Concerned about Guild Wars

It was different when the game first came out as on The American Server we were doing fine and there were ppl on especialy when faction was introduced but today it has changed as some have 100 members and some have 2 or 3.There should of been a cap on members in a guild say 30 or 40 not 100.These guild have more power and weight and gold to throw around than the smaller ones.I would say that is not balanced in a balanced game. and To poster who said it doesn't affect your account it should if you don't log in in 6 months then it goes dorment meaning you lose your char and everything with it not your vault though.

@ Loki you don't play on The American server so why should be worried.

Yes I do, and so do most smart Australians. The Euro server is far too laggy for Australians.

Seriously, if they changed my guild now, after all the hard work I've put into it and getting such a good group of people, i will personally do something that would get me arrested and locked away to the ANet offices!

And the 6 month thing? are you serious? WTF! this is a casual game, not WoW...

hey, aren't you beta'ing Star trek online? I bloody well hope not, cos if your having any input in the game it, i need to sign up for the beta's to stop your lunacy!

And on the guilds power and scale thing... how do you work this out? my guild is doing ok, but we're not power mad farmers or 1337 HA players and only usually in the top 750 of the current ladder, but we are big, over 70 members! so where does my guild fit into your Guild Scale?

Besides, apart from ladder position or HA rank, how can a guild have any influence on the game by throwing their weight around?

I was a poster who mentioned the fact that being absent for long periods doesn't affect your account. ANet doesn't punish you for being absent, whether caused by real life problems or interest in other games.

I understand that other games do delete characters/accounts. This is done to keep you paying your monthly subscription. No subscription; no need to punish.

I see posts in Q&A forum quite often from old players coming back to the game and asking questions about game changes. Ask them if they would have returned if their characters were gone. ANet's policy means that players come back all the time for the long-term or short-term.

Smoke another one! Seriously! So what if there are big guilds,whoopty doo. It has absolutely no bearing on my small guild of only 3 people. A guild of three can have the exact same amount of resources to spend on each individual as a guild of 100. As for 6 months?!?! What is this Diablo 2? No. Never going to happen. It defeats the purpose of having no fee. If I have to sweat playing just to keep my hard work then screw it. I might as well pony up a subscription fee.

The original post concentrated on pvp numbers decreasing and I believe he is right. Just press b and look at obs mode what do you notice.

It now shows games from 2 hours ago or longer where it used to show games only 40 mins ago at the latest.

The gvg ladder is still a bit iffy thats only because the ATs havent started yet once they do it should be ok.

HA is a joke and prob will be the players base died when the 6v6 nerf came.

Skill balance is something that is being dealt with however at last which may improve things.

Overall the fall in pvp player number is due to frustration at anet. Especially with HA it took months to remove full hench team/hero teams and the party size did nothing to bring new players in it just annoyed the players who were already there.

I sort of agree on this.
Forgive my post but it's rather in a suggestion form, although the intent is just to remind people of the possibilities.

Guild Wars could be so much better if old ideas from other RPG's were added.
In a nutshell, what do we have in Guild Wars?

1) PvE. Comprised of quests, missions and explorable areas.
2) PvP. Comprised of Arenas, Guilds, Tournaments and Alliance battles.

What could Guild Wars have without changing the game in a bad way, upsetting balance or altering things in an irrepairable way?

1) Mounts for travelling/roleplaying/showing off your epic stallion to noobs.
2) Hobbies to provide fun, such as:

Mining. Provides metals/ores/gems/essences for various other crafts.

Fishing. Provides fish for cooking and a good time waster, lol.

Cooking. Provides food for PvE buffs.

Herbalism. Herbs for cooking and plant oils/essences for other crafts.

Gathering of miscellaneous items. Fruits, berries, nuts, scrap metal, dead animals, lost property (these would all spawn randomly). This would mainly be a stand-alone hobby but a couple of special items are needed for other hobbies.

Alchemy (may be more difficult unless PvE only usage). Provides buffs.

Skinning. (refined skin could make leathers, cloths and hides).

Woodcutting. (Wood for weapon/armour crafters would come from him).

