Guild Wars 2

Just hit 80, it took me under 2 weeks. I bought a set of exotic gear with gems, thinking it would be a good base to start grinding the higher end gear, only to find, it IS the higher end gear. Really? That’s it? There’s no tiers of end game gear to pursue? sPvP everyone has the same gear? There are no higher tiers? This is a HUGE disappointment. This game went from being the most beautiful and fun game I’ve ever played to absolutely pointless. What the hell are people supposed to do at 80? Cosmetics sets? LOL.

If the game doesn’t provide any 80 content to work for, it should at least take more than 2 weeks to level up. Horrible game design in my opinion.

get ascended, problem solved

6 ascended trinkets from doing zerg WvW. Ok sure, I’ll knock that out in a week, now what?

get all fotm weapon skins

I’m sorry you wasted money and two weeks on a game without knowing the first thing about its design. Guild Wars 2 is not for you.

Ok thanks Weirwynn.

Thought this was a suggestion forum.. so I was merely mentioning my concerns and disappointment. Hoping that others that feel the same way I do will speak up. Maybe the game creators will listen and improve the game.

It is highly unlikely that they would rebuild their whole game because a small minority wishes it.

GW2 is not about getting better gear and owning all the noobs.

Bame.7963:

Thought this was a suggestion forum.. so I was merely mentioning my concerns and disappointment. Hoping that others that feel the same way I do will speak up. Maybe the game creators will listen and improve the game.

Your point is understood, but GW2 was deliberately designed this way and one of the reasons it has attracted such a large number of people to it. There are a few people like minded to yourself who want a tiered endgame, but that philosophy was not what was ever intended here and. The devs want people to get the highest tier armor and weapons with min effort so people dont feel like they are excluded or grinding.

For me – fantastic. More gameplay time and less hassle worrying about where my next stats are going to come from

This is the reason I chose GW2.
-.-

I agree with you title but for completely different reasons. Coming into GW2 you should have known that stat grind would have been minimal compared to lets say WoW.

Yes, this game is all about cosmetics. Though there aren’t enough of it (aesthetically nice ones) to begin with. Which is a BIG problem. Also you have to transmute them or lose them which is another BIG problem.

Besides the issue about cosmetics, my biggest issue is the complete lack of content at end game. The whole game being “end game” was nothing but a marketing phrase. Anet has sat on their butts since the game came out and barely any CORE content has come out since then.

lordkrall.7241:

It is highly unlikely that they would rebuild their whole game because a small minority wishes it.

GW2 is not about getting better gear and owning all the noobs.

GW2 population has been steadily declining since January 2013. Although GW has beautiful graphics and animations, their current model is not as successful as their competitor’s; not by a long shot. So yes, I think they would be willing to redesign their endgame. Afterall, Anet is a business, and businesses like money.

Also, I never said I wanted to “own all the noobs”. I simply want to invest endless time into a character, and have it mean something. Something more than cosmetics. There’s no way to get immersed in a game where after a 2 week grind to 80, all you can do is zerg WvW or grind Fractals. Knowing well that no matter how much time an effort you put into your character at this point, he will never get more powerful than a fresh 80 who buys orange gear off the BLTC.

Bame.7963:

GW2 population has been steadily declining since January 2013.

Aha, and where did you get those numbers?

It’s going to take you a lot longer than a week to get full ascended trinkets. The best way to get the rings is by running Fractals, you can get them without needing laurels that way. So you have to run 10 fractals before you can even get a RNG chance to get a ring. Once you’ve reached fotm level 10, you will get a pristine fractal relic every day by doing a 10+ even fractal level. You need 10 pristine relics to buy an ascended ring, so that’s 10 days per ring, or 20 total. You might get lucky and get a ring you want as a drop, but I’ve done over 500 fractals and never gotten one of the zerker rings, so good luck. But you’re looking at 30 days to get 2 rings if you do a fractal every day. And this is faster than doing the laurel + WvW badges.

Now for the amulet you need 20 laurels and 250 badges. You say you can get the 250 badges in a couple days, ok. You can get a total of 40 laurels per month, so that part will take you at least 10 days if you keep doing your daily and do your monthly.

For the accessories the best way to get them is guild commendations. You need 24 total for 2 accessories, and you can get 6 per week. So it will take you a month to get 2 accessories if you have a guild that does all the guild missions. If your guild only does bounties, it will take you 3 months. Oh, and it will also cost you 10 gold total, there’s that too.

