Guild Wars 2

Speculation as to population numbers is irrelevant anyway. We don’t have proof, and only A-net has the statistics.

Trying to prove GW2 is dead, based on one server, at one specific time, is laughable. With that logic, i can go to any low-pop server in WoW, take a screenshot, and claim WoW is dead.

arjeidi.2690:

hype sells, content doesn’t. Their marketing division is way better than their developing one.

Servers are still busy with people. That means content does sell, or else they would be merging or closed down.

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/393474

“After triangulating against multiple data sources, it’s clear that Guild Wars 2 is the fastest-selling Western MMO of all time based on the first nine months of availability”, said analyst David Cole of DFC Intelligence. “This puts Guild Wars 2 in an impressive position when they release in China, where we’ve seen similar franchises really take off”.

Congrats A-net.

As characters created right at the launch of Guild Wars 2 hit their first birthdays, it’s time to introduce our first Birthday Gift! Characters that are one year old will receive a Mini Queen Jennah, a 24-hour Birthday Booster, and a Scroll of Experience.

Does this mean characters that were created on the exact day of launch will get these? I seriously hope not. I created several characters on launch, and i deleted them to try other various professions.

250+ years ago in the real world…
we didn’t have holograms, we now do.
we didn’t have TV, we now do.
we didn’t have cell phones, we now do.
we didn’t have MMOs, we now do.
etc.

New technology is always under appreciated, just like tech in Tyria!

I pretty much stopped playing GW2 ever since Sky Pirates. Living Story just disappointed me so much. I check in every update though, hoping it changes direction, but i’m not holding out much hope. One day i’ll just uninstall GW2 for good, but i really don’t want to.

A-net should just open a test server. This would provide them with much more feedback before their updates go live. I’m not sure how this would work though, since every update for Living Story is every 2 weeks.

Sure, there were many events that were added, but these events aren’t tied together with the Living Story, thus it makes it feel as if the world is separate from the Living Story concept.

The same thing happens with the Personal Story. It isn’t tied to the Living Story.

Just about everything from launch isn’t connected to the Living Story. It’s been largely abandoned, and that’s the real crux of the problem we are discussing.

There doesn’t feel like there’s any substantial update to the “endgame”.

Here’s a list of endgame activities for groups in PvE (excluding dungeons of course). http://guildwarstemple.com/dragontimer/events.php?serverKey=105&langKey=en

Low-level zone events: The Frozen Maw, Shadow Behemoth, Fire Elemental, Great Jungle Wurm
Medium-level events: Ulgoth the Modniir, Taidha Covington, Megadestroyer, Golem Mark II
Temple Events: Balthazar, Grenth, Lyssa
Dragon Events: Shatterer, Tequatl the Sunless, Claw of Jormag
Guild Bounties/Missions

The only major update we’ve really had, was Southsun Cove, and this was before the Living Story was even launched. A whole new landmass was added, which was amazing, but once again it was abandoned for Living Story, until the LS update brought it back to life.

I’m specifically talking about PvE content that’s been added to the game. Besides this? Mostly temporary stories and minigames, which feel so underwhelming. I haven’t even brought up how underwhelming the rewards are too. RNG boxes, Minis, Backpack items, Gem-Store gear & weapons only. Why not give us full gear sets and weapons from Boss fights, instead of from dungeons or from the trading post only?

In conclusion, when i first read that GW2 was going to have a living, breathing, changing world… i thought the world from launch, almost 1 year ago, was going to change, but it didn’t. Instead, we got fluff content with no real long-term substance.

Fiontar.4695:

Stone.6751:

OP – Your post made much more sense after I looked at every other post you have made. :P

Well, I hope you went all the way back to launch, because I’ve been a massive fan for a very long time. On one other site, I must have made close to 3,000 largely positive posts supporting the game from late 2010 until early 2013.

You are right though, if you actually are familiar with all my posts historically, this post will probably make a lot more sense to you.

I agree with you most of the time. I’ve even seen you defend the game on other sites like mmorpg.com. Just ignore the haters. They don’t know your post history and how you’ve defended GW2 from the real haters.

I also agree with you so much on how the Living Story concept has ruined GW2. It started off so amazing, then it devolved into a vapid waste of content that is temporary.

It’s actually quite sad, since GW2 had so much potential to actually be a living world with changing dynamic events, and a changing world, where zones would change based on mobs, climate, or destruction.

Instead, we get temporary fluff, such as, quaggan backpacks and RNG weapon skins. I’ve also mentioned that the major reason Living Story fails, is because of the rewards. They are not worth striving for.

edit: Nevermind, i misunderstood the topic.

