When do you Think Anet/Ncsoft will stop making gw

dunno if this is right place for this thread but title says it all,

tbh i dnt have a clue, but im thinking when the sales start to drop.

I think there may well be a Guild Wars 2 at some point. Think they may do one or more chapters then maybe release a totally new GW. Think it will be around in some form for quite a few years. Who knows tho.

Well, obviously they aren't going to continue trying to market something that people no longer have an interest in. Better question would be, when are people going to get tired of Guild Wars?

As Anet is a business they will stop manufacturing/producing the game when the sales start taking a rapid nosedive. Then one buy one they will start shutting down the servers and force the remaining players all to play on a single server.

Shadow, many people are tired of GW already.

I dunno. GW's ultimate failing is that all the games are standalones. If they just focused on expansions with no new professions but more skills and higher level content I think people would be happier. We need new titles and new goals to work towards. Being able to gain the favor of gods beside Balthazar would be good. Eventually though I'd like a GW2. The current storyline seems like its on the way to its climax.

I mean tired in a more broad sense; as in they, the majority, stop playing/buying new chapters. There will always be people who are tired of something, even if that something is relatively new. They still have enough buyers to continue, and probably will do so for another two or more chapters.

Personally id keep buying chapters till i drop, just cuz im still interested after 12 months. ppl around me just discovered gw and are very keen to play it.

But I also would love to see gw next chapter to have higher requirements. I think prophesies came out at the right time: not everyone had a killer pc (or ok computer), but even I (and im poor) have a way better pc now, and would like to have even more killer graphics in gw.

And after seeing the graphics of Aion...im thinkin that gw 2 (or chapter 4?) will have these improvements.

Id hate to see gw go but if theres no market (or limited), thats the way it works.

Still playing proph, factions and nf with pride and pleasure

Easilly 10+ Years..

20,000 Players $50.00 for Campaign will net 1 Million..

This is one of the Best MMO's out there.

Sure people will get bored as they would with any MMO's. Since GW has no monthly Charge I can't see it going away any time soon.

Take a look at others MMO's like Everquest / Ultima Online even Asheron's Call are games with low low population but they are still Online.

So I give GW at least Minimum 10 Years.. The only way they would be threatened is if WoW/UO/EQ or Future MMO's decide to go without Monthly Fees and live up to the Quality/Graphics that GW has set..

Take Care.. Lastilly there will always be Doomsayers for any MMO's. Just look at the History of Online Games that have surpassed 5 years of Operations.

I'm actually hoping for some type of Alien Invasion that would Open up a whole new avenue for GW..

I remember while playing Meridian 59 they had some GREAT spells. Example: You could cast a spell on an opponet and it would turn their keyboard control backwards for XX seconds. They also had a Total Black Out spell that would turn the opponet screen completely Black for like 3 seconds but man it was awesome. They also had a spell that made you Invisible and you would only show as a shimmer on the Opponet screen. They also had Gods that you swore loyalty to - Only thru those Gods could you learn spells. However if you turned against the gods you swore loyalty to you would lose the spells you learned from them. They could bring all of this to GW via the Alien Invasion .


That's Just Me though

Take Care..

Lol.

Believe that if you want. 10 years from now when I have my 128 Core CPU (Intel projects we will get 64 cores in 5 years by the way) you think Guild Wars will still be competitive?

Oh, and with no auction house even then.

Sorry, I find that hard to believe. This game will probably have 2 more chapters and then it will start to go downhills. I just don't believe they can even make that many variants of the same skills and weapon mods to keep this game fresh.

I agree with generik. There is only a certain amount you can do with a hack&slash/spell caster type MMO before it becomes like all the others out there.

Note: I'm aware GW is not your standard MMO but lets just call it one for sake of arguement.

Well, GW's has already broke the 3million mark and WoW is standing still at 7million. That shows how popular the game has become, and Anet wont stop making games -why? Because players don't want them to! If the majority of players were complaining, and sales were plummeting then Anet would, more than likely, stop making chapters for GW's.

But I personally think that GW's will be going for a good 5 years or so, as long as the community stays intrested...which I can see happening.

I think the next chapter will be crucial. If it's still just "more of the same", lots of people will start to get bored. But how can you radically re-invent GW without alienating old school players?

We as GW veterans, i think tend to be more pessimistic since we burn through content a lot faster.

We know how the game works, we kill stuff faster, we beat missions super fast. We've seen all this before.

I'd like to hear what some "first timers" of Guild Wars think.
Those who have bought their first standalone.
Those who will continue to keep this franchise alive.

I think veterans will burn out after 1-2 chapters and be replaced by new players. Thats the business model's function imo.

It's in Anet's best interest to get NEW players.

People still play Diablo 2...

Only thing that got me off of that was GW. So logically next thing better than GW will get me off of GW.

There alot of hack and slash games out there, only a very small amount do it right.

I think they should stop making new chapters and just keep expanding the old ones.

Raising the level cap is one of many things Anet can do to boost sales before finally giving up on GW. So, until you see some drastic changes in GW's gameplay and design philosophy, Anet and GW are probably doing just fine. So I'm not worrying.