For the backpiece, you will need at least 1850 fractal relics, or 2850 if you want the fully upgraded one with particle effects. You’ll also need some rare drops from fractals, items that are acquired by skill points, and 500 ectoplasms for the fully upgraded version, which is going to cost you about 91 gold.

So for your full ascended trinkets, it’s time gated to at least a month and over 100g, and you’ll have to grind Fractals every day along with WvW for badges, do your daily every day, do your monthly, and do guild missions every week.

But beyond how wrong you were with your “I’ll have ascended trinkets in a week” statement, that isn’t what this game is about. The ascended stuff is the closest to a gear grind there is in this game, and a lot of people weren’t happy with that much. This game is not for people who want to grind to get superior gear to all the casuals. It’s relatively easy to get the best gear. What you can grind for, besides the ascended stuff, is better looking gear. Besides that, you play the game because it’s fun and you enjoy it. Tell me, how much did you really enjoy the gear treadmills in other games? I’m sure you told yourself you enjoyed it, but that was just you trying to justify to yourself spending so much time doing something that wasn’t fun. I played FFXI, and I spend hours, HOURS, every day standing around doing absolutely nothing with my guild waiting for a mob to spawn that had like a 1% chance to drop some super ring of awesomeness that I wasn’t even going to get even if we got the claim on the mob and the item did drop because I went to school and had a job, so I didn’t have the same DKP as people who literally spent their life playing the game. I sure told myself I was having fun. I was F’ing lying to myself. It was terrible. I would play other games while “playing” FFXI. That should tell you something.

GW2 is a fun game to play. It’s beautiful, the combat is engaging, dungeons are fun, WvW is fun, and some of the new Living Story stuff is pretty fun too. I’m not on my android playing some other game while “playing” GW2. Your mindset on this game and MMOs in general is wrong, so you either need to realize that this game is for playing to have fun, not playing to be more superior to those who play less, or just go find a game that has that for you. I’d suggest WoW, you can grind gear all you want in that game.

Bame.7963:

GW2 population has been steadily declining since January 2013. Although GW has beautiful graphics and animations, their current model is not as successful as their competitor’s; not by a long shot. So yes, I think they would be willing to redesign their endgame. Afterall, Anet is a business, and businesses like money.

Oh? Any actual source about that part, or are you just assuming?
Based on what ArenaNet themselves have said there have actually been an INCREASE in population the first 6 months of this year.

GW2 is currently one of the most (if not the most) successful MMO on the market, claiming it is not as successful as their competitors by a long shot is therefore simply false.

Yes, they want money, but they would most likely lose way more money (from current and future customers) if they decided to go against everything they have said about the game.

Your mindset on this game and MMOs in general is wrong, so you either need to realize that this game is for playing to have fun, not playing to be more superior to those who play less

I guess you get to decide what I think is fun. I’m wrong. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

Google searches for the population of GW2 have pointed me to forums in which people say the population of the game has been in decline. Nothing official. Lordkrall, can you show me anything official that the population has actually increased?

Bame.7963:

Your mindset on this game and MMOs in general is wrong, so you either need to realize that this game is for playing to have fun, not playing to be more superior to those who play less

I guess you get to decide what I think is fun. I’m wrong. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

If you think Geargrind, Hardcore Raiding and grinding in general, the typical WoW Endgame, is Fun, then you are not the target audience of this game. And instead of realizing that, you try to change the game so it suits you better while ignoring the hundreds of thousands who enjoy it the current way.

I am the target audience for this game. I’m an MMO fan, that uses microtransactions often. I’m equally as important to Anet as any of their current customers. I have a voice.

Bame.7963:

Google searches for the population of GW2 have pointed me to forums in which people say the population of the game has been in decline. Nothing official. Lordkrall, can you show me anything official that the population has actually increased?

So far this year WvW has seen some major updates: from the removal of culling to the new progression, reward and ability system, our WvW population has been rapidly on the rise since January.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

True that it is specifically for WvW, but there have also been talks about increased population overall, I’ll see if I can find it.

Bame.7963:

I am the target audience for this game. I’m an MMO fan, that uses microtransactions often. I’m equally as important to Anet as any of their current customers. I have a voice.

No you aren’t. This game isn’t meant only for MMO Fans, it is a game for people who have never played an MMO. If you would have watched the Manifesto Trailer before actually buying the game you wouldn’t be here probably.
I may quote one specific sentence:

“If you love MMO’s, you wanna check out Guild wars 2 and if you hate MMO’s, you really wanna check out Guild Wars 2”.