Mapmaking (would double-click to reveal a location to the user). Maps made from parchment and ink. Maker would have to have the place revealed to make the map. He could also sell maps of explorable areas to help people uncover terrain.

Skill teaching (teach skills to players at a cost lower than the trainer. He can teach ANY skill that he has learnt himself, including elites [but for a large amount of gold]. Seller doesn't get all the gold, just enough to pay for the reagent needed for the spell and a little spare to make a profit).

Armour crafting. Cheaper than the NPC!

Weapon crafting. Choose your own skins/stats/colours...at a price!

Dye mixing (this guy would harvest plants and 'bosses' to extract essences from them, which he can mix with grey dye to make a massive array of custom colours with amazing auras and sheens. He'd sell these on to players. He can also use regular dye drops in his recipes).

Hairstylist (can change the colour of peoples hair using the dye provided by the dye mixing profession or the dye trader)

Librarian. This guy can make any recipe for any of the crafts. He would use parchment and ink and sometimes other materials such as leather for binding. A feather would be needed too.

All the hobbies would be linked together to promote player trading/interaction. Although a player can take up all of the hobbies if he wishes, but inventory space would be a problem for some.
Too many NPC's have been stealing our jobs for too long. This must stop!

It's terrible that a person can play his entire virtual life in Guild Wars without EVER talking to someone. So very sad and true.

3) Player housing. Tricky maybe, but a tiny explorable area in which a house sits... that might work. Not one of my personal desires.

Besides killing people and monsters, what is there REALLY to do? We seem to be stuck in the same cycle of PvE or PvP with ArenaNet throwing tiny scraps of the "good things" on occasions, IE events.

ArenaNet could make Guild Wars into the ONLY game worth playing in the whole of the MMORPG/CORPG world, but they seem to be transfixed with their original idea from when it was first on the drawing board.

Just like players after a nerf/skill balance, guild wars must also adapt and evolve. I just hope they will act on peoples desires instead of discounting everything that doesn't fit with their original ideas.

Give us some fun stuff!

/essay finished.

Clap clap XD

Yes this are the little thing that make the game interesting guildwars but it might be harder to add in ,chances are there might be some breach in copyright of ideas then again thats what Anet legal department are for (Looking at an warrior end game armour how come it look so much like nightmare in "soul Caliber" laugh)
(We sugguest all sort of thing but at the end of the day it up to Anet to opt for it)

And Pls fix the stupid pet control it way over due don't need nothing fancy just simple targeting will do

I know Anet has repeatedly said this won't happen, but there's a pattern that has emerged with virtually every other adventure/hack n slash/mmporg game out there: higher levels, more powerful spells/armor/weapons, and enemies.

When playing games like Baldur's Gate and Elder Scrolls, you are given huge terrains that you can explore in a non-linear fashion. Some are fairly easy, some are challenging, others you get your ass handed to you. You just work on levelling up your character(s), getting better gear, until you can take the harder areas. For me the most gratifying aspect of Baldur's Gate (playing all 4 in succession) is seeing your character start as an inn hand, and becoming a literal god, where you can account for every single step, yeah.......very gratifying.

Personally I'd love nothing more than to put aside DOA and some of the Torment areas until I can handle them in more of a fair (or should I say fun?) manner.

That Anet has to pull off stunts like DOA, where you have maddenning area affects, and just insanely overpowered level 28 mobs to give power players somewhere they can't complain that PvE is too easy is a punishment to the rest of us.

As for the implications of PvP, I don't care. The way this game is going with the advent of heroes and dilution of the player base, the same tired play style won't continue to work for me.

This isnt anything new, it has happened with GWP pre-factions and similarly with factions after a few months of release.

Strangely enough, guild wars is one of those "MMOs" that players get bored of playing after a while which can mean 2 things:

1)Lack of addiction factions.
2)Lack of replayability.

However this fits with the bussiness model of Anet: inactive all you want after buying.

As always, friends are all that i play for/with these days. Otherwise theres little else in the game for me at least.

I have noticed the stagnation. Granted, it's not as bad as some make it out to be, but you can definitely tell there is a lack of fresh enthusiastic players in this game.