It’s kind of redundant to post spoilers in the title when you just put a spoiler in it. You should have said “Mysterious Figure appearance?”, instead of using Scarlet.

Yeah, and Al Gore actually won the presidency due to hanging chads in FL…

Democratic Voting Process at work.
Welcome to the Tyranny of the majority.

GW2 raids are not coordinated, or challenging, at all. When’s the last time anyone actually failed a dragon meta-event?

Elbegast.6970:

Quarktastic.1027:

Martin Kerstein.3071:

You did not read my post properly. It is not an option. It is not possible without touching core systems. Which will have other consequences. An MMO is a very complex thing.

So what your telling us is: Removing a key feature from the personal bank doesn’t touch any core systems, but adding a completely new feature while leaving the bank as is would require you to alter core systems.

I may not be a programmer, but something about that statement just seems backwards to me.

He’s not a programmer either. He has no idea how the digital cogs work. In the future, he should refrain from posting comments, in regards to topics outside of his own area of expertise.

Take your own advice then. You, and others, do not know the coding practices or how business is run within Arena-net. It’s not your area of expertise on how to run an MMO.

AnthonyOrdon.3926:

More along the lines of Braham/Rox and it’s available for the entire release.

That’s good to hear! I always liked those solo instances, since some of them are challenging, especially on low level alts.

Thank goodness. I, and others, suggested this idea shortly after launch. Good job a-net.

Thobek.1730:

nexxe.7081:

No, they haven’t. If you compare it to other MMOs, they haven’t released full armor sets where we can earn them via dungeons or pvp. In other MMOs, you can earn full sets of armor by obtaining the next tier. GW2 has only had one full set of armor (Sky Pirates update), but only purchased via the Trading Post.

Tier? I guess you’re talking about WoW which is subscription based ($15/month) I’m looking at a 3 full sets of armor in the TP now for 800gems ($10). That beats your subscription based game for cost easily. They have also released the Aetherblade weapons, jade weapons, flame weapons, fractal weapons all easily obtainable (maybe not the fractal).

Perhaps what they should do is have rare drop in living story dungeons like the flame backpack but instead have it drop a piece of armor or the chance at a weapon. Would that be enough?

And that’s the problem. This gear isn’t earned. It’s just bought with gems or real money. Keep in mind, i’m talking about Living Story gear only. I want to actually earn it via dungeons or world events. I don’t want to earn only one piece, but full sets. For instance, the Karka Queen event could’ve dropped tokens to obtain a full set of gear, but we don’t get that. Instead we get things nobody cares about.

No, they haven’t. If you compare it to other MMOs, they haven’t released full armor sets where we can earn them via dungeons or pvp. In other MMOs, you can earn full sets of armor by obtaining the next tier. GW2 has only had one full set of armor (Sky Pirates update), but only purchased via the Trading Post.

PolarisNova.3867:

I personally enjoy the mini games and jumping puzzles and think it’s somewhat strange to see people who say they DON’T play them, asking them not to be added. If they are added and you don’t play them, how does that affect you exactly?

It affects everyone actually. If the Living Story teams are working on jumping puzzles and mini-games, then the rest of the content suffers. There needs to be a balance.

Living Story has been a disaster in my view. I was loving GW2 up until Flame & Frost. Southsun with Canach is what really killed it for me. GW2 should’ve stuck with the traditional content updates other MMOs use. The traditional way also has it’s problems, but it’s still a lot better than this new content distribution that A-Net is trying.

Rewards

The current rewards are underwhelming.

Titles, karma jugs, silver/gold, blue & green quality items, etc., just doesn’t cut it. Almost all these can be obtained in game already via normal gameplay without Living Story.

The only worthwhile items are minis and back-slot items, but seriously, is that all there is to look forward to in GW2 from now on?

Why do we only get one item per Living Story dungeon? A pair of gloves? Really?
Gear obtained via Trading Post? Really? Let me earn these via in game dungeons or world events instead.
Aetherized Weapons? Okay, finally something good, but where are the new armor sets?

I really want to come back to GW2, but everytime i do, i don’t feel rewarded for doing so, and then i stop playing again.

I actually stopped playing GW2. Didn’t even try doing Sky Pirates, but did try Bazaar, but it felt so boring, so i logged out. :/

9 months later and still no option. Makes me wonder if they even care or if it’s on not on their priority list.

Ugh. Please no. I hated them in GW1 and Swtor. It’s just annoying micro management that i don’t want.

LFG Tool
Trait templates
Everything else

2 weeks is fine. It’s the content that matters though. More temporary dungeons isn’t good.

JackDaniels.1697:

What’s wrong with then focusing on living world content every 2 weeks?! It’s not like they are forgetting about the rest of the content that gw2 has.