You are a traditional MMO Player who doesn’t like change, and this game tried to change everything, that was clear from the beginning.

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

Ya that says nothing.

You are a traditional MMO Player who doesn’t like change, and this game tried to change everything, that was clear from the beginning.

Yes, and they succeeded in many ways. The fact is, in my opinion they’re lacking in one major way. But that’s it, it’s my opinion and this is a suggestion forum. You have your opinion. Both our opinions count. Your opinion is shown by you logging in everyday. My opinion is shown by posting on this forum. We can agree to disagree.

Bame.7963:

Ya that says nothing.

It is however the only official information we have.
People on forums have said this game is dying since before release, and yet it is now one of the best selling MMOs of all times.

The Problem with opinions is, if they aren’t constructive in any way, they are worthless. My Opinion is worthless, I don’t have much good Ideas to improve the game because I’m satisfied, so I don’t post any suggestions.
Your Opinion is worthless because it isn’t constructive. You try to change things that are set in stone in the game’s philosophy, it isn’t helping anyone. Neither Anet, nor yourself. I have no hate against you or want to insult you, but this whole thread isn’t helping anyone.

and yet it is now one of the best selling MMOs of all times.

Where did you find this information?

Also, I bought the game, but I don’t play it anymore (nor will I continue to purchase microtransactions). So those statistics don’t prove anything. How many active players do they have?.. that’s the question.

Bame.7963:

Also, I bought the game, but I regret it. So those statistics don’t prove anything. How many active players do they have?.. that’s the question.

Enough to fill up all 24 NA Server Populations to Very High, on Primetime 3 of those are Full. Enough to Fill up half of the EU Servers to a Population of Very High, enough to support the Living Story and enough to keep Anet alive. You don’t need to know more.

Also it is stated on multiple Game News Websites and by Anet themselves that this game to this date sold nearly 4 Million Copies.

Bame.7963:

Where did you find this information?

Also, I bought the game, but I regret it. So those statistics don’t prove anything. How many active players do they have?.. that’s the question.

It sold over 3 million copies within half a year. That is more than most MMOs sells in their lifetime.

They also seem to have an activity rate of 2.5 Million active users per week which would suggest it is indeed quite successful.

http://gw2.kongzhong.com/act/brand/index.html (the webpage for the Chinese release of GW2)

The Problem with opinions is, if they aren’t constructive in any way, they are worthless

Actually, my opinion is constructive, as I am a potential paying customer. I am giving clear reasons why I’m disappointed in a companies product.

I’m sure Anet appreciates all of you who just say “this game isn’t for you. The door is that way”. I think you fanboys are worse for this game than the actual game itself.

Bame.7963:

The Problem with opinions is, if they aren’t constructive in any way, they are worthless

Actually, my opinion is constructive, as I am a potential paying customer. I am giving clear reasons why I’m disappointed in a companies product.

It’s like talking against a Wall with a big WoW Sign…
As you don’t seem to get it that companies don’t give a kitten about minorities of minorities, I’m gonna give up. You won this argument by tactical surrender.

There’s another post here on the Suggestions forum called “Guild wars 2 longevity”. He is better at articulating my same point. I’m not a minority of minorities.

Bame.7963:

The Problem with opinions is, if they aren’t constructive in any way, they are worthless

Actually, my opinion is constructive, as I am a potential paying customer. I am giving clear reasons why I’m disappointed in a companies product.

Once you paid for the game that was all that was expected of you, claiming that you would fork over some pennies so that anet would go against the games design and fans who love/like this “always end game” mmo, its like saying the opposite in the blizzard/wow forums from one of us who love this game but want to play as pandas:facepalm:

WoW and/or rift are that away —?

as well as being close minded about every game should be like wow:facepalm: you can play rift:facepalm:(i fell for their 3 souls BS as well)

Pennies? Pennies is the games initial cost. Microtransactions are where the real money is made. I work full time, I like to enjoy my game of choice. I bought $50 in my first two weeks of playing. If I enjoyed the game, I would probably put $50 a paycheck in. If I leave the game, they are missing out on potentially $1,200 a year from me, and the same from others who share my PoV. Sure, 3 million games sold, and 400K active players is good, but wouldn’t Anet prefer 11 million users like their competition? GW2 did a lot right, I’m not trying to ruin your game. But it is missing something at 80.

