Guild Wars 2

A ‘wish list’ of features we will see and features I’d like to see implemented sometime next year.

Features we will see in Q1 of 2013 (as mentioned by Johnathan Sharp):

Matchmaking and Ranking System
Leaderboards
Custom Arenas
Spectator Mode
More Stats
Monthly and Yearly Tournaments

With a few extras thrown in there, maybe a new map, dueling system implemented, I think we can safely say these are the new features we will be seeing in the next few months. I’m very glad that these will be added and they are sorely needed to make this game truly a e-sports quality contender in the current field of e-sports games.

Now, I’d like to explain my ideas of features that can be added in 2013 that will make Guild Wars 2 one of the most played e-sports of the next 5 years and can make it the most popular e-sport there is. Many of the ideas I will be discussing have already been mentioned on these forums, but some of the features have not. Here they are:

Heart of the Mists becomes Free-to-Play
Pretty self explanatory, but I’ll break it down how I envision this working. Anybody that downloads HotM F2P would only get 2 or 3 character slots but would have complete access to ALL features currently enjoyed in HotM (and the new game modes I suggest below). Full use of the Gem Store would make HotM F2P a viable solution for ArenaNet and what makes this work. If you have one of these accounts you will also select a server but you will not be able to go through any portals nor be able to ‘Leave the Mists’. If you attempt to leave through the Lion’s Arch portal, WvW screen, or ‘Leave the Mists’, you will be given an option to purchase the full game for the retail price. Essentially, sPvP is free-to-play, PvE and WvW are not.

New Game Modes: 3v3 Arenas and 10v10 Capture the Flag
Joining the 5v5 Conquest mode would be these two new game modes. These two new game modes will earn you glory and rank points. I envision that these modes can be implemented by the one year anniversary of Guild Wars 2, August 2013. I’ll break them down how these modes will work.

Arenas
Arenas will be a 3v3 Deathmatch and use the Matchmaking and Rankings systems the same as Conquest mode will be in the next few months. You will only be able to access Arenas by queueing a 3 person party, no hot joins. Arenas will have 6 maps, one based for each city in Guild Wars 2. In each city in PvE you can go to an area of the city and spectate these Arena matches but can only join Arenas through HotM. Each game will be best 2 out of 3 because Guild Wars 2 has lower HP cap and rounds will go by fairly quickly. Monthly and Yearly tournaments can be added if enough of a following is formed for this game mode, but I still see Conquest as the main sPvP game mode.

Capture the Flag
The CTF game mode will be 10 v 10 and only joinable by queue, no hot joins. The ability to create a 10-man party will be opened up in HotM, but only for this game mode (obviously). You can solo queue as well and will be grouped up with other party’s. You can still earn glory and rank points, but this game mode will not be competitive. No tournaments for CTF. New maps designed for CTF, would be larger than Conquest maps, but not by much. I see the mode playing much like WoW CTF mode. Siege weapons would be a focal point of these games (think treb on Kyhlo).

I believe if these features are implement, ArenaNet would have one of the most successful PvP games ever. Making it Free to Play would mean a massive PvP population that would keep things fresh and always populated. Paid queues would always pop for tournaments, and much of the complaints about PvP would be nullified by such a rich and dense free-to-play experience. I think ArenaNet has the foundation of a potentially huge pvp game in place, but adding these features would take it to a level we haven’t seen in gaming before.

Why CTF of all the other options?

Dull old game mode that’s probably even more dull than conquest.

Only game I’ve seen it work was with s4 league and it was more like capture the ball. And it worked because game had amazing emphasis on just how to move one’s character that takes weeks/months to master. GW2 on the other hand is just spam 1 button such as thief swap to bow to move faster. It wouldn’t be interesting.

CTF would be acceptable if it was part of an objective in a game in order to capture a point or something such as this was the case in GW1 GvG in order to gain morale boost after capturing the flag. That adds depth, its interesting unlike a game mode actually based entirely around capturing a flag rather than where the flag is based around the game mode.

I’ll add one for you. HOTM becomes a global room, instead of per server, so people can go to the mists and see everyone else in the mists, or be put into overflow if necessary.

i would love some game modes like TF2.

pushing carts, ctf, and assault type modes.

push cart:

• escort a dolyk but a dolyk is invicible. if enemy is witihn range it doesn’t move. must be clear.

CTF:

• kind of like 2 fort.

Assault:

• red team must defend for 5 minutes each point captured adds 2 minutes on timer. if timer runs out red team wins, if all 5 points are captured then blue team wins.

Sorry, no can do, not gonna happen.

