Guild Wars 2

I’ll be blunt.

In my opinion,
Moving to a release every 2 weeks instead of every month for the Living Story was a mistake.

1. The Living Story content was quite buggy because it was tested for 2 weeks less than regular schedule.
2. Many people complained about not having enough time to complete the Living Story because it was only available for 2 weeks at the time.
3. People are now complaining that there is currently nothing to do. You are not releasing anything at all, and some of the people who are complaining about nothing to do include those who did not have enough time to complete the Living Story because each update was available for only 2 weeks.

It feels like this:
I give you 1 week’s worth of food right now. You are to eat it all right now because I will remove what you did not consume tomorrow. Then you will not have any food for 1 week.
There’s no way you can consume 1 week’s worth of food in 1 day, and in 1 week you will very likely be in a very miserable condition. Rushing all this content in your mouth at once and not providing you with anything for a very long time is a bad decision. Giving you a bit of food everyday would have been a better decision, clearly.

If you had kept up with the release schedule of every month,
People would have had 1 month to do each Living Story Release. We would currently still be enjoying the Living Story(granted we would get a later reveal of Mordremoth) instead of complaining about no new releases.

I hope you learn from this and can organize a better schedule for the next Living Story.

In an interview with Eurogamer as well as in his blog, producer Colin Johanson along with Mark (sorry don’t know his title) stated that the LS 2 will most likely be introduced in monthly installments.

While I somewhat agree with your main thesis, your reasoning is a bit unsound.

1. You do not know the testing schedule for the content, and therefore, cannot state with assurance that 2 more weeks of testing on each release might have fixed the bugs. There are a lot of variables involved in testing – time is only one very small part of it. I won’t posit any solutions here as, like you, I do not know all of the variables of Anet’s testing process.

2 and 3. These are exact counter arguments that can be simplified to one small axiom – “If you build it, people will complain.” When releases were a month apart, people complained that they burned through the content too fast and were bored. Anet’s answer, “Let’s release every two weeks;” the result, people complain that the content releases too fast. Here, perhaps the answer is a two week release schedule with overlap so that those who don’t have time to burn through content have time to complete it, and those who want the new stuff can dive in. (i.e. each release for a 3-4 week run, every two weeks.)

Just my two coppers worth,

Or a compromise… Three week rotations!

Really though, let the Living Story segments lead to dungeon chains or new world bosses. Don’t take the whole thing away.

Some people can live with being bored. You can never make enough for a content locust anyway. Again, you can never make enough for a content locust. Bonus hint: if it’s good content, they’ll be back for more again, anyway.

In my opinion im happy with the 2 week content releases but with a slight twist.

Release each part in two chapters. The first chapter would last for the full 4 weeks and contain all the content people can ‘grind’ should they wish with a little of the story. Things like new maps/dungeons/instances/battles etc. The second chapter should be where the story has full focus. Instances with nothing but talking by the characters, information on lore and backstory detailing whats happened up until this point.

Would please pretty much everyone I think.

However, with the content the way they are, the game became very dependent on a fast release schedule.

Just look at what the game is like at the moment. Due to most of the past updates being temporary, the core game is pretty much unchanged since Lost Shores, and so in an absence of updates even long as a month, people get bored doing the same thing over and over.

Rabbi Rick.3194:

While I somewhat agree with your main thesis, your reasoning is a bit unsound.

1. You do not know the testing schedule for the content, and therefore, cannot state with assurance that 2 more weeks of testing on each release might have fixed the bugs. There are a lot of variables involved in testing – time is only one very small part of it. I won’t posit any solutions here as, like you, I do not know all of the variables of Anet’s testing process.

2 and 3. These are exact counter arguments that can be simplified to one small axiom – “If you build it, people will complain.” When releases were a month apart, people complained that they burned through the content too fast and were bored. Anet’s answer, “Let’s release every two weeks;” the result, people complain that the content releases too fast. Here, perhaps the answer is a two week release schedule with overlap so that those who don’t have time to burn through content have time to complete it, and those who want the new stuff can dive in. (i.e. each release for a 3-4 week run, every two weeks.)

Just my two coppers worth,

First, you’re right.