There needs to be rewards for people who want to put in extra effort. If GW2’s theory applied to real life, it would be like the doctor getting paid the same as the bum. They both graduated highschool, so they stay on an even playing field. Does that make sense?

Well, from a population standpoint, there are many servers that are full most of the day. I still hit overflow in LA all the time, and I have to wait in WvW queue even on week nights. Financially, the game is a huge success. Anet has been able to hire a lot of additional staff and increase their production. That’s why we’re seeing major content updates every two weeks, they are rolling in dough. Now, you say they “need” to add a gear treadmill to make money. They are already making money. Fractals and ascended gear were the compromise they made for players of your mindset, but you haven’t even touched those yet because you just hit 80 and already decided there is nothing to do in the game. I’m willing to bet you’ve barely touched dungeons and have little experience in WvW. This game will never be the power creep and gear grind that you seem to want. That was one of the core philosophies of the game, and they are making a ton of money with it. If you can’t enjoy a game that doesn’t let you become so powerful that all the content is trivial and you can stomp newer players without any effort, then you will never enjoy this game. They don’t want power creep in this game because they want all their content to remain relevant forever, and they want PvP and WvW to be more about skill than having superior gear that makes you invincible.

Bame.7963:

Pennies? Pennies is the games initial cost. Microtransactions are where the real money is made. I work full time, I like to enjoy my game of choice. I bought $50 in my first two weeks of playing. If I enjoyed the game, I would probably put $50 a paycheck in. If I leave the game, they are missing out on potentially $1,200 a year from me, and the same from others who share my PoV. Sure, 3 million games sold, and 400K active players is good, but wouldn’t Anet prefer 11 million users like their competition? GW2 did a lot right, I’m not trying to ruin your game. But it is missing something at 80.

There needs to be rewards for people who want to put in extra effort. If GW2’s theory applied to real life, it would be like the doctor getting paid the same as the bum. They both graduated highschool, so they stay on an even playing field. Does that make sense?

its called legendaries for post 80 if your that interested, then there’s the other skins as well-_-, note:people sell legendaries so theres the farm for coin method, or the level a specific craft to make your own

I don’t see how this is terrible game design. Getting to eighty is not really the ultimate goal. It unlocks very few things. And progression, if you will, is mostly appearance based. The game has always been upfront about not being about treadmill or gated content unlocks and frankly that’s what I love about it. Why should your level shut you out of important stuff?

Bame.7963:

Just hit 80, it took me under 2 weeks. I bought a set of exotic gear with gems, thinking it would be a good base to start grinding the higher end gear, only to find, it IS the higher end gear. Really? That’s it? There’s no tiers of end game gear to pursue? sPvP everyone has the same gear? There are no higher tiers? This is a HUGE disappointment. This game went from being the most beautiful and fun game I’ve ever played to absolutely pointless. What the hell are people supposed to do at 80? Cosmetics sets? LOL.

If the game doesn’t provide any 80 content to work for, it should at least take more than 2 weeks to level up. Horrible game design in my opinion.

“GW2 population has been steadily declining since January 2013….”

citation?

Oh please don’t do the whole people who are happy with the game are blindly optimistic fanboys nonsense. You’re overestimating your worth as a paying customer. If you want a game that has gear treadmill and raiding and level eighty gated content just go play a more appropriate game instead of complaining about this one that was never intended to provide such an experience.

Bame.7963:

I’m sure Anet appreciates all of you who just say “this game isn’t for you. The door is that way”. I think you fanboys are worse for this game than the actual game itself.

Bame.7963:

I’m sure Anet appreciates all of you who just say “this game isn’t for you. The door is that way”. I think you fanboys are worse for this game than the actual game itself.

It’s been sad seeing you fight solo in this thread, but I’m with you on this. Fanboyism very rarely yields anything positive whatsoever btw, being ignorant and refusing to see a discussion for what it is. It’s just pointless. A constructive discussion however, now that’s how things turn into a successful merge of different opinions, in the end yielding a result that as many as possible are happy with.

One guy earlier referred to the prelaunch speech “If you like MMOs you’ll wanna check GW2 out, and if you don’t like MMOs you’ll REALLY wanna check GW2 out”. I too was hooked on this. I was the leader of a very successful hardcore raiding guild in WoW from launch up til early WotLK. I had simply had enough and pulled the plug, decided that I was done w/ MMOs. I watched the GW2 teasers and was hooked on it, wanted to try it out based on the promise of smth new and the adorable aesthetics.