I expect around 1 post per month saying that they “are watching and reading, but cannot respond to every thread” as well as that they “have some amazing stuff in the works they can’t talk about much yet” until December 2013 when matchmaking arrives to protect the skulls&bones laying all over the ghost town Mists.

phfresno.1230:

Heart of the Mists becomes Free-to-Play
Pretty self explanatory, but I’ll break it down how I envision this working. Anybody that downloads HotM F2P would only get 2 or 3 character slots but would have complete access to ALL features currently enjoyed in HotM (and the new game modes I suggest below). Full use of the Gem Store would make HotM F2P a viable solution for ArenaNet and what makes this work. If you have one of these accounts you will also select a server but you will not be able to go through any portals nor be able to ‘Leave the Mists’. If you attempt to leave through the Lion’s Arch portal, WvW screen, or ‘Leave the Mists’, you will be given an option to purchase the full game for the retail price. Essentially, sPvP is free-to-play, PvE and WvW are not.

This idea is great, maybe little hard to implement, I don’t know.

phfresno.1230:

Heart of the Mists becomes Free-to-Play
Pretty self explanatory, but I’ll break it down how I envision this working. Anybody that downloads HotM F2P would only get 2 or 3 character slots but would have complete access to ALL features currently enjoyed in HotM (and the new game modes I suggest below). Full use of the Gem Store would make HotM F2P a viable solution for ArenaNet and what makes this work. If you have one of these accounts you will also select a server but you will not be able to go through any portals nor be able to ‘Leave the Mists’. If you attempt to leave through the Lion’s Arch portal, WvW screen, or ‘Leave the Mists’, you will be given an option to purchase the full game for the retail price. Essentially, sPvP is free-to-play, PvE and WvW are not.

Dude, I love this Idea!

I mean, all the stuff a F2P-Game needs to create any revenue is in place already (with that I mean a functioning ingame-store) and If you only give the ppl 2 Char-Slots max and PvP-access only, they most likely will buy some gems.

It’s extremely important, that the F2P-People will get no disadvantages when it comes down to raw PvP though, but there could be several ways of making money nonetheless:

- F2P Players are unable to use the Glory Vendors: No real disadvantage, they’ll just don’t have the nice and cool-looking Equipment.
- F2P Player will only get 2 Char-Slots Max: Any1 who takes PvP serious will most likely buy some more, but it will give no disadvantage to the F2P-Players.
- No free weekly Server-transfers.
- Maybe give them less cosmetic Options when building their Char or let them only choose “Human” as a playable race (doesn’t really impact the gameplay).

If they’d get the word out there about sth. like that and make it a quick and easy download, GW2 could potentially explode. ^^’

But I think this is sth. that should get done after the good PvP-features have been implemented: There’s no use of getting tons of ppl to play your game if they leave right away because of a lack of features they are used to from LoL, HoN, Dota2 etc.

You can’t really have HotM free to play. There would be multiaccount issues, and a lot of abuse.
CTF mode wouldn’t work at all. Bunkers and portal mesmers would be even stronger there.
Custom Arenas: I don’t really see any need for that.

Yes, good suggestion about the F2P read more than a few topics about how it could be implemented.

Also more modes are essential and don’t give the crap like “oh they are only balancing the game for conquest, so it would be unbalanced” – I would rather have more modes to choose from that are not balanced than only 1 mode that is boring. But I disagree with you about the modes, they could have more variety (imo 10×10 is insanely alot of people for ctf).

- Duels should be implemented ASAP, most of people would learn to counter other people a lot faster, also it is fun.
- CTF (3×3 or 5×5) If you are a flag carrier you only get “flag” utilities (like short charge, bash with the flag. etc.) to use and the same amount of stats (call it carrier stats). Also you cannot carry flag in the portals
- Your idea of arenas is quite similar to mine, only I would suggest different amount of people, like 2×2 3×3 and 4×4. Maybe I disagree about the 2 out of 3, since people may alter their characters to totally counter other team during prep time.
- Assault would be amazing in gw2 play style – people who do not know this mode, its kind of the same thing as in Unreal Tournament, you get a mission with few objectives and a final goal and you get limited time to do them (8-10 min.). One team is defending these objectives other team is trying to do them in this amount of time. If they succeed it in less minutes, other team still can win after teamswap by doing it even faster.
-These modes (not arena, but others suggested in the topic) can be in both categories of tpvp and spvp.

