Guild Wars 2

you guys do know that they would basically have to re-write the entire game using a different (cross-platform) graphics library in order to make it native. It’s a decision they would have had to made years ago and there’s absolutely no way it will happen. Ever.

They are making a native Mac client for LOTRO now after the fact. If they can do for a free to play game then ArenaNet should most definitely be able to do it for this game.

Better off start to build the native OSX version otherwise you guys will be spending alot of time fixing Cider itself.

Again look at Blizzard. They realized that Mac user group is growing and will keep growing. Can play WoW, Diablo, Starcraft all thesee in native clients. I’m repeting myself again but Cider is not the way to go and never will be. Love GW2 and would leave WoW directly if or when GW2 will have native client for Mac. its still in beta and I honestly hope that Cide will be only in beta. Performance with Cider is just way to poor to enjoy the game.

Yeah, so back to the topic, the only reason I care about the Mac client is so I don’t have to restart into Windows, so I’m certainly not on the same level of desperation as some people in this forum are, but diabluz, have you looked into installing Bootcamp? You can do so from your Bootcamp utility app and all you need is your own Windows installation disk. You can install Windows 7 or XP or whatever. Here’s a how to on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JbvkdcfVY Personally, I’d rather spend the money on a copy of Windows than wait for a native Mac client. For those of you on a Mac Book, you can still do this if you don’t have a secondary HD by simply partitioning off part of your HD for Windows.

Valdoron.7821:

Yeah, so back to the topic, the only reason I care about the Mac client is so I don’t have to restart into Windows, so I’m certainly not on the same level of desperation as some people in this forum are, but diabluz, have you looked into installing Bootcamp? You can do so from your Bootcamp utility app and all you need is your own Windows installation disk. You can install Windows 7 or XP or whatever. Here’s a how to on it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2JbvkdcfVY Personally, I’d rather spend the money on a copy of Windows than wait for a native Mac client. For those of you on a Mac Book, you can still do this if you don’t have a secondary HD by simply partitioning off part of your HD for Windows.

Yeah, I have Windows 7 on bootcamp but the thing is who wants to buy a Mac to use Windows on it? My entire digital life is done within the Apple ecosystem. It’s a big pain in the kitten to use Windows for anything not to mention unpleasant.

I appreciate the suggestion but really it’s a lame workaround for us. We shouldn’t have to resort to leaving the Apple ecosystem just to play a game. With iOS being heavily integrated in OSX now with notifications and iMessage etc it’s very disjointed to be in Windows.

Raidan.5983:

Again look at Blizzard. They realized that Mac user group is growing and will keep growing. Can play WoW, Diablo, Starcraft all thesee in native clients. I’m repeting myself again but Cider is not the way to go and never will be. Love GW2 and would leave WoW directly if or when GW2 will have native client for Mac. its still in beta and I honestly hope that Cide will be only in beta. Performance with Cider is just way to poor to enjoy the game.

WvW is virtually unplayable in this lame Cider client even on a super high powered Mac. It’s just really unacceptable.

I’d rather them not even offer a “Mac client” than to offer this. It’s really not fair that Mac users will suffer with the really poor framerates of this Cider client because they won’t be able to be competitive in much of the game (WvW and SPVP). It’s not worth it and isn’t going to sway anyone that uses a Mac to get the game (and be happy with it anyway).

I appreciate having at least the option of a Cider client. I don’t think it’s feasible to expect a native Mac client unless it’s done in lockstep with the first expansion. I don’t know how they could build a Mac client from the ground up and keep it synced with the PC version after the fact. I’m not aware of an MMO that’s done that successfully without going with a wrapper. Blizzard has been producing games on both Mac and PC at launch for awhile now.

Catamaran Nights.5179:

I appreciate having at least the option of a Cider client. I don’t think it’s feasible to expect a native Mac client unless it’s done in lockstep with the first expansion. I don’t know how they could build a Mac client from the ground up and keep it synced with the PC version after the fact. I’m not aware of an MMO that’s done that successfully without going with a wrapper. Blizzard has been producing games on both Mac and PC at launch for awhile now.

I don’t see what difference that makes. They create the client as they would if they were creating it along side the Windows version. They patch it when it releases just like they do with any other client whether that be Windows or Mac.

If Turbine can do it (which they are for LOTRO) then ArenaNet should most definitely be able to do it.

diabluz.2860:

WvW is virtually unplayable in this lame Cider client even on a super high powered Mac. It’s just really unacceptable.

I disagree.

While I too would love to see an OS X native client; I am not experiencing any problems during WvW or PvP on a base model 2012 MBP. The performance is the same as it was when I was using the PC client on a Windows 7 bootcamp partition.

diabluz.2860:

Yeah, I have Windows 7 on bootcamp but the thing is who wants to buy a Mac to use Windows on it? My entire digital life is done within the Apple ecosystem. It’s a big pain in the kitten to use Windows for anything not to mention unpleasant.