From GW2 launch and up to and including the Xmas events I played daily. I got most of what can be found in FotM, World explorer (“Been there, done that…”) etc. In the betas we were around 20-25 of my old community PvPing together in BGs having fun, then about the same followed into the game but they gradually dropped off out of lack of motivation to continue. After the Xmas events it was just me and one more, and those who logged on a few times a month. Trying to boost these guys in FotM w/ the old fragmented lvling system in there wore us out, and we decided to break til a fix was implemented. That break turned into more than half a year.

A few days ago I could no longer stop myself from logging on to see what the game was like now. What I see is pretty much the same, except for some minigames being implemented regularly. Looking at Lion’s Arch quickly, what I see are players similar to me dedication wise, simply standing still outside the bank idling. The ones actively running around are new players who haven’t dinged 80 yet, or possibly alts.

As I was one of the people who really got a kick out of GW2 for such a long time, and now see a big problem w/ longterm motivation, what do you guys do to entertain yourselves ingame if you don’t wanna see any changes done at all??? Roleplay in various locations in the world? Take screenshots of the scenery to print and hang on the wall? Replay the same instances over and over for nothing? WvWvW indefinitely?

@ HumaCarrionEater.8254

So let me get this straight. This games intended design was for players to level in a combat oriented environment for 2 weeks (or until 80.), and then shift focus to farming clothing for the rest of their existence?

What’s the point? just buy a barbie.

@ Cassio.9507

Thanks so much. I wish I was better at writing. I feel like you are able to write in a more concise, and non-threatening manner, and maybe people will respond to what you said better. Glad another disappointed ex-player has come forward.

Bame.7963:

@ HumaCarrionEater.8254

So let me get this straight. This games intended design was for players to level in a combat oriented environment for 2 weeks (or until 80.), and then shift focus to farming clothing for the rest of their existence?

What’s the point? just buy a barbie.

Yeah, I really think ArenaNet intended Guild Wars 2 to be a niche product, satisfying specifically those who didn’t want to put any effort into it all.

BTW Bame, remember one thing when argumenting further here. My hunch is that you came into the game quite late, and only recently hit the “lvl80, so wth do I do now?”-situation? Most of us got here a long time ago, and it’s just pure chance I decided to check the forum out today for the first time since January. The absolute majority of the ones replying here will be ppl who still play regularly, so the discussion will (!) be very onesided. Just don’t get discouraged by that.

Thanks man

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-jTskhDL6JCQ/T586yqcb3jI/AAAAAAAAAa8/iRmOt5qeqrw/s1600/RaisedFist1.jpg

No WoW-like gear was one of the major features of GW2 and it was always heavily advertised.

You bought this game without doing proper research, so you have only yourself to blame.

AntiGw.9367:

No WoW-like gear was one of the major features of GW2 and it was always heavily advertised.

You bought this game without doing proper research, so you have only yourself to blame.

I guess you’re referring to the gear-treadmill here, and I wouldn’t really call it a prelaunch announced “feature”, rather an absence. I was actually looking forward to see what a fresh new approach ArenaNet would use to solve such an integral part of what gives an MMO longevity. In the end it seems they simply ignored it.

However, there’s certainly no absence of grind goals. Just look at the equal-stat-legendaries. It’s just that you get nothing out of it, rather than a shiny new skin to brighten up your backside while idling outside of the Lion’s Arch bank area.

And no, I didn’t buy the wrong game. I loved leveling, and playing the game for quite a while, but then the sense of a lack of longterm motivator set it and that’s what this thread (and this one) is all about.

Ok, but we’re all telling the two of you that you are going about this game the complete wrong way. In those other MMOs, you were playing the game so you could get better gear. And for what? So you could have bragging rights about your stats. You didn’t “need” the gear to do the new content, since obviously you had to beat it without it to get the gear in the first place. It didn’t unlock any new content (other than whatever would be the next release a year down the line). On the contrary, it would make content obsolete. Things that used to provide a challenge for a group would become trivial.

So really, the stats were just a carrot on a stick that they used to force you to play the content, and you had to play it whether you enjoyed it or not, or else you would be “g!mp.” (apparently that word is filtered here, lol)

The entire concept of GW2 (and GW1 for that matter) is the exact opposite. You get the gear with the best stats really easily, and then you go out and enjoy the content. THIS GAME IS NOT ABOUT OBTAINING NEW LEVELS OF POWER THROUGH YOUR GEAR, IT’S ABOUT EXPERIENCING A DYNAMIC WORLD. Think of the ramifications if they began introducing power creep. The entire game right now is balanced around a certain stat ceiling. Everything in the game would become obsolete if all of us were suddenly more powerful. This is exactly what happens in other MMOs, and you know it. This is not what Anet wants, they want the content they launched with to always be relevant. They want to build more content to add to what is already here, not have to replace obsolete content with expansions every year.