Cant finish the post now, will try to edit with more suggestions later : |

phfresno.1230:

Heart of the Mists becomes Free-to-Play

Either free with 100 gems cost to participate in the monthy tournamnt > ppl love to play games with prize money (
(those free account dont have access to Black Market convert gold>gems , while those pitiful costs ppl wont jeopardize their credit card to unoffcial gold farming companies)
Or they can simply buy the whole game for having access to the BM(still an income to the company)

Or make it cost for 3-5 dollars , in order to have only access in the Mist-PvP and create something like LoL where the community dicide which ppl need an inflaction .
PvP community in all games are corrupted
More Bans > more ppl rebuying it (low cost) > more income from the PvPers

IF they happen to choose 1 of the 2 , it will be better to remove the cost on paid tournaments in order the PvP side to bloom :P

what are the advantages payed customers have respect to the new f2p players that will come later?

in term of pvp: what do my 50€ give me more than f2p players?

if it is only pve, how can i get my money back?

as long as GW1 still isnt free, i really doubt they will make GW2 free even only SPVP, not possible imo

i agree with 3v3 arena, would be nice…

i disagree with 10v10 CTF… its like wtf? even 8v8 conquest was too zergy, i dont even try to imagine if it would be 10v10 with only 1 or 2 points to focus (flags) instead of 3…

Shukran.4851:

what are the advantages payed customers have respect to the new f2p players that will come later?

in term of pvp: what do my 50€ give me more than f2p players?

if it is only pve, how can i get my money back?

You have a huge PvE game and WvW and were able to PvP for a long time before the game became F2P if you just play PvP.

F2P accounts will probably only have 1 maybe 2 character slots to start with. Also, they could make glory only obtainable in paid accounts and have PvP armor skins in the gem store.

MaXi.3642:

as long as GW1 still isnt free, i really doubt they will make GW2 free even only SPVP, not possible imo

GW1 wasn’t ever trying to be an e-sport and their item mall wasn’t built to sustain the company. GW1 business model was to come out with expansion packs to sustain the game instead of monthly subs. Going for an e-sport with a decent item mall for PvPers, F2P will bring in a TON of players and with that comes a lot of support for e-sports and everyone wins.

Thirsty.2875:

Shukran.4851:

what are the advantages payed customers have respect to the new f2p players that will come later?

in term of pvp: what do my 50€ give me more than f2p players?

if it is only pve, how can i get my money back?

You have a huge PvE game and WvW and were able to PvP for a long time before the game became F2P if you just play PvP.

F2P accounts will probably only have 1 maybe 2 character slots to start with. Also, they could make glory only obtainable in paid accounts and have PvP armor skins in the gem store.

and?
time played doesnt mean skill acquired. there are players which are playing pve part of the game since release, doesnt mean they go in tournament and pownz everyone.
i bought gw2 because of pvp, so i can deal with having only 2 slots, having no skins (you know, skins don’t make you a better player).. so please, tell me how can i have my money back if pvp become a f2p part of the game. thx

just for the record: in gw1 pvp you started with 8 custom skills unlocked..playing pve or more pvp u could unlock every single skill of every progfession . anet after some years decided to sell a pvp clinet only for pvp and a “pvp booster” which unlocked all skills. it was good.
but here in gw2 unlocking skills is instat in pvp. there are less skill in gw2 than gw1. so i don’t see how me, a paying customer, can deal with this f2p client.
sorry for bad english and rant

Rezz.8019:

You can’t really have HotM free to play. There would be multiaccount issues, and a lot of abuse.
CTF mode wouldn’t work at all. Bunkers and portal mesmers would be even stronger there.
Custom Arenas: I don’t really see any need for that.

I appreciate the realism. It would be difficult to make HotM free to play without trouble, although probably possible.

I disagree that CTF will never work. There is no game mode in which bunkers and portals could both be as strong as the current mode—i.e. your team must stay alive on two points. As others have said, flag carriers would get “flag” skills; obviously, you wouldn’t be able to take the flag through a portal or shortbow around with it, etc. Bunkers might even be completely useless, depending on what the flag mechanic is.

A single-flag capture like snowball mayhem would likely be zergy 10v10, but I can see a two-flag capture mechanic working for a larger group. CTF is overall a good choice for a second game mode because it is casual-friendly. Arenas are also possibly a good casual-friendly choice, but I don’t think they could support teamfights larger than 5v5. The devs will likely choose something that supports a larger team size, so that new players don’t feel as bad when they mess up.

capture the flag will be really hard to implement since we will get the whining about OP skills all over again. Portal will then just be removed from mesmers I guess, and will be oh so hard to balance together with conquest

You wouldn’t have to remove Portal. You’d just make it so a player drops the flag if they go through a Portal. Same goes for using invulnerability abilities like Mistform.

I really wish people would stop trying to turn this game into World of Warcraft.

I think PvP being f2p isn’t a bad idea. However, I would think they would have to make people pay gems for access to new armor and weapons. They have to pull profit from something more than slots and full game purchases.

Some pretty nifty ideas being thrown around.

