Guild Wars 2

Starting Note: I’m not getting carried away, pining for an ExPack. Just was thinking about it and thought I’d ask.

What sort of things did ANet do with expansions in GW1? I’ve heard that they didn’t raise the level cap. Is that true? Were there new races? Obviously we’ll see new environments, but what other kinds of new “stuff” did they add the first time around?

Humans were the only playable race so there were no new races. GW1 didn’t really have “expansions” exactly, with one exception. The rest were standalone products, each including a continent and the ability to create a character from level 1 and play through to the level cap. The exception was the Eye of the North expansion, which was entirely level 20 content and required you to own any one of the other campaigns to play it. Aside from EotN each campaign added two new classes, but it’s hard to say if we should expect new classes in this game, at least at that kind of rate.

GW1 did Campaigns. The only Expansion they released was Eye of the North, which added onto Prophecies. Factions and Nightfall were separate Campaigns. Basically like an entirely new game, added onto the main game.

The way they worked, they introduced an entirely new continent. Everything you had in the main game, you had in the Campaign but in an entirely new setting. All new areas for all levels, like as if it was a new game completely with the same mechanics.

They didn’t have different races then, so it was just new professions (classes) that were added. Like with Factions, you got the Ritualist and the Assassin. With Nightfall, you got the Dervish and the Paragon. Everyone was Human.

Campaigns also had new weapons, new armors, new skills, a whole entire new continent to explore, new titles and even skill based titles, etc etc.

Now with Eye of the North, which was an actual Expansion, the only new things you got were new Heroes (Computer AI party members which we don’t have in GW2 anyways), new weapons and armors, new areas to explore, new PvE titles and PvE title skills (skills that got stronger the higher your rank your title was) and a new story that started the Elder Dragons off. Eye of the North also introduced the Hall of Monuments for people to earn rewards in GW1, for rewards in GW2.

So it all depends on if we are getting Campaigns, or Expansions.

Interesting. So it looks like they probably already forced a severe departure from what they did last time.

I guess there’s not much else to say then, haha.

Thanks for the info.

The level cap in GW1 was lvl 20, 90% of the game was played at lvl 20 thus you virtually had no levels. Each new chapter added new skills weapons and classes.

For GW2 expansions you will probably see new classes, entire new maps, Cantha and Elona, and if we are lucky we will get a new playable race, but doubtful. I want to be a warden…

I hope they add Tengu as a playable race.

I remember watching a panel where somebody asked why there were no two-handed axes in Guild Wars 2 and the response was something to the effect of “we have to save something for an expansion”

Yeh expect tyria to be expanded first, hopefully in patches and then expansions should open up other places like Cantha. Anet have said they are going to be releasing new races in the future and are going to improve on the base before they do expansions :P

What these guys said. Anet stated that the GW2 model would be expansion based laregly because the campaigns idea was problematic from a development standpoint of overcomplicating an already complicated system by needing to add new mechanics, and needing to add a new starting area/tutorials for those new mechanics.

I would expect the following from arenanet based on experience with the first game and based upon what I’ve read regarding the decision to cancel utopia and do EOTN/GW2:

Free updates: Single dungeons/Events/Recipies/Gear on current zones

Paid expansion: Weapon types, zones, personal story, large packages of dungeons, skills, runes, sigils. Possibly a single class, race or both per expansion.

Stuff I would be suprised at: Level cap changing, gear stat cap changing.

Anet’s track record has been one of extending content laterally rather than upward, so don’t expect a blizzard expansion scheme of “I need this xpac or I’ll be kittened” and expect a larger degree of stuff to do with an existing character as content with larger build options rather than more powerful addendums to your current build.

They’re also pretty good about varying things mechanically so I wouldn’t be suprised to see a “mount focused expansion” or “Air combat focused expansion” or “Extended water combat” expansion.