Unless something very bad happens, I expect GW to prosper for at least 4 years from now. It's just too big just to drop it, ArenaNet is going to make everything they can to keep the game alive. I think that Campagin 4 may be delayed just because it has to be top standard, with major engine improvements and lots of new stuff. We all know that if it's just more of the same, it may not sell that well.
For now everything is going very well, much cool stuff is being added to the game in free updates and over 3 million copies have been sold.
Long Live GW!

I guess we shall see - Ultima Online - Ugly Game compared to todays games. Still though they celebrated 9 years. With people for years and years ushering in their demise as soon as a New MMO comes out.

I'm not concerned at all - 5 years easilly 10 years really no problem.. Just gotta wait and see who's right . Chat with you in 10...

Take Care...

Simple Business Question Answer: When It Stops making a profit

GW is diffirent from WoW etc. They actually code engine improvements so game is not so outdated. Basically when GW does enough well they possibly even do major model updates to GW etc.

In the end I doubt it'll be up to Anet, it'll be NCSoft that decides to pull the plug whenever they do. According to this month's Game Informer, GW was 14% of NCSoft's last quarter sales. Not exactly what I'd call "too big". Presumably the foray into China is an attempt to increase that percentage, how that goes may well decide the future.

WoW is standing still at 7million.

That would explain how when I bought World Of Warcraft I got at least 10 other people to get the game? This is happening all over the world, and say what you think but WoW is gaining more. In my opinion Guildwars will last a few more years, because it's not holding that many people in my guild's interest. More games are comeing into the market too including Aion and Tabula Rasa, and it will be hard for Guildwars to keep up.

If A.Net can maintain/create the GW brand I'd imagine new players will be attracted to it each year replacing the ones leaving. The no fee business model may mean that GW is only viable by slowly sucking in new players and spitting out tired, weary, older players, i.e. not relying on a core base of veteran players.

A.Net could have estimated the number of players in the younger age bracket (14-18?) coming of age in the world each year with internet access. Of those a certain percentage will try online games and GW. In that case if they need Z new players a year to sustain their business, all they need to do is make GW available to a population of sufficient size to generate Z new GW players annually.

Personally I think player churn will be good for the game as the sheer weight of skills and professions in use may become too much, e.g a team needs skills from too many previous chapters to be able to complete the elite mission. If only the skills from the last 4-5 chapters are in use by players, and if good ones are released on a regular basis (maybe clones of older ones) the number of useful skills may not be overwhelming to newer players. Maybe A.Net is right in not trying to sustain/entertain a veteran player base with access to eventually thousands of skills. Maybe they are right in not increasing storage as it keeps veteran players and newer players on an "even" footing. Just looking at this forum, you can see the churn of people, yet it's still quite active.

I was surprised they made 3 million sales, so who knows. The no fee business model will attract a lot of new ppl and releasing self-contained, fun chapters, though all the same, may be a sensible business decision in the end.

I hope they stop soon honestly. I love Guild Wars but would LOVE for the team to focus on a little more classic type of mmorpg with a much larger PvE world to explore. They could even use the Charr and Tengu and whatever else.. but they should change the name..

.. anyway i know that probably wont happen, but that's my wish.

as long as there's the loyal fans that are buying the chapters, i doubt a.net will stop making future versions of GW.

look at nintendo's Mario. He's still here despite of his age. maybe because fans and also new ones are still buying.

I believe that within 2-3+ chapters PvE will start to fall off the earth. PvP (specifically GvG) will probably keep this game afloat for 5+ MORE games, as in what other game is there MMORPG PvP as simple, yet as deep and rewarding, as Guild Wars'?

I also think Anet should sell "skill packs" like 400 skills or so (a few for each class) instead of offering anything else, maybe for lile $15.

If PvP could support the game there would be no PvE. PvP is cheap and easy to produce, the players generate the bulk of the content. PvE is difficult and expensive to produce, but you have to have it because it's what pays the bills.

I'd say 4 more chapters until Guild Wars 2 where they actually have an engine that can let characters.. jump and such. Original Guild Wars will still run for a bit after that but eventually it will die off.

They dont need a guildwars two...
I'm sure I recall reading somewhere that cause of how GW is they can update and change anything they see fit.
So if they decide they need a new GFX engine for chapter four they'll just render all the old chapters in it too...
could last for a while if things to get to repetative...
I think they need to drop the large numbers of more powerful monsters is better than smarter AI theory...

A lot of you speak like you know what the whole community has to say. Your guilds and friends are not the only people who make up GW. You may be a "doomsayer" as some people like to call them, but the truth of the matter is, most of you don't know what's going on in the big picture. As long as there are people to buy GW, it will stay alive, or that's how it's supposed to works.

Guild Wars' business model means that much of ANet's focus is directed at attracting new players.

While veterans are likely of a certain value to ANet as they buy new chapters and make up much of the 'elite' population, the experience of these players often gets the better of them. They get bored with the inevitable repetitiveness of Guild Wars chapters, and either spew their negative thoughts onto forums or, if they are less devoted, simply find another game.

With no monthly fees, Guild Wars relies on Chapter sales, and the arrival of new players makes up a large proportion of these sales. As veterans get tired and leave, they are replaced by fresh, eager newbies.

