOT can achieve that same goal before we find ourselves repeating events or getting bored in game, then it is worth the money in my eyes – especially if they plan to continue adding free living story and feature packs.

Blaeys.3102:

I think instead of counting the number of features or how large the maps are, we need to be thinking in terms of hours per dollar spent.

By that, I mean how long we play before repetition and boredom set in. The number of features and map size can add to these, but so can diverse and adapting dynamic events, unique builds and a truly competitive pvp scene. if they can pull those off in ways that keep us engaged, things like map size and the exact number of features becomes much less important.

To repeat what many are saying, it is way too early to have an idea of this, but what would people consider reasonable? With single player RPGs, we usually look for between 20 and 60 hours of gameplay for a 60 dollar game (so between 1 and 3 dollars per hour of unique gameplay). If HOT can achieve that same goal before we find ourselves repeating events or getting bored in game, then it is worth the money in my eyes – especially if they plan to continue adding free living story and feature packs.

For example, Dry Top and Silverwastes still sees an appreciable level of people, and they were what I suspect are comparatively much smaller than HoT will be. As per an interview they are trying to make maps that are going to have very high replay value to keep players coming back. I suspect Drytop and Silverwastes was a test to see whether that idea works.

Blaeys.3102:

I think instead of counting the number of features or how large the maps are, we need to be thinking in terms of hours per dollar spent.

By that, I mean how long we play before repetition and boredom set in. The number of features and map size can add to these, but so can diverse and adapting dynamic events, unique builds and a truly competitive pvp scene. if they can pull those off in ways that keep us engaged, things like map size and the exact number of features becomes much less important.

To repeat what many are saying, it is way too early to have an idea of this, but what would people consider reasonable? With single player RPGs, we usually look for between 20 and 60 hours of gameplay for a 60 dollar game (so between 1 and 3 dollars per hour of unique gameplay). If HOT can achieve that same goal before we find ourselves repeating events or getting bored in game, then it is worth the money in my eyes – especially if they plan to continue adding free living story and feature packs.

I agree i only made my previous comment to show them evidence that we are going to get more then one zone worth of pve content.

Morfedel.4165:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

Morfedel.4165:

Ragnarox.9601:

Guild Wars 2 :
~
30+ maps
8+ dungeons
8 classes
4 wvw maps
5+ spvp maps
+ items, armors, weapons….

= totally worth 50€.

HoT=
~
1 area (maybe 3+ maps)
0 dungeons
1 classes
class specializations
1 wvw map
spvp map??
new armor, weapon??
= ppl say 50€?? Too much
compare gw2 content with exp content

-> 20€ max. It would be bad move to charge more than 20€ for this expansion. Sucking money from its customers is for f2p games.

compare this and their previous free releases to the average sizes of mmo expansions. Remember, when considering, all the free content we got leading up to this, that most MMOs (none that I recall honestly) don’t release that kind of free content generally.

AION , RIFT, are those MMOs?

Sure. But how many mmos do that. WoW certainly didn’t, and it’s been the biggest boy on the block.

Biggest boy on the block because of massive advertisements and being the first MMO to do a huge TV commercial campaign. Its definitely not because the game is good, because it really is not a good game imo. oh and Warframe does it too. though that’s technically not an MMO but has LOTS of players.

Johje Holan.4607:

It is pretty small from what they’ve shown so far though.

I have to agree here. Hopefully they surprise me further in the next several months with more information and I’m mistaken in my belief that it all seems too small. Right now, even with them announcing an “expansion”, I find it all very lackluster. * sigh *

Azhure.1857:

Johje Holan.4607:

It is pretty small from what they’ve shown so far though.

I have to agree here. Hopefully they surprise me further in the next several months with more information and I’m mistaken in my belief that it all seems too small. Right now, even with them announcing an “expansion”, I find it all very lackluster. * sigh *

That’s only because you assume upfront it will be lackluster. There was absolutely nothing in that preview that said “it will be small”. Most of it comes from people that heard “new area (heart of maguuma)”, and thought “one zone”, which was, from context, a complete misread of the meaning (and has been explicitly debunked by further interviews).

