I’m not unique in this aspect: I played Guild Wars 1 for years. It is arguably my favorite game of all time.
What made it near perfect was its balance between MMO gameplay and the ability to play however you wanted, whether alone or with people, min-maxing or playing with something quirky and interesting. Character builds, while widely copied for min-maxing at least, were extremely unique and interesting. Necro/Rit, Rit/Ranger, Wa/Mo, Wa/Derv and on and on. I was always surprised reading about what combination of classes, runes, items and abilities someone combined to make something truly unique.
In Guild Wars 1, I happily purchased almost every item they put into the cash shop. The link to heroes for the PvP unlocks made them still extremely worthwhile purchases even for just running around vanquishing areas.
In Guild Wars 2, much of this is lost. In its place are other benefits. Crafting is much improved in terms of potential at least. Visual character customization is better than it’s ever been. Combat is in many ways improved, certainly in the fluidity and potential skill cap of the active combat itself. The world feels more alive. Weapons tied to abilities has lead to more potential variety in setup. Guild functionality is much improved (though who doesn’t miss having a guild hall?). Achievement rewards, awesome.
What I find interesting however is that in every area where it is a step backward, it is not a step backward in a way that conflicts with its steps forward.
What I’ve felt most poignantly having come back to GW2 after a lost absence is the inability to attempt any PvE content I wish by myself. It’s not that I’m anti-social, but that my life is not configured such to be able to always allow for uninterrupted play. If I was running on a group of myself + heroes, I could simply step away from the computer for a few minutes, take care of what I needed to, and return. I don’t believe 4 players would approve of this. No progress GW2 has made in any other area would be negatively impacted by allowing the use of heroes, especially if those heroes were tied to alts or important story characters. World roaming, I don’t see any purpose in a self made party, but for fractals and dungeons, it’s a tremendous loss compared to GW1.
Also, the gem store is a mixed bag. On the one hand, it’s a great way to offer some of the best parts of the GW1 cash store and more. On the other hand, it’s clearly affecting game design decisions in a way that is moving too far down the path of mobile and facebook games. I strongly dislike RNG elements introduced into store purchases (recent skin items) and am also not a fan of some of the restrictions on items that are relatively expensive. When I buy a skin, I expect to own that skin forever. I do not expect to have to re-purchase it for $10 every time I change armor to maintain that look. When I buy a perma-axe, I expect to be able to send it to my new main. It was $10 afterall. Capping salvage kits from merchants at 80% with gem purchased @ 100%. These are the types of gameplay changes that are moving away from the “pay for what you love” and into the “pay to remove pain points” territory.
There is also the slip into gear based progression and too much reliance on grinding #‘s. I didn’t understand the move to 80 levels from 20. The quote I remember was something along the lines of, people said they wanted more progression. Ok… but what happens at level 80? This strikes me of the scene in Something About Mary with 7 minute abs. The problem isn’t removed, only moved and delayed. All it’s managed to do is delay the moment where you feel ready for end game content (upleveling just isn’t effective in WvW). Now add in the ascended gear/legendary stat increases and an unpleasant precedent is being set.
Finally, the living story and lack of emphasis on major content releases. I’m not into mini-games and jumping puzzles. A trickle of these in groups with a little lore attached will never replicate the experience of exploring Cantha for the first time or playing through the well crafted missions of GW1. New classes. New continents. New content to rival the starter content in size, scope and importance. Currently, content feels like a thinly veiled pressure to spend more money in the gem shop when I’d much rather, and gladly, throw money at you for new content.
Financially, some of these things may well be the best move for the company, but at what cost? Do the people at ArenaNet wake up every day thinking, “I want to make the most money possible” or wake up thinking “I want to build the greatest game possible”. Those overlap to a point, but they do diverge. Guild Wars 2 is, if it hasn’t a bit already, moving too far along the path where it is clearly starting to diverge. This is quite a change from the company that did something unique and incredible with GW1 (no subs?!). Stand up for what you’re truly passionate about in your meetings: Making an incredible game.