They even talked about incorporating living world into current dungeons if I’m not mistaken, and I think that’s one way of changing the current dungeons as it is. Hopefully boss mechanics will change with them too.

What it is, is that you guys want everything to happen so kitten fast, and it just doesn’t work that way.

Actually, they have. Same heart tasks and DEs. Same world bosses. zzzz.

The Living Story is a great concept, but executed poorly, and i’ve pretty much stopped playing GW2 now. It’s sad because i really wanted to play for the long term, but the incentives for rewards are so underwhelming.
It would have been better if they released a full armor set for each event, instead of a pair of gloves for one event, and a helm for another. Add the RNG for gear and it’s just another reason not to log on.

I wanted to try it too, but it was bugged earlier today, so i just logged out, then i tried again several hours ago and no one wanted to invite or start one. I tried for around 15 minutes before i gave up. I think everyone else just gave up since it was bugged. :/
wtb LFG tool..

Stormcrow.7513:

daoteci.6924:

I think one point we’re all missing is how much we’re paying to play this game each month. Without the steady revenue other games are pulling in, Anet has less money to spend on development.

I would rather pay the $15 kittenING dollars a month than have temporary content and RNG.
I am sick of people using that as an excuse for this developer.
Using a F2P model was THEIR decision NOT mine.
GW1 did fine and I spent tons of money in their store.
GW2 is lacking the best things of GW1….namely all of them.

It’s not F2P. Free to play implies you didn’t have to pay anything to play, except you need to buy the box to play. This is why it’s called B2P.

lordkrall.7241:

undouble.1472:

Is this event going to be solo-able?? or another group hug?— not that it makes TOOO much difference, but I “usually” play solo, adding my character’s assist where found and needed.

It is a dungeon.
Dungeons = 5-man groups

Instanced dungeon yes, but there are other forms of dungeons, which GW2 has. Some of them are public in the open-world.

I would like to see more public ones, for the Living Story, that require strategy like that underwater one (forgot the name and location).

Living Story is so amazing! /sarcasm
It’s so amazing we run around pressing F on objects and repairing sign posts for 1 month.

Mirta.5029:

1. We’re getting events EVERY month. It’s not just dragon bakitten’s also the other 2 living story parts, sab and holiday events.
2. Full trait overhaul coming for every class on June 25th. I’m absolutely sure that that takes a lot of man power.
3. Someone is forgetting WvW/Spvp updates, guild missions, fractals, new jumping puzzles, new cinematics for the story and other things that we constantly get.

Quality > Quantity
These updates have been sub-par so far, with the exception of the Molten Alliance Phase 2 & 3 updates.

Hedge.8760:

Awe.1096:

Or maybe you dont need to feel entitled to complete it this year? In GW1 there were some holiday titles (so like achievements) which were IMPOSSIBLE to complete in one year even if you would play 24 hours while the event was live. I was fine with that. And so I am fine with what they offer now. If you cant grind it now, you can return next year and finish the job. Its not like this thing will be gone forever.

If you have a source on that, I’d be fine with it. But don’t just assume things and call other people entitled who assume otherwise.

edit: i meant to quote Awe.

That’s just bad design then. To expect customers to stick around for another year based off one event is ridiculous. Not to mention the inventory space these items would take up.

Technically, they are not free, since they must’ve purchased gems to begin with.

Buying stuff from cash shop doesn’t even go to arena net. It goes to NCSoft. :/

TL;DR: There isn’t one, so stop being lazy.

The living story is an amazing concept. I give Arena-net credit for this. It keeps the world “progressing”, if you will. There are many problems though.

Flame & Frost started off way too slow. One month of fixing sign posts and collecting mementos was underwhelming. The 2nd phase was really good though. I loved the two story instances with Rox and Braham. The final phase, Molten Facility, was great, and praised by the majority of the community. The only downside was the gear item. Only one pair of gloves, which was per-account. (unless i’m missing more gear?)

====

And then this content became temporary, which was a bad idea. Temporary content is okay for holiday events, or special events, but it’s not good to take content away from the game, without replacing it with something.

====

An example of good content additions, was when Fractals & Southsun Cove were added. Also, when Guild Content, such as objectives were added too. Permanent content like Southsun Cove was left abandoned though. Southsun Cove had few dynamic events, a jumping puzzle, and that’s basically it. Leaving Fractals in was a really good idea, since it’s always being used.

Now we have the Last Stand at Southsun update. The 1st phase was pretty good. A lot of dynamic events got added, many new achievements, mini-game added, new backpacks. The 2nd phase was a letdown though. Canach & Subdirector Noll are mainly to blame. The final phase was another letdown too. The Karka Queen wasn’t as epic, compared to the first time we went to Southsun, where we had to chase down a champion Karka up to it’s lair. This felt epic.