I don’t see the point in saying that Heart of Thorns will be too small to be an expansion when we don’t, in fact, know how big it is yet. We have scant details at best, so it seems prudent to jump to conclusions just yet.

Hard to be excited with the expansion when there’s so little they’re adding. Factions itself added a whole new continent with 20+ new maps, a full narrative, 3 new pvp game modes, 2 new professions, 2 new elite zones, new armors, new skills, new weapons, new titles, 4 new guild halls and more that I haven’t though off. And they made all of this in 1 year with less than half of the number of employees they currently have.

Gotta say, pretty disappointing.

Deli.1302:

Hard to be excited with the expansion when there’s so little they’re adding. Factions itself added a whole new continent with 20+ new maps, a full narrative, 3 new pvp game modes, 2 new professions, 2 new elite zones, new armors, new skills, new weapons, new titles, 4 new guild halls and more that I haven’t though off. And they made all of this in 1 year with less than half of the number of employees they currently have.

Gotta say, pretty disappointing.

And how do you know the new areas in HoT won’t be as expansive as you expect? We’ll probably get a full new narrative as well, that seems obvious. We have new wvw and PvP stuff as shown. We only have one new class but also added new specializations for every other class, probably including the new one, so that trumps just two new classes in my books. I’m also pretty sure we’ll get new armor, new titles, guild halls (already confirmed, and I’m sure there will be a good amount of variety there) and then there’s still things like masteries being added as well.

The bottom line is, they’ve only given us a very brief overview so far, and haven’t actually listed all the new content in detail. So to me it seems pointless to judge for better or for worse just yet. O_o

Remember they just showed the brand new features and content of HoT, not “what we already have but adapted”… They talked about one new weapon, but not new skills on existing weapons.

So stop speculating about something what you suppose we aren’t getting because we are certainly getting way more that what we’ve been advertised so far.

Be a bit patient for once, we “only” get a new storyline and you’re complaining, and if we had to kill all 5 remaining EDs, you’d complain because the game is somehow over. People are never satisfied.

If you are disappointed, think the expansion is not worth it or feel ripped off or in any other way offended by the new content Anet is providing us, then for the love of sanity DON’T BUY IT AND GO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE!!

Jesus, no one cares if you don’t like it before it’s come out. And no one cares whether you think it is enough to be called an expansion or whether you think it should be free. NONE of your whining and moaning will encourage Anet to remove the charge or make them add more stuff.

They have been giving us tons of free stuff throughout the 2 years, that many other companies would have charged for. And at the end of the day ArenaNet is a business, who’s primary function is to earn money. If they are providing content that is worth the price tag that should be our ONE AND ONLY concern. If you do not think it is worth it, don’t buy it. But I guarantee you, millions will and they will not care if you are not playing it.

Sorry to come across as harsh like that, but sometimes I do not understand how some people can feel so entitled as to demand more stuff from a company that has already given us so much stuff for free. The mind boggles.

I sadly agree with the original poster… no many maps for pve, just 1 map for mvm, just 1 map for pvp, just 1 profession, guild halls probbably unobtenible in small guilds, no word about dungeons, no word about races, an elite and a healing skill for each profession.. and a few more skills… To me sounds more like a pay for play LS or feature update than a pay for play expansion…

It would be great if it was free, like LS, but the prize must be very low if they expect the whole community to buy it at launch

Deli.1302:

Hard to be excited with the expansion when there’s so little they’re adding. Factions itself added a whole new continent with 20+ new maps, a full narrative, 3 new pvp game modes, 2 new professions, 2 new elite zones, new armors, new skills, new weapons, new titles, 4 new guild halls and more that I haven’t though off. And they made all of this in 1 year with less than half of the number of employees they currently have.

Gotta say, pretty disappointing.

Again don’t compare factions and nightfall with HoT. factions and nightfall were standalone games, HoT aint. Those 20+ maps of factions were small, boring and had no depth. The map(s) we will get have more depth and have much more diversity.