However, if the customer feels it was rushed, reality is irrelevant, no?

Give me SAB every couple weeks and I’ll be happy forever.

My main disappointment in LS is that all of the content that it “adds”, just disappears after. Why developers can not just leave it be? What’s the problem? What kind of unspoken taboo? Half year has passed, and the much-vaunted LS, by and large, left behind nothing. “The Changing World”. Where? A pile of debris in Kessex? Or
plugged hole in the divinity’s reach? Pfff
Add new content. The larger the game – the better. I, personally, do not understand the purpose of temporary restrictions. While all this already discussed a hundred times.

The problem with only a monthly release is that people lose interest in the story. Who reads a book, finds an interesting chapter, then puts it down for a month? There will be more continuity by sticking to an update schedule with a month long main event and a story update in the second fortnight. That’s broadly what they’ve been delivering so far.

I agree that the living story was a mistake. I think a lot of people here are spot on in many of the problems with living story. Two-week updates, and even the new monthly updates are cool in that there is always a stream of new content, but the stream seems pretty fickle to me.

Personally, I would much prefer a full expansion release rather than the watered down content living story provides. I’m sure a vast majority of guild wars 2 players would gladly pay for an expansion. Sure, we all have our issues with the game, things we want added or fixed, but we’re still here because we love it. An expansion would make it feel like experiencing the game again for the first time, that feeling was great.

Living Story cannot provide that feeling. Just my two cents.

Thereon.3495:

In my opinion im happy with the 2 week content releases but with a slight twist.

Release each part in two chapters. The first chapter would last for the full 4 weeks and contain all the content people can ‘grind’ should they wish with a little of the story. Things like new maps/dungeons/instances/battles etc. The second chapter should be where the story has full focus. Instances with nothing but talking by the characters, information on lore and backstory detailing whats happened up until this point.

Would please pretty much everyone I think.

This is more or less what LS1 became.

And they could fill a month if they put more depth into the lore of each LS chapter IN GAME. If they were to be treated like chapters, instead of paragraphs (like LS1 was) I think we’d get a lot more enjoyment of each patch. My understanding is that GW1 was so popular, without these regular DLCs, because of the depth and variety of story/lore you could find inside the game.

i would actually love it if the LS isn’t focused on one place but rather spread out throughout the game, it’s a horrible idea to make an event that can only be played on one place, making it prone to zerg fests.

If I recall correctly it was mentioned by the game development director that they broke into teams for the development work. Each time had between 4 to 6 months to work on their content. It seemed to me that the team sizes fluctuated a good amount. So the man hours available on any set of content for a quality check fluctuated. Therefore some content was good, and some content was not so good.

In my experience the releases at every two weeks did last for four weeks. The marionette was available for four weeks after it was released. Scarlet’s attacks with the aether blades occurred for four weeks. In most cases the content was consumed by a good number of players within the first two weeks. I, on the other hand, needed the four weeks to complete most of the content.

dkspins.4670:

In an interview with Eurogamer as well as in his blog, producer Colin Johanson along with Mark (sorry don’t know his title) stated that the LS 2 will most likely be introduced in monthly installments.

This looks interesting – can you provide links?

draxynnic.3719:

dkspins.4670:

In an interview with Eurogamer as well as in his blog, producer Colin Johanson along with Mark (sorry don’t know his title) stated that the LS 2 will most likely be introduced in monthly installments.

This looks interesting – can you provide links?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-14-you-thought-that-was-it-for-guild-wars-2

I’d support a move back to monthly releases too. Two weeks was just too rushed for content (both from a release quality perspective and a time to enjoy it perspective). I’d also prefer it if each release also left more permanent content in the world. It saddens me that so much amazing content (the Molten Facility, Aetherblade Retreat, Marionette Battle) will never be seen again in their original glory after all the time spent working on them.

dkspins.4670:

draxynnic.3719:

dkspins.4670:

In an interview with Eurogamer as well as in his blog, producer Colin Johanson along with Mark (sorry don’t know his title) stated that the LS 2 will most likely be introduced in monthly installments.