The one that stands out to me is having HOTM free to play. That sounds like a good idea and would bring so many more players to GW2, but first things first.

1. There has to be more variety to PVP.
2. Preventing multi-account exploits
3. Anet would like players to get rewards that can be useful in PVE as well. So how do you manage that with players who don’t have the full game?

Id like to see the game have Arena seasons. EVen 3on3 , and 5on5.
Also. What is this ranking system you mention going to be like?
is it going to be a proper elo rating system. OR something more informal, is there a place to go for information on this?

I need to learn to read better. I thought the CTF, Arenas, and F2P Mists feature was actually going to be a thing coming in Q1… So heartbroken right now…. Absolutely crushed. =(

Instead of finding a solution to the problems they have with player retention they should turn the Mists into Trial Island and focus on volume?

This is why developers should ignore 99.9837427586234758962% of all player feedback.

XiL.4318:

Instead of finding a solution to the problems they have with player retention they should turn the Mists into Trial Island and focus on volume?

This is why developers should ignore 99.9837427586234758962% of all player feedback.

they will learn this eventually.

XiL.4318:

Instead of finding a solution to the problems they have with player retention they should turn the Mists into Trial Island and focus on volume?

This is why developers should ignore 99.9837427586234758962% of all player feedback.

Have you completely missed the six features ArenaNet has mentioned multiple times that they are going to add in the next 3 months? I think the matchmaking and ranking system, custom arenas, spectator mode, leader boards, monthly and yearly tournaments pretty much addresses your ‘player retention’ concerns. My suggestions are for further down the line, by the end of next year, maybe sooner.

the only possible scenario of heart of the mist becoming free to play is the freeversion having disabled features (less skills, less runes, less weapons) but the good thing is that there’s nothing stopping people from making a league out of it. but if you get to face people with the full package because they bought the game, you will eventually buy the game anyway.

EoNxBoNx.9213:

I really wish people would stop trying to turn this game into World of Warcraft.

The game is ruined badly enough already by trying to make it WoW2 .. GW must be GW and stop trying to contest with WoW ar any other popular MMO name.. Thats what was great about GW , it was different.

FLFW.3105:

EoNxBoNx.9213:

I really wish people would stop trying to turn this game into World of Warcraft.

The game is ruined badly enough already by trying to make it WoW2 .. GW must be GW and stop trying to contest with WoW ar any other popular MMO name.. Thats what was great about GW , it was different.

I am not comparing the two games. All what I said was, “I really wish people would stop trying to turn this game into World of Warcraft.” And that means the people screaming for 3v3 arena death matches, and CTF mode. Now I am also not saying Blizzard invented those game modes, but they made them popular. Made 3v3 arenas an eSport.

Like you said GW needs to be its own game, and it does not need arenas to be a good game.

Free to Play – Now in some ways its a very good idea, in other ways its a complete death sentence. For a start hacks would rise MASSIVELY, not to mention huge levels of griefing and abuse, as free accoutns can be made very easily.

As long as they dont do a TF2 and ruin the game completely, it should be ok I guess.

new game modes are an absolute must, but you dont want too many options, as pvp is dying and the last thing it needs is to stretch out those falling numbers across many new maps and modes. Add a mode, wait a little, then add another if the numbers support it.

As for not making it like wow, the combat system will take care of that, but I see your point. I will give Anet credit for that, they do seem to want to make things inclusive, and the gear grind not being in the game also helps a HUGE amount. Please never allow different gear (as in better stats, just cosmetic stuff).

Arena is just another way of saying team death match with one life, its a good mode but it has to be done right. Just one bracket to begin with, 3v3 is a nice number.

Dueling would also be awesome, just a random queue would be amazing, nice way to learn your own class without being zerged, plus you will learn about other classes.

phfresno.1230:

Heart of the Mists becomes Free-to-Play
Pretty self explanatory, but I’ll break it down how I envision this working. Anybody that downloads HotM F2P would only get 2 or 3 character slots but would have complete access to ALL features currently enjoyed in HotM (and the new game modes I suggest below). Full use of the Gem Store would make HotM F2P a viable solution for ArenaNet and what makes this work. If you have one of these accounts you will also select a server but you will not be able to go through any portals nor be able to ‘Leave the Mists’. If you attempt to leave through the Lion’s Arch portal, WvW screen, or ‘Leave the Mists’, you will be given an option to purchase the full game for the retail price. Essentially, sPvP is free-to-play, PvE and WvW are not.

^ I like this suggestion because it’s actually feasible. If sPvP became free to play, it would not affect the balance of the game at all. Everything about sPvP is isolated as is, so there are no negative side-effects.

It would be like League of Legends in this sense, which is a good thing in terms of growth.