We will get 1 new class, + specializations for each class. kind of the same as 2 classes. The map(s) that will become available will be end game content with group content. So the elite zones will be in there as well, maybe not instanced like the deep and urgoz but it’s there.

Also I have seen weapon and armor skins I haven’t seen before.

new skills become available through specialization, the new weapon in factions was only a dagger for assassin if I remember correctly and still I do believe rythlock is wielding a spear and if that is not the case it’s a staff that plays very differently then normally. New titles, well we don’t know if we will get new titles, but we will get new collections and stuff like that.

We also will get guild halls, how many different guild halls we don’t know but hey we’ll get it.

We will get 1 new PvP mode + a WvW map. Maybe the expansion is a bit less attractive in pvp, but it’s a expansion and not a stand alone game.

Next to those things we will get the mastery system which will allow us to kind of level up our character after the max level. Also this will give us new abilities to get at places we haven’t been before are talk to races we couldn’t talk to before.

And actually we don’t know for how long the have been working in the expansion. Maybe it’s longer but don’t forget, the map(s) are much deeper and vertically high. Also with HoT they give us totally new things like the mastery system that has to be build up from the beginning, factions didn’t have that. There is much more stuff to do in those map(s) then there is in factions or nightfall.

So after all these points HoT is actually pretty equal to factions. It lacks a bit in pvp but the pve content is much much much better.

But well if you don’t like what they implement in the game by the expansion then don’t buy it. They don’t increase level cap or add another gear tier so you are still valuable even if you don’t have to expansion. But just don’t whine if all content mentioned at pax doesn’t come available for people who didn’t buy the expansion pack… (if stuff like pvp comes with the expansion pack sounds logic to me but it’s not confirmed as far as I know).

Silicato.4603:

I sadly agree with the original poster… no many maps for pve, just 1 map for mvm, just 1 map for pvp, just 1 profession, guild halls probbably unobtenible in small guilds, no word about dungeons, no word about races, an elite and a healing skill for each profession.. and a few more skills… To me sounds more like a pay for play LS or feature update than a pay for play expansion…

It would be great if it was free, like LS, but the prize must be very low if they expect the whole community to buy it at launch

I hope they charge the price of a full game for it.

Rin.1046:

If you are disappointed, think the expansion is not worth it or feel ripped off or in any other way offended by the new content Anet is providing us, then for the love of sanity DON’T BUY IT AND GO PLAY SOMETHING ELSE!!

Jesus, no one cares if you don’t like it before it’s come out. And no one cares whether you think it is enough to be called an expansion or whether you think it should be free. NONE of your whining and moaning will encourage Anet to remove the charge or make them add more stuff.

They have been giving us tons of free stuff throughout the 2 years, that many other companies would have charged for. And at the end of the day ArenaNet is a business, who’s primary function is to earn money. If they are providing content that is worth the price tag that should be our ONE AND ONLY concern. If you do not think it is worth it, don’t buy it. But I guarantee you, millions will and they will not care if you are not playing it.

Sorry to come across as harsh like that, but sometimes I do not understand how some people can feel so entitled as to demand more stuff from a company that has already given us so much stuff for free. The mind boggles.

The part where you say no one cares….. Sounds like you care. If I don’t buy this “expansion”/ paid Living Story I will still play GW2.

I never wanted an expansion. I wanted what Anet said they were going to do.(Make money from gem purchases and box sales , then roll out free content/feature updates). They have been doing it for 2 years and it wouldn’t be so “lackluster”(subjective term because I thought LW was cool) if they put more resources into it.

I guess people can’t get it into their heads that if the whole player base bought $40-$60 worth of gems it would have paid for expansion worthy content that would be free. " If you actually liked the game you would spend that much. If you don’t like the game don’t play it I guess."

I think people forget that our fellow posters are posting their first impressions of the trailer and its content. Yes, it appears small . . . no doubt.

Whether this is true, when we experience it, is another question.

But, from my first impression, I also thought it looked rather lackluster as far as expansion-worthy content.

My apologies if that hurts anyone’s feelings. Please don’t caps-lock on me, Bro.

Yes lackluster indeed. Gamers these days have really high standards for quality content.