You can argue final exams and whatever all you want... but the reality is that this problem is inherent to games like Guild Wars for several reasons.

Guild Wars, unlike other MMORPGs, has a near definite beginning and end... therefore players go through the game, and get to the end. If you're not into PVP or farming, there's essentially nothing for you to do. Lots of my friends say "Titles" are the way to go... but that doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. Why do I want to play a bajillion games of chance or donate a gajillion faction to get a little tag under my name.... most of which no one will ever read in the first place, seeing as interaction in this game is so limited.

Problem is... the devs of this game (for whatever reason) refuse to add crafting professions or other non-combat activities to this game to keep people busy. With World of Warcraft, there was ALWAYS something you could be working toward when you weren't questing or were taking a break.(whether it be getting your crafting skill up, finding that certain herb you needed to cook whatever, or mining ore, saving for a nifty weapon or mount ... etc)

Guild Wars has essentially nothing to do beyond whacking things on the head. If you're not in a combat zone, you have several choices:

1. Sit and/or stand in a town or guild hall doing nothing besides chatting...taking up server resources doing something that you could do for free on AIM.

2. Dance in a town or guildhall, enjoying lines upon lines of 200 mph trade spam and your-mama insults from prepubescent highschoolers while wading through hordes of naked belly-dancing elementalists.

3. Buy/sell/trade stuff... but good luck getting a word in over the channel spam. Or if you're feeling particularly daring, buy a Runescape account for 100g plus ectos and a mini-shiro.

4. Try your hand at PvP and get told by Timmy the over caffeinated spaz with ADD that your build "sux" and that you should "go back to WoW" with all the other "carebarez" - don't let the giant iron spiked door of elitism smack your ass on the way out, noob.

Beyond this very limited scope of activity, you basically have no real significant interaction with people.

The cities in Guild Wars are very reminiscent of the cities in the 1994 game Daggerfall.... giant cities of "paper people" as I like to call them. The people were literally 2D sprites, just standing around. Outside, the NPCs walked (rather unrealistically I might add) in little pre-determined circles like trains on a track. Nobody actually did anything in these cities, but if someone who hadn't played Daggerfall looked over your shoulder, they'd go "Holy crap the city is so alive!" - it's the appearance of being alive, nothing more.

What's my point? The cities in Guild Wars are huge, but are generally deader than fried chicken.... just a bunch of people standing around and/or dancing.

This world of Guild Wars is more of an abstract concept than anything... it doesn't really exist. The gameplay is so limited that interacting with other players in anything but a combat setting is pointless and uninspiring.

Money doesn't matter in Guild Wars, because there's nothing to spend it on besides armor. Since getting that uber "shield of dragonslaying" isn't a viable option... the focus shifts to the aesthetic.... minipets, dyes, rare weapon skins. The game has boiled down to a multiplayer version of the Sims. A big ole' 49.99 chat room with graphics.

Guild Wars is like a really tasty caffinated beverage. It's sweet and fizzy at first, quenching your thirst, but the carbonation doesn't last long. After the "bubbles" run out, it's a very empty experience.

All the "OMG 3X GREEN DROP WEEKEND" or "XP SCROLL WEEKEND" events were a nifty attraction at first, now it's just like "meh"....

ultimately, my feelings toward GW have deteriorated to: "meh" - I'd be lying if I said I wasn't in the market for another game right now, but the alternatives aren't very appealing.

well put, Domino, I totally aggree

This is an interesting quote for many reasons. I am going to come off as an elitist saying this, but it must be said. The endgame is PvP. The thing that Guild Wars has going for it is PvP. This quote basically sums up why PvE will eventually die and PvP will (hopefully) keep Guild Wars alive for a long time to come. PvE in Guild Wars ends. When you beat it, there is nothing left to do but PvP or move on to another game. Everything in Guild Wars is meant to filter players towards PvP, but Anet isn't acting like it.

The problem is that some people (actually a TON of people) completely disagree with how Anet is handling said PvP. So they move to other games. Hence the reason that not as much new blood is coming in, and old blood is leaving.