This looks interesting – can you provide links?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-14-you-thought-that-was-it-for-guild-wars-2

Ahhh, yep, now that I look at it, I have seen that – I was thinking it might have been something more recent. Thanks anyway!

The problem right now is the communications between the devs and the players. There is absolutely no news about anything……

What bugs me about that living story is that it doesn’t feel like it’s being developed by a company that understands that players have lives and can’t log into the game according to a set schedule. I’ve been playing GW2 since the second beta weekend, but I’ll go through periods where I barely touch the game for a few weeks, followed by periods where all I do is play it.

As a result, I’ve missed much of the living story content. Not only did that create a case where I actually had no clue what was going on with the world, but it motivated me less to login and experience the next living story episode, because I had no clue why I was doing what I was doing.

I also don’t like the idea that I’m forced to rush through living story content in periods where I have a busy schedule for fear of missing out when I’d rather be spending that time doing something else like WvW.

It’s like missing holiday events, but the holiday events are year-round and never-ending! I think the structure of the living story needs to be reevaluated and changed to allow players to play through all, or at least most, of the content that you’ve spent months developing. It feels like very little has been added to the world since release when that isn’t true. Truth be told, I’d rather you guys spend your time adding new mechanics to the game or permanent content.

I think the idea of the Living Story is a great idea, but they need to tweak it for it to really take off. The problem, in my option, is that the changes to the world or only temporary. And that after each part of the living story was over…..the world is just change back like someone hit the off switch.

For instance that’s look at what Scarlet did?

First she brought together the drudge and the flame legion. Do you think that they would just go away even after the two leaders were killed. I don’t think so I think that yes a large part of both the drudge and flame legion would leave, but most would stay and rebuild and/or move their base. New leaders would take control and they would continue as normal for a evil group try and take over an area, new or old place. But most of the content is already there the dungeons with the moving entrance, the events with the ice storms and portal attacks. Most of there effort is done just leave them in the Living world with events that can happen…. this would make for more of a living world if this dungeon and events where add to a map that has no world boss or other large event in it.

The Aether blade Pirates a combine of skills from pirates and inquest. I know that the Leader of them was freed and she in turn ran off into the edge of the mist with the remaining forces, but I for one would think that we would still see them from time to time. Same as the before put them in zone that has no large event. With how the inquest love taking thing they see as useful I would also give the Aether Blade pirates the use of the clockwork horrors tech that scarlet made. They have an event in which portal open up in zones attacked by pirates and clockwork creature from air ships. Yes the drudge did too but would need to be remove them, because I think without scarlet to pull the strings whey would not continue to help each other. And if the players win and stop the attack give the player a chance to using the last portal go after the them in the dungeon, which is also made.

The direct problem isn’t that there are biweekly content updates, it’s that that type of content delivered was always… not good. It was pretty consistently -

gimmicky
fragmented or disconnected
simplistic in story
too grindy (achievements)
removed two weeks later
and therefore poorly tested and never properly iterated

This format for new content delivery was always a spectacularly bad idea, and the game is paying for it now. Hopefully season 2 will see more permanent additions, iterative polishing, cohesive storytelling, and less grindy content. Also, a resolution for the cognitive dissonance created by the PS and LS conceptual conflict.

the LS only works when it’s actually progressively happening, not in stages like it did in phase 1.

take a centaur invasion for instance, the normal way would be that they go in the queensdale and set camp while players try to breach the camp.
the game constantly respawns them and keep on pushing trough, even while they only have about 50 centaurs of manpower.

the better way would be an all out invasion where you literally see hundreds of centaurs charging trough queensdale and raid houses everywhere, killing any human that stands in their way.
divinity’s reach responses by barricading all areas that can potentially make a breach straight to DR, you’ll see catapult and camps everywhere to fight any centaur daring to get trough.
the centaur part of queensdale turns in a wasteland and trees are used to make strong weapons and defenses, all houses still there are used as watchtower places to keep a look over any breaches without being seen.

this is just a start on how they could do this, it has allot more to do with a living story and less about a staged zerg fest full of achievements.
they should first focus on how they’re gonna improve the living story before they add more achievements and rewards, it’s after all what the whole point is, having a story that unfolds while the world lives on.

I would prefer monthly releases.