I’ve been playing online games for as long as I can remember. I’ve played WoW, EQ 1&2, AoC, LoTR, Aion, CoH/CoV, DAoC, DC Universe, Lineage 1&2, Warhammer, SWOTR, and the list goes on. Needless to say, I’m pretty fed up with the traditional MMO vertical progression ladder. I can’t remember how many hours I pumped into the Lineage 2 grind. My wife still gives me dirty looks every time I mention the “L” word. Good lord…
Anyway, I digress… I was truly at my end with MMOs until friends told me about GW2. GW2 seemed like a breath of fresh air comparatively. It seemed, at least in advertising, that it would defy everything we knew about MMOs. The “holy trinity” class structure gone. No gear grind elements. Interactive open world dynamic events. World vs.. World combat. Under water battles. What’s not to like?
So, I bought the game and so far I have been very impressed. As with any game, there are of course many things that still need to be fixed (*cough*engineer/ranger*cough*), but so far I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth…
But the recent introduction of vertical progression for gear is not a good sign. And the reason behind the change makes it even worse. ANet has clearly stated that they have added another tier of gear to satisfy those players that have hit the proverbial “legendary wall”. So in other words, a component of ANet’s formula for keeping players interested in the game is introducing higher stat level gear. In this case, only 3 months after release. Another very bad sign.
The problem is that, with this philosophy of adding vertical stat progression for stale players, these players will have the same opinions after getting the new gear and will simply want more. So either you have to keeping adding tiers of even higher stat gear, or you have to make the tier achievable only after countless playtime. This is gear grind 101. Sorry ANet but it’s true.
Now some of you may say “But what was ANet supposed to do? There is no endgame and players were bored and had nothing better to do with no goal to strive towards? Also, this is an MMO. Continuously introducing new content is inherent in the genre.”
Well, those are valid points but here are a few more: 1) GW2 was advertised as a trend-breaking MMO without a gear grind element, 2) you can add new content (dungeons, dynamic events, new areas, new mobs w/new tactics, etc.) without increasing stats on gear (yes, it can be done), and 3) you can add new skins and perks to keep the game fresh and challenging, again, without increasing stats on gear.
Also, I think ANet’s priorities are a bit off track, especially if they only have 2 designers working on balance issues. First and foremost, they need to desperately fix some of the professions such as rangers, engineers, and elementalists (I’m sure all classes still have bugs or balance problems in some way). That should be the very first and highest priority. Not new content or gear tiers. The second priority should be to fixing the bugs for existing content. Only when a majority of these problems have been addressed should you even think about adding new content. Note that I said “majority” of these problems, as to fix “all” bugs before new content is released would be unrealistic.
Anyway, I’m not here to say the sky is falling and that I will quit and that you should too. Some of you will stay, others will go. I’m not sure which group I will fall into just yet, but I am certainly less interested in the game just based on these recent events. Also, I will certainly not spend any more money in the gem store so that potential revenue for ANet, at least from me, is gone. Hopefully the future will bring new changes that will once again peak my interest in GW2.
To be honest, I’m not sure why I am posting this other than to express my disappointment with the new direction and to share my frustration with many of you. The fact that so many are voicing their opinion goes to show how many of us love this game but not the recent direction change on gear. That should say something in and of itself. Regardless of whether you agree or not with anything I have said, you have to agree that ANet did develop a very promising game. Whether or not they delivered on that promise is subjective and only you can answer that.
Oh, and for those that will say “Oh my god, please shut up and quit the game already. I’m tired of hearing people whining about this. The changes are done and there’s nothing you can do. Stop posting.”, my reponse is that nobody is forcing you to read this thread. If you don’t want to hear what people have to say about the recent changes, then stop reading this thread. It’s that simple. People have every right to voice their opinion on the matter. This forum is not just for you. It’s for everyone.