Greetings and Salutations.
We are all well aware of the current state of discontent with the pacing and rollout of content in the game. The second anniversary of Guild Wars 2 came and went with a whisper, and many question whether we are significantly better off now than we were a year prior. Numerous posts highlight the last time any attention was paid to fractals, to dungeons, to SAB, to WvW, to guild content, and to every other aspect of the game that spark the players’ passion.
I am not here to dismiss these concerns, nor to add my own lamentations to them. Instead, I would like to offer a simple proposition. It is completely understandable why Arenanet has done what they have done. China’s release yielded enormous revenue, an excellent business decision despite its enormous consumption of developer resources. Likewise, one can easily appreciate that the company would have difficulty catering to a hundred different player desires at once. Everyone wants something different, and the only thing we players have in common is that we think Anet should drop everything and cater specifically to our niche.
Yet despite both the business decisions and resource allocation being reasonable, it is also perfectly understandable for players to be dissatisfied with how their needs are being addressed. So many Arenanet posts describe a new feature or mechanic as “a good foundation for the future”, but these platforms remain underused and underdeveloped. Even the most innovative systems become monotonous if they never receive tender love and care, for no amount of planning and well-wishing to revisit a beloved mechanic some day in the future will match actual effort.
And so I offer this judgment. The Living Story has not failed. But it needs help.
The Living Story is the answer for a growing and changing world. It is the perfect way to gradually expand the game outward, taking us beyond the borders of the current game and discovering new lands, new plots, new challenges, and new heroics. The Living Story will one day take us into the Crystal Desert to challenge the mighty Kralkatorric, delve into the depths to confront the Destroyers, hunt the mighty Jormag in the Far Shiverpeaks, walk with the Tengu and dive with the Largos, and perhaps even return to the lands of Elona, Cantha, the realms of spirits and gods, and so much more…
But it cannot sustain this game alone, not at this current pace. With so many mechanics starving for attention, the bi-monthly seasonings of the Living Story simply lack the necessary meat. The voracious hunger of the player base howls for more content to sate so many different tastes. No matter the brilliance of Arenanet’s masterful chefs, the sheer number of plates demanding so many different orders keep piling up. When the restaurant becomes overcrowded and begins spilling out into the street, a good manager knows the answer is not more brilliant chefs.
It’s minions. Lots and lots of helpful minions.
So consider, if you will, a Community Content Krewe.