Angry Joe hits it good. Start near 7:30 mark

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

I never wanted an expansion. I wanted what Anet said they were going to do.(Make money from gem purchases and box sales , then roll out free content/feature updates). They have been doing it for 2 years and it wouldn’t be so “lackluster”(subjective term because I thought LW was cool) if they put more resources into it.

Actually, when they launched this game they did plan on having paid expansions later on, and while further on they tried to do something different (LS), they eventually realized that doing it that way allowed them to only superficially expand on the game. To make something bigger, it was simply not enough (and not because of resources, but due to pacing of LS and the need to deliver it piecemeal). Which, by the way, lot of players suspected from the very beginning.

You might have wanted a stagnated game with some superficial LS running in the background, but to a lot of people it was simply not enough.

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

I guess people can’t get it into their heads that if the whole player base bought $40-$60 worth of gems it would have paid for expansion worthy content that would be free.

No, it wouldn’t. Simply because doing anything truly major through the LS delivery method would be not realistic (as in “it would require many, many times more resources than doing it through the expansion model. Resources that Anet doesn’t have.”).

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

The part where you say no one cares….. Sounds like you care. If I don’t buy this “expansion”/ paid Living Story I will still play GW2.

I never wanted an expansion. I wanted what Anet said they were going to do.(Make money from gem purchases and box sales , then roll out free content/feature updates). They have been doing it for 2 years and it wouldn’t be so “lackluster”(subjective term because I thought LW was cool) if they put more resources into it.

I guess people can’t get it into their heads that if the whole player base bought $40-$60 worth of gems it would have paid for expansion worthy content that would be free. " If you actually liked the game you would spend that much. If you don’t like the game don’t play it I guess."

I don’t remember Anet saying they will never make a paid expansion. For two years they offered tons of free content that was fun and engaging, and for that my hat goes off to them. I also do not begrudge them making some money on an expansion. I think they have more than earned it.

If you do not feel they have earned your money that is your problem. You say you have enjoyed the LS content but do not want to pay them money for an expansion. You either think they deserve the money or you don’t. Personally I think it is a poor show to say the expansion pack doesn’t have enough content, before we know enough details, when the company has given us so much free content.

As to the idea of every player buying gems to fund an expansion, well… it’s a nice idea but things don’t work like that. Not everyone will buy gems and many will use in-game gold to acquire it. Anet cannot guarantee an income through the gem store, and that is likely the reason why they have created a paid expansion.

I do not care whether you think the expansion pack is too small, but I do care that you created several negative threads moaning about the expansion, based on very little information, and for no good reason. Anet deserves more respect than that.

FrizzFreston.5290:

Not sure why I need to quote this again, because looking for information on the Main Heart Of Thorn release pages isn’t that hard. Here’s a quote and link to the source for those who haven’t read it yet.

FYI, It says Maps, which is plural of map. Map being 1 map. Maps being more than 1 map. I mean, come on now. No reason to be deliberately obtuse.

New adventures await you in the heart of the Maguuma Jungle. Confront the growing hordes of Mordremoth’s minions, discover allies from ancient civilizations, and battle new enemies.

• Tackle challenging group content.
• Explore new open world jungle maps.
• Experience new events and storylines.
• Test your mettle in new boss battles.

Link: https://heartofthorns.guildwars2.com/en/?_ga=1.251803535.767515840.1350500849#section-heartOfMaguuma

Also the main reveal has been entirely transcribed. (You who did, or is doing so: You’re insane, but thanks anyway!) Just a few quotes from that:

Now as Mo [Mike O’Brien] said earlier, the maps in the Heart of Maguuma are some of the richest, deepest content experiences that we have ever built in GW2.

====

As you complete exploring entire maps, you are rewarded with mastery points.

Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2tjxe8/pax_announcement_wordforword_transcription_of/

It’s 1 Pve zone like I said, they will advertise more cause they count the Wvw map and Guild halls.

silvermember.8941:

Evans.6347:

UnrepentantProcrastinator.7420:

Evans.6347:

I can’t deny that the news of no new race has me extremely disheartened. While this indeed doesn’t add any mechanics, cosmetic changes are a huge part of Guild Wars.