The PVE endgame has problems in just about every MMORPG I've played.
WoW and EQ2 are nothing but boring raids in the end game. Over and over again.
GW should not try to emulate WoW as WoW emulates just about every other MMORPG I've played in the past many years. GW's success will come from continuing to offer something different to players and for no monthly fee.

First of all i wont agree that your presentation reaked of Elistism but infact far from it. Honest perhaps.

I am glad that you feel PvP will keep GW alive and in a way i would really appreciate if the Developers would come out and say it also. That way, the sooner we stop the half guessing and come clean and make GW a PvP game only, PvErs like myself can just leave the game for good and not hold onto false hopes.

<the above statement is in no way cynnical, just though i clarify>

:'( These forums are depressing. Im gonna play guild wars now: weeeeee

There will be a time when guild wars dies. Forever. Arenanet proclaims to the world that they cant afford to host their servers just for the last 40 players in the world who still play guild wars.
But its ok, the last 40 people have formed two rival gangs- errr i mean guilds- and fight each other nonstop, until the servers shut down. Their fun time ends with an error: Guild wars could not find the mission you requested.

In my oppinion I find that GW is lacking that certian interesting value, HA is now rathe boring as you can't get a team unless your a specific class or build. GvG ladder is messed up because there are not going to be tornaments until at least March. RA is just unplayable these days with the high number of leavers.
PvP just isn't working for me..i'm losing interest in the whole PvP thing. As for the whole PvE part of GW, it's rather repetitive once you play it enough. You just don't want to play it as much anymore.

New players are joining, but there ar not as active as some of the "old school" players such like myself.

Because the game is so compartmentalized and every new chapter "expands the universe" and spreads out the player base to an even greater degree, it is not surprising to feel a little alarmed.

Many have compared the Guild Wars experience to off line games because of the solitary feel that it evokes due to game design: Heroes, Henchies, instanced areas, PvE focus, PvP focus, chapter segregation, mission driven story, etc.

I hope that ANet works to counter this trend.

Of course the Devs won't come out and say that. Most of their money is made from the PvE players. I am not saying completely obliterate PvE like some PvP elitists will say.

I am coming from a PvP player perspective and I think Anet isn't doing so great in recent months. But I can see a PvE standpoint as well. Let me put it this way...the fact that GW is trying to combine PvE and PvP is just making both sides worse than they should be.

That being said, GW got game of the year from a few sites. The game has a great concept going for it. The problem is, players who have been playing the game since the beginning are realizing the problems of the game, while the people giving the awards are just looking at the good parts.

PvE only people aren't interested in PvPing. A.net has said PvP and PvE is meant to be 50/50. That isn't really the case at the moment.

As it stands this is why we don't need a chapter 4 anytime soon. A.net would better off fixing all the graphical errors, bugs, quest bugs, skill balance issues and adding new (even minor) content to the existing chapters available.

In all honesty, do you really feel that would happen? Doing the above wont bring those who left back into the game nor will it generate new income from sales. The production of the C4 from the factions team is already in serious question and the more "New professions" "New skill" "New areas" New weapons" "New armour" etc, we tend to see some recycling in the interests of time to meet the release dates. I agree the C3 is a great game and improvement to the series but i dread dragging my 8th PvE toon across it and cant say that i am looking forward to another Chapter as it is now...

I hope C4 has a CGI moive, they are gonna need the hype...

I'm a pve player and even I was saddened to see the eroding of HA.

Forming a decent group and winning Halls was a tough, time-consuming proposition that was mostly for the hardcore. Then Anet decided that they wanted to get the softcore pvp'ers like me into HA and came up with 6 vs. 6 and then allowed us to take heroes/hench as well.

Boy, did that backfire. While the nubbers like myself were running around with heroes and figuring things out, the hardcore players got annoyed and started leaving en masse. The delay in getting the ladder set up is another frustration for the pvp'ers.

If pvp is the endgame (and I don't disagree that it is), then things dont' look so good with all the pvp'ers leaving.

Also, the contrast in player interaction in towns in Tyria vs. Elona is alarming. The only Tyrian towns that feel like Elona ones are the ones filled with bots.