In all honesty, I expect that if ANet wanted to, they could keep Guild Wars going for a few more years with Chapters full of the same old stuff, relying completely on new players as the veteran population burns to ashes. Eventually, they would just run out of momentum as the 'veteran new players' would also get tired, and Chapter production would come to a halt.

If ANet truly wants to keep the franchise alive for a longer period, then they definitely need to focus on maintaining a certain balance. While veteran players become bored with repetitiveness in each chapter, too much innovativity will throw them off; unless a major change in gameplay makes great improvements over what went before, it will be disliked by many and players will complain that they preferred the old ways. The developers can't win either way and so the best thing they can do is keep a balance between new and old. If they pull this off successfully with each new Chapter, then Guild Wars could survive for 5+ years in my view. In the end everything that could possibly be new will be used up. But ANet will probably not die at that point - it could go on to make bigger, better things.

Don't forget, ANet can consistently update the graphics engine (not forever, but for quite some time), so the game won't necessarily be left behind in technological terms.

And of course, external factors have a big impact on Guild Wars' survival. Firstly, ANet is owned by NCsoft, therefore the decision to pull the plug on Guild Wars could likely be made by someone higher up for simple business reasons. Then, there's the wide MMO market out there, that Guild Wars players will be drawn away to. Much of Guild Wars' ability to survive hinges on the attraction of no monthly fees. Other games may come in to compete.

So again, if ANet can maintain the balance between new and old, then I think Guild Wars may survive for 5+ years from now. It depends on that balance, getting plenty of new sales, but also on NCsoft and the MMO market. And then ANet can always move on to something else.

How long did it take for Everquest to settle down and just make a sequel?

It's hard to say what'll happen with Guild Wars, as they may just keep piling new stuff into the game. I have a feeling they'll make a change of direction before they stop making the game.

The problem with GW right now it's that it's three chapters long and they're all separate. Most MMORPGs when they get this big sell the game for $50 with all of the expansions. The MSRP on the first GW is still $50, and getting all three is $150.

So yeah, you can start the game with only one entry, but it's harder to stay competitive, especially in PvP, with one chapter worth of skills. $150 is a very discouraging barrier to entry, even without a monthly fee. Even not getting all three, it's becoming more and more difficult to make a viable build without AT LEAST two campaigns worth of skills.

The other problem is that things become harder to balance as more skills and especially more classes are added. It's much easier for some ridiculously strong skill to come to the foreground for the next several months.

So my predictions: Next chapter will be skills with no new classes. The one after will change course in some way.

Correct, GW and WoW are two different kinds of game complete. They can be compared, but they not the same.

Wish people would just stop the whole GW vs WoW debate.

Who cares about the graphics? Such things as adding a y-axis to the game which would allow jumping are far above the current far outdated engine. They would have to completely remake large parts of the engine to add it and honestly they might as well make a new engine then. There are many, many things this engine can just not realistically do currently. This goes far beyond graphics which aren't the issue here.

Many companys decide to seperate the games when they make a new engine because it gives them the opportunity to make many more changes.

World of Warcraft is adding flight, which will only be available in the expansion. The same idea can be applied. Might be somewhat quirky, but jumping could potentially be added as a feature only available in and beyond the chapter it's implemented.

There's also the possibility that it may simply not be implemented. GW's mechanics tend to be very streamlined, and while jumping may improve immersion, would it be particularly neccessary in most cases? Does the game really suffer from it?

First off the WoW engine is completely different and already had a y-axis. Second jumping is just an example of the limitations. There are many more but they are harder to explain and not as intresting or useful to talk about.

I mean the engine even has trouble adding a new row to storage.

Heres something to think about. Imagine Kuunavang actualy soaring high into the sky and shooting down to attack you. You could be picked up and thrown a short distance and there could even be traps in the game where you would fall. This is all impossible currently without a rediculous ammount of scripting an animations.

I realize that. The biggest barrier to adding new features like that into a game is integrating them into existing content without everything blowing up. I'm using WoW as an example of how that can be worked around.

Like I said, right now, the game mechanics are very streamlined. The only mechanics added by Nightfall were chants, echoes and scythe attacks. Every other new skill was based on conditions, effects, and mechanics which already existed.

That can easily be seen as a "feature" as much as a limitation. It certainly makes balancing things easier, and limits the potential for glitched encounters (which WoW has had its fair share of).

I agree with Quid Pro Quo. The engine itself is just outdated, and without a seriously large amount of work, cannot get certain upgrades to the past chapters.

What I could see possible is having a sequel, with the upgraded engine, with an option to 'import' your prequel characters (ie our current characters), with skills/armor/etc in-tact. How your character works would essentially be the same, just with new abilities in a new engine (like jumping). This might include an 'export' feature as well in order to go back to the prequel. It's a lot of coding, I'm sure, but a whole lot less than redoing all of chapters 1-3 in a new engine.

Quicker than it would have since they destroyed main game types like Heroes Ascent for PvP players and farming and chest running etc for PvE players the game will die much sooner. Probably within 2 years. Then there might be a GW:2