That said I’ll try to keep an open mind.

Pretty sure Guild Wars only ever had one race. And cosmetic changes were added with new professions and skins. In other words, HoT is following in its predecessors footsteps.

Irrelevant. Guild wars 2 already has 5 races right now and it’s commonly known that Tengu were at some point a playable race in development.

Also, while Guild Wars did not add races, it did in fact add nationalities with distinctive features.

Yes gw2 has 5 races adding more doesn’t add anything important other than a waste of resources and a check mark. Also funny the majority of people play humans which makes adding new races and even bigger waste.

All they need to do with the new races is make the female version of it as pretty/hot and many will flock to them. Just look at WoW, many people plays night elves and draenei and they aren’t humans.

Nihilus.3015:

FrizzFreston.5290:

Not sure why I need to quote this again, because looking for information on the Main Heart Of Thorn release pages isn’t that hard. Here’s a quote and link to the source for those who haven’t read it yet.

FYI, It says Maps, which is plural of map. Map being 1 map. Maps being more than 1 map. I mean, come on now. No reason to be deliberately obtuse.

New adventures await you in the heart of the Maguuma Jungle. Confront the growing hordes of Mordremoth’s minions, discover allies from ancient civilizations, and battle new enemies.

• Tackle challenging group content.
• Explore new open world jungle maps.
• Experience new events and storylines.
• Test your mettle in new boss battles.

Link: https://heartofthorns.guildwars2.com/en/?_ga=1.251803535.767515840.1350500849#section-heartOfMaguuma

Also the main reveal has been entirely transcribed. (You who did, or is doing so: You’re insane, but thanks anyway!) Just a few quotes from that:

Now as Mo [Mike O’Brien] said earlier, the maps in the Heart of Maguuma are some of the richest, deepest content experiences that we have ever built in GW2.

====

As you complete exploring entire maps, you are rewarded with mastery points.

Link: http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2tjxe8/pax_announcement_wordforword_transcription_of/

It’s 1 Pve zone like I said, they will advertise more cause they count the Wvw map and Guild halls.

It’s one region. Not one zone; unless you are equating zone to region. Generally people equate zone to map, and there will be more than one map in the new region. That was already confirmed in a couple of the interviews.

Rin.1046:

Chewablesleeptablet.3185:

The part where you say no one cares….. Sounds like you care. If I don’t buy this “expansion”/ paid Living Story I will still play GW2.

I never wanted an expansion. I wanted what Anet said they were going to do.(Make money from gem purchases and box sales , then roll out free content/feature updates). They have been doing it for 2 years and it wouldn’t be so “lackluster”(subjective term because I thought LW was cool) if they put more resources into it.

I guess people can’t get it into their heads that if the whole player base bought $40-$60 worth of gems it would have paid for expansion worthy content that would be free. " If you actually liked the game you would spend that much. If you don’t like the game don’t play it I guess."

I don’t remember Anet saying they will never make a paid expansion. For two years they offered tons of free content that was fun and engaging, and for that my hat goes off to them. I also do not begrudge them making some money on an expansion. I think they have more than earned it.

If you do not feel they have earned your money that is your problem. You say you have enjoyed the LS content but do not want to pay them money for an expansion. You either think they deserve the money or you don’t. Personally I think it is a poor show to say the expansion pack doesn’t have enough content, before we know enough details, when the company has given us so much free content.

As to the idea of every player buying gems to fund an expansion, well… it’s a nice idea but things don’t work like that. Not everyone will buy gems and many will use in-game gold to acquire it. Anet cannot guarantee an income through the gem store, and that is likely the reason why they have created a paid expansion.

I do not care whether you think the expansion pack is too small, but I do care that you created several negative threads moaning about the expansion, based on very little information, and for no good reason. Anet deserves more respect than that.

We were actually given a lot of information and I have read many interviews. Major features were announced, all major features!

I have the right to be disappointed when Anet turns their back on players who enjoy Living World and bundles up features that should have been in the game already and call it an expansion.