On the topic of a long-term motivator, one of mine is just to see what happens next with the story. They are putting out new content for me to play every 2 weeks, and the story is really unfolding quickly. A lot of us have started putting the pieces together with how the Molten Alliance, Canach, and the Aetherblades fit together. Mai Trin mentioned someone named Scarlet who seems to be pulling the strings behind all of these events, and I have a feeling she is going to show herself very soon. This is the excitement of this game, it is a dynamically unfolding story that we all are experiencing at the same time. Who the hell cares about gear stats? It’s so trivial.

That said, I’m not going to disagree that I would like to see more permanent content. I certainly don’t want Anet to rest on their laurels. They have said they are developing their own version of raids, and I’m excited to see what they come up with. I would like to see some new dungeons, and I’m looking forward to the new fractals (although I wanted the fall of Abaddon fractal…). So while I agree with you that there is a lot of room for more, I definitively do not want that to include any kind of power creep.

Wraith.9426: Thank you for a very well phrased post. Also, thank you for trying to give an example of what keeps your interest up.

I just personally feel that already being done w/ my character (so to say, cosmetics aside) leaves very little left to help stimulate enough of an interest. The story of the game has however always been interesting. I just wonder if it will ever be enough again to actually restart my interest. I miss the game a lot actually, and it’s frustrating.

Cassio.9507:

Wraith.9426: Thank you for a very well phrased post. Also, thank you for trying to give an example of what keeps your interest up.

I just personally feel that already being done w/ my character (so to say, cosmetics aside) leaves very little left to help stimulate enough of an interest. The story of the game has however always been interesting. I just wonder if it will ever be enough again to actually restart my interest. I miss the game a lot actually, and it’s frustrating.

I think I kind of understand your feeling, and what I did was just make a lot of alts. I have 6 characters now, and I’m only missing a Necro and an Engineer. I’ve barely even touched most of their personal stories, though, so I still have a lot there to do. I’m still kind of working towards a legendary, although I don’t even know which one I want. I won’t lie, I took like a 2.5 month break from the game, but I had hardly done any dungeons, so learning the different dungeon paths and perfecting my skill at each has been fun. I also do a lot of WvW since I’m in a major guild on a Tier 1 server. The drama of Tier 1 WvW is always interesting.

Beyond that, I keep playing because I believe in Arenanet. I trust them to put out good content and tell me an interesting story. People rave about the stories from GW1, and I wish I had played that game to experience it.

Caramel Ham.4891:

I agree with you title but for completely different reasons. Coming into GW2 you should have known that stat grind would have been minimal compared to lets say WoW.

Yes, this game is all about cosmetics. Though there aren’t enough of it (aesthetically nice ones) to begin with. Which is a BIG problem. Also you have to transmute them or lose them which is another BIG problem.

Besides the issue about cosmetics, my biggest issue is the complete lack of content at end game. The whole game being “end game” was nothing but a marketing phrase. Anet has sat on their butts since the game came out and barely any CORE content has come out since then.

I agree with this quite a bit.
For a game that is ultimately about cosmetics there’s not a lot of it. Just a few different gear sets. Just a few different dungeon sets. A few “racial” armors that mostly look like crap and cost a hell of a lot for what they look like.
There’s not enough sets to mix and match pieces. There’s not enough sets to where someone can find more than a couple looks they’re going to like for their character.
The dyes are nice, but they’re a bandaid for the limited styles of armor we’re supplied with. And then any new armor styles we receive come out in the gem shop for 30-40 gold or 10 dollars worth of gems, while their original armor styles remain broken, losing dye slots when they’re transmoged, ruining the feel of their “content”.
I would be surprised if the majority if the people in this game are not at least a little frustrated with the cosmetic aspects they’ve been supplied with when cosmetic aspects are such a big deal.

Gw2 endgame pve content:

1. Make a legendary weapon.
2. ….that’s it.

If you don’t wvw, spvp, or rp, there is nothing to do once you hit 80. You could do fractals but it’s ithe same thing over and over, so boring.