This has been said since the first day I have been here - 6 months or so after release. Of course, at some point it *will* be true - nothing lasts forever.

And there is some amount of truth to it. The upper most levels of PvP have declined since the rewards are no longer 50,000 US dollars for winning it. "Fun" PvP'ers (note that doesn't imply their level of desire to win or necessarily ability) are still there, but the professional ones are pretty much gone. As to how much they actually contribute to the game - dunno. My guess isn't that much. There are fewer and fewer of the real old timers, but then 2+ years playing a game is a *long* time to retain a high percentage of players (note, high percentage - one can quote a few games that retain a low percentage for decades). There are new games to go master, and I can not blame someone who rules the ladder for over a year going somewhere else - I know if I was at that level the game would get boring no matter what.

Nightfall sold quite well, GW isn't going anywhere as long as each chapter sells like that. I suspect they will, the majority of GW's money makers are those people and a lot of these issues are irrelevant - they are not around long enough to know them. For most of the complaints there is also no alternative that fixes them, you get as bad or worse with the nice thing of a monthly fee.

There are effectively three classes of players. The first - the truly casual, they play one character through the game and quit. They represent the bulk of the game and money made. They are still going quite strong and are increasing with each chapter. The game is quite a bit of fun and is worth the money compared to the rest of the field out there.

The next two classes - long term PvE and PvP (some casual hours, others hardcore). They care about these issues as they are on long term enough to know the difference. They are constantly in flux - anyone here for a long period of time has seen it.

So, nothing new. It's not dieing anytime soon. If you want to be constructive these types of threads can be useful, just try and step outside of your self and your own wants and focus on the game community as a whole. That is hard for many people to do.

8v8 would settle all problems.

ID1,2,3 would all be full.

Alot more ranked people would play.

I want whatever drugs you're on...

i read in one of the gaming magazine that i buy that nightfall will be the last of the GW chapters. The end of the trilogy. Theres also some rumours about that Anet wont be able to run the servers forever as they just simply cannot afford to keep ther servers running.

I usually pick up GW, beat the campaign a few times, PVP a bit, and then wait for the next expansion to ever touch GW again.

If GW suffers from anything it's replayability and end-game pve content. In this department GW is a total failure. As far as guilds go... the only thing I ever see holding guilds together at all is some sort of team-pvp and even that can just cause more people to leave.

Higher levels, more diverse skills/builds, ect.. would all be welcome additions instead of new class...nerf/buff...new class...nerf/buff..

I have to admit to being one of those players who spent 2 years nearly in GWs, did everything, got everything, got KOABD, and then got bored.

I made 3 others lvl20 chars, got them 15k armor, and then started a Rit and lost the apeal.

I tried WoW, and loved it. Ive spent the last month playing that and rarely sticking my head into GWs. But that doesnt mean I hate GWs. I love it and I think Anet did a great job. But its to be expected that after playing a game for nearly 2 years, you get bored and want something different.

I dont think GWs is dieing at all, there is always a constant feed of new players. But I expect older players, who have done it all, might move on to new pastures to try new things.

Atleast until Anet brings out the next expansion and adds new blood to it again.

GWs only downside is its limit on content. Once youve done it all, you have to look elsewhere for stuff to do. Anet needs to keep us interested in new and different ways... to tempt us back.

Well I have over 3.000 hours across almost two years, the bulk of it NOT playing with just henchies i.e. guildies and PUGs and I think some people are just ignoring or brushing under the carpet there HAS definately been a trend. I'm a euro server player too and I've commented on this observation numerous times.

The "major outposts" sure there are people in Kaineng, Ascalon, Lions Arch and Kamadan - but those are the major trade outposts. A lot of the other outposts there aren't that many people, particularly in Factions. Nightfall is still kinda newish but it may as well be ghost town since most people seem to be in perma-hero/hench parties and don't talk.

I think this probably began with Factions and then went on from there, with Nightfall single player mentality helping contribute towards it.