I agree. However, GW2 is not unique to this situation. There are hundreds of games out there that do not have an OS X port or native client and require Windows to play.

Would it be convenient to have a native client? Sure. And who knows? Perhaps that will happen in the future. But, for now it is more convenient for me to use Cider wrapper than it is to boot in and out of a bootcamp partition.

In fact, until the Mac Beta client was introduced, GW2 was the only reason I still maintained a Windows 7 partition on my Mac. I quit SWtOR because they announced on the record that there would never be any sort of Mac support for their client. Ever. Not even a wrapper client such as we have here.

My point, which I believe was made earlier by somebody else is: How would you benefit from knowing ArenaNet’s plans for a native Mac client?

Would you quit immediately and not waste any further time with the game as I did with SWtOR. Or would you continue using the wrapper client or booting in to Windows? At least you have options right now. Where as other games do not offer an option to Mac owners.

I do agree with you my fellow mate!
I have a mid 2010 book pro 15’ (the best of HD setup at its time, so still pretty good) and I can run GW2 on BootCamp with medium/high graphic without shooting… On OSX 10.8 I had to run the game in low/medium and still I have a low FPS…
ANet I do appreciate the initiative but… If you have to do something, do it right; we don’t need and don’t want a bad copy of a windows game…

Of course a native client is always preferable. Now, the debate as to whether using/buying a cider version furthers or hurts future development of native Mac titles is a whole other topic, and one that borders on a holy war or at least a clash of opposing philosophies. But to categorically reject cider ports seems a bit narrow-minded to me; first of all, most of them are quite playable (as is the GW2 one, imo), and secondly, the hard truth is that they do allow us to experience games that would otherwise never have made it to the Mac (as in the case of the excellent Witcher, for example). As game sales go, we are still a small market share, and given Apple’s increasing focus on mobile devices, that is unlikely to change. Blizzard is one of the few remarkable exceptions in their broad support of the platform, and has been so since day one. But for many companies, particularly the smaller ones, it comes down to the numbers and whether putting the resources into a native version equals profits. To say we’d rather have nothing than a ‘mere’ cider version would, more often than not, leave us with the former. I for one would rather regret that, especially in this case.

Catamaran Nights.5179:

I appreciate having at least the option of a Cider client. I don’t think it’s feasible to expect a native Mac client unless it’s done in lockstep with the first expansion. I don’t know how they could build a Mac client from the ground up and keep it synced with the PC version after the fact. I’m not aware of an MMO that’s done that successfully without going with a wrapper. Blizzard has been producing games on both Mac and PC at launch for awhile now.

Blizzard is doing it my friend. WoW definitely didn’t came out at launch on Mac.

Yes, this is unfortunately the case.

I am very grateful to ArenaNet for releasing a Mac client but if this beta period demonstrates anything it’s that we will ultimately need a native client.

I would even be willing to pay more for this client which should incentivise the work for ArenaNet – the Mac version could be slightly dearer out of the box & existing Mac users could pay an “upgrade” fee upon commercial release of a native client.

It runs perfectly fine for me under OS X, but I too hope they end up making a native client one day. Being that a version “for Mac” came so soon following release, like someone else said, it is a good sign that they’ve had this in mind for a while. I am just glad I can avoid the dual booting into Windows hell. I’d play it even if it was only under Windows, but this is MUCH better.

Raidan.5983:

Catamaran Nights.5179:

I appreciate having at least the option of a Cider client. I don’t think it’s feasible to expect a native Mac client unless it’s done in lockstep with the first expansion. I don’t know how they could build a Mac client from the ground up and keep it synced with the PC version after the fact. I’m not aware of an MMO that’s done that successfully without going with a wrapper. Blizzard has been producing games on both Mac and PC at launch for awhile now.

Blizzard is doing it my friend. WoW definitely didn’t came out at launch on Mac.

Blizzard released every game since at least Warcraft 2 simultaneously for the PC and MAC. World of Warcraft definitely came out on the Mac at launch — the original box that I have from launch still has PC/MAC on the side (I didn’t switch to a Mac until 2008 however.)

To the earlier post regarding LOTRO doing it — please note that they are doing it with their Riders of Rohan expansion (although I have no idea if it’s releasing at that exact moment or not.) At this point they are constantly updating core elements of Guild Wars 2 PC and it’d be very difficult to keep both code bases in sync. I don’t see how they can release a native Mac client until they add a mess of developers and have some sort of milestone to hit (for example, an expansion.)

The list of MMO’s that offer ZERO option to play on a Mac outside of bootcamp is too long to list. If ArenaNet can justify it, I feel they will do it. I just believe it will take more time than what’s being discussed in this thread.