====

The biggest letdown, is the gear. Travelers & Settlers sets. Specific gear sets is a bad idea though. Why? Because players will never go back to southsun for gear, if they don’t want that gear with specific stats. This just shows the flaw in GW2’s itemization. There are too many sets for Arena-net to keep up with. Carrion, Explorer’s, Berserker, etc. I’m not saying get rid of them, because it adds more variety to the game, but it’s more work for Arena-net to implement all these different “sets”.

====

Now i want to bring up the older content. Personal Story, Dynamic Events, Heart Tasks, Dragon Events, etc.

It’s largely been ignored.

When i first heard of the Living Story concept, i thought they would change the above aspects of GW2, but that didn’t happen. Just about everything is still the same since launch.

Instead of focusing on the temporary content like Flame & Frost and Southsun Cove, they should have been changing the older content.

*Personal Story is more challenging to change, especially in the short-term, so i won’t be too critical of this aspect.

*Newer Dynamic Events & Heart Tasks would have been great.

*Dragon Events are too easy as it is now, so i was hoping they would change their locations, or at least change their mechanics, and become more challenging. When was the last time anyone failed these?

*WvW & SPvP has been getting a lot of updates though, which is positive.

====

In conclusion, i feel that the living story isn’t adding content to the game that will persuade players to stay for the long-term. It’s mostly temporary, which leaves players waiting for newer content; or leaves players with older content. More permanent content, such as Fractals, keeps players around. It’s too bad there isn’t more of it.

5/10
RNG
Canach
Null
Karka Queen
Story

All these points were negative to me.

This is what i hate about GW2’s downed mechanic. Getting downed or dying in 1 shot is NOT fun. It’s also so ridiculous when doing escort events, or just npcs in general. They go down in one shot too.

If players stop buying them, then they will stop selling them.
It’s that simple.

People are dumb though and will keep supporting this gambling mechanism.
And yes, this is bad for the overall game, because the money goes to NCSoft, and they will use that money on Aion and other games.

If only they would let us turn our character, while holding right mouse button down. It only works while moving, but not when standing still, which is annoying.

Coldin.2840:

I was really expecting that it might be a retread of the original Karka Queen battle back when Southsun first launched. Chasing her through multiple stages, all the way up into the hive and then blasting her with explosives. I’m a bit disappointed that it was much more simple.

That said, I think the real climax of the event was the fight with Canach and NULL. All of this was the falling action and conclusion.

That’s what i was expecting. Something on that level. I’m surprised they didn’t something like that. The only major complaint about it was the lag and culling.

tigirius.9014:

it’s spelled phishing.

darnit! you had me excited there for a second! I thought they’d finally said they’d put fishing into the game as a minigame.

Haha. Same.
It would be nice to fish in GW2. Their rivers and lakes looks so amazing.

darkace.8925:

Most of the things in your “Instead of wasting their time on these half-kittened “activities” they could:” list aren’t handled by the same people working on the Living Story content.

Which brings the question:
What are the other people doing then? We haven’t had any real, permanent content besides Lost Shores & Fractals. It’s been 8+ months already.

Saying that inspecting gear/builds, is elitism, is wrong. By not having a useful feature, it’s producing bad players. You’re actually helping the community at large by promoting well-built builds and gear combinations. Why would anyone want the opposite?

Necro thread from 7 months ago. >.>

Kal Spiro.9745:

I am absolutely amazed how much hate a five minute long mini mission that took very little effort to accomplish is getting. Are people seriously this against a tiny deviation from the norm?

I want to see more of this, both Canach AND Null. Having to use unique tactics entirely separate from how your character normally works for a short event is not actually a bad thing. If this was a full sized mission or dungeon, it could be problematic, but one fight? This was fun, and since you only have to do it once, what’s the problem?

It’s not so much being against it, but the idea that we got a "" five minute long mini mission", instead of some better permanent content.

Diva.4706:

I never liked encounters that have you play a “mini-game” instead of using your characters skills. This goes for all MMOs, not just GW2. I guess it adds some variety, but to me it smacks of “video-game” mechanics, not MMO style game play.

It might sound odd, but I play MMOs because I generally don’t like “Video games”. People call me a gamer, which isn’t true. I am a long time MMO player. There is a difference

I agree so much! I hate having to switch out my own skills for gimmicks. It’s even worse in GW2 when it’s required to defeat Canach.

They should let Orr be tropical instead. Just put in some story that the undead have been defeated or something. Put some new mobs in there instead of just zombies.