Several other guilds whose members I've talked with all noticed similar things too i.e. either large drops in activity or teamplay (or both)

Ok to summarize everything in nutshell
1.You did everything in GWs
2.You moved over to WoW
3.You don't think GWs is dieing at all
4.You admint there a limit on content

Some how the math don't quite add up thou laugh

Sorry don't mean to insult or anything like that just scratching my head what are you trying to tell us laugh

the end of that trilogy has nothing to do with ending GW.

it gives them a clean slate for us to take our present favorite characters to/

as for Anet not having the money to keep the servers going..............surprise.

Anet isnt paying the bills.

Great. Another 'omfg why iznt gw lyke wow fs?'

/cut Sheez....

- Josh

yes it is the end of the trilogy and the last chapter in this chapter arch... Chapter 4 is on the way and will be the start of a new story arch

Anyone find it funny how people make these comparisons about GW and WoW, yet if you look on the WoW message boards they sit and complain as well? Then compare how GW is better?

I think this is how we should just leave this topic as.

You can be concerned and well, be that way. Yet we all know the game will not last forever, but it is going to last a very very long time to come, with new additions every so often and blizzard "apparently" declaring their new titles, WoW is going to see a decrease.

I say stop comparing the two companies, we know they are in competition with each other thats how they get business.

For the "old-school" players I have 2 suggestions:
1. Grow up, it got boring because your playing every day for 2 years and your friends stopped playing.
2. Actually try to do the same mission, get protector titles, get cartographer titles, see the actual environment of the game. You know that castle in north kryta? Or the statue to grenth in the dead middle of the droks run? I bet you don't.

PvE gets repetitive, yet your asking for repetitive tasks like craftsmen+etc.
That is the most contradictory thing you people are saying, has anyone got 8 characters with protector titles in here? I do, but I really want to know how many others are speaking from experience.

Funny isn't it. If people can find something to complain about they will. If they can't, they'll make something up.

All these "Bring out your dead! The End is near!" threads fall into the second catagory. Guild Wars is not dying, sales are great and player population is great. The Wintersday festival had more people online then ever before. I have characters roaming about in all parts of the game, the only areas where player population is low are; some Maguma Jungle outposts, some South Shirverpeaks outposts, and many of the Kurzic/Luxon outposts. This is a sign that player population is spreading out some and centralizing in other places (like Droks) not that the game is dying.

Nightfall should be the last chapter of Guild Wars I. There is absolutely no reason to make another Chapter under the same game engines and balancing issues. Most gamers are not going to buy an antiquated 4th Chapter of Guild Wars at 49.99 when next generation RPG games are coming out for both the PC and consoles. Guild Wars is not WoW, they do not have the player-base to just throw out crap and have people eat it up.

Take into consideration that NCsoft isnt stable quarter to quarter and has had problems keeping Tabula Rasa and Aion on schedule. Auto Assult was a complete failure and write off, and each chapter of Guild Wars sells less copies.

The only wise business decision, insert IMHO, is to make a Guild Wars II next generation game that would be ready for the final quarter of 2007 or later.

I doubt that a 3 memeber guild can do as much as 100 memeber guild can as they have more resoures.That is unless you farm heavy there are some of us who would like to have more ppl in our guilds but recruiting in game get us no where.I would like to see my guild get bigger as playing with henchies and heros bores me if it was single player game I wouldn't complain to much.There are times when I think about putting the founder in charge and leaving or disbanding.I am just down about the guild situation and fustrated.

I do plan on beta testing Star Trek online in miid 2008 and we already gave it our thoughts Lonesamurai just check my home page out.

So what Guild situation, you never answered my question!

or are you just spouting because you haven't anything else to say? Go on Answer it

(Appologies to the mods if I sound harshe, but I'm sick of people bitching at about something and not actually saying what is wrong with what they're bitching about)

I can not answer this question as I don't know the stats on the guilds and that is all the guilds in GW not just PvP ones or on off the ladder as well to what you posted here.
Maybe they should list all the Guilds and have a little description about them.

And what would be the point in listing them all? PvP guilds are as fluid as mercury and PvE guild are 10 a penny...

Besides which, whats the point of doing the list? Guilds are a fluid structure most of the time... I'm lucky that I have a fairly steady influx of new people with very rare leavers

besides, what useful information would this serve?