You know, I started to read through this thread fully intending to read the entire thing before adding my two bits. However, after reading the first dozen pages I realized that three quarters of the posters were being unreasonable, making assumptions (remember what assume does?), or just ranting and raving while making no clear contribution to the issue. We should all know by now that ANet DOES listen to their players' concerns, just look at how Gaile actually responds to so many players on the various forums in the community.
Having said that, please try to keep in mind that virtually every employee over at ANet also enjoys and plays GW. This means they have to make a game that they can live with; I think they've proven to have good taste so far. What was it they said way back when? They are gamers too, and they want to make a game that they can enjoy as well? Wow, imagine that. Now, suppose these gamers were to make - say - 3 games. Also, let's suppose those 3 games were to attract, oh, about 3 million happy gamers. If that were to happen, (
) I would suppose that those gamers have good taste. I'd also suppose that if we have similar tastes so far, that I'll probably like what they like in the future. Ok, we've made our suppositions for today. Much like your friend (who has similar tastes to yours) saying to you "I think you'd really like the [insert movie name] movie, it was awesome!", ANet is basically saying "Hey, we really think you'll like this game, we do!"
As you will read in my quote from my guild's forums below, I think a higher level limit has the potential to add wonderful depth to the game. We still don't know what kind of form a higher level cap will take, so wait for a better explanation before jumping to conclusions and crying world's end. The same principle applies to continued support for GW1, especially since the Devs say that they WILL NOT abandon the faithful GW1 players. Why would they? people will still be buying GW1 after GW2 is out - both players new to MMOs in general, and new GW2 players who want to expand their GW2 experience by going back and unlocking stuff in GW1's HoM.
To be fair, I also was initially worried about GW becoming too WoW-like when they mentioned a move away from instancing. After reading the PC Gamer article of our discussion and Gaile Gray's own comments, however, my mind is at ease that they are not going to mimic WoW in that regard. One feature that I am worried about is that "the click-to-move system will be left behind". I don't care about clicking on a spot to walk to it, but I do want to retain the ability to select an NPC or enemy and hit the spacebar (or whatever) to perform a "default action" such as walking up to and talking to an NPC, or turning toward and running at to attack, an enemy. I sincerely hope, at a minimum, they retain the basic "face toward, run toward, start auto-attacking" mechanic even if this mechanic makes you run around, as opposed to hurdling over, obstacles in your path.
To explain how sad I would be to see that go away:
I purchased two (2) preorders of Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar with every intention of paying $500 to get two copies of the game with lifetime subscriptions. Well, it took me a matter of minutes to find the biggest annoyance in a combat system. It took me a few hours to decide that I wasn't getting LOTRO at all. Ever. Thank goodness for open beta. Oddly enough, this mechanic is also present in WoW (guess I never missed out on WoW). Let me describe it:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Morgol
Morgol: Attack!
LOTRO: You must face your target!
Morgol: Ok, NOW attack!
LOTRO: You are too far away!
Morgol: Gah! Let me get up there myself! Ok, NOW attack!
LOTRO: Ok! It's dead now.
Morgol: Why didn't I get anything?
LOTRO: Somebody attacked it first.
Morgol: Gah! Ok fine, let's kill THAT wolf!
LOTRO: You must face your target!
Morgol: <screams and smashes head through monitor>
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Now for a snippet from my guild's forums:
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Eternal Haven Forums
Morgol:
Ok, here's what would put Guild Wars 2 completely over the top for me:
A detailed economic model including crafting of different kinds that are skills you can actually increase, kindof like titles are now.
1) Armor crafting (separate Metal and Leather crafting)and an associated Metalworking/Tanning skill
2) Weapon crafting also associated with metalworking
3) A Bowyer skill and a carpentry skill to go with it
4) A weapon enchantment skill to make staves and wands, and to enchant other weapons.
5) A jeweler skill - more on that below
6) Other non-combat economic and crafting skills
So I'd like to also see accessories that can be worn to add some more depth to our equipment, beyond the plain "This Armor, That Sword, This Shield" mechanic that we have right now.
I know non-combat classes are not going to be possible with the current "Missions and Dungeons" combat-based story progression, but what about in the future?
In short, I want us to be able to gather raw material, refine that raw material, craft it into something, imbue it with powers, then use it or trade it. I love the feeling of accomplishment you get when something comes into existence from the sweat of your clicking finger.
Oh, I'd also like it if they made the rare skins drop more often, but a LOT less often be gold. As compensation for this, when you identify a GOLD grop, you unlock that weapon skin for use in your own crafting. This would make finding that ever-elusive weapon a more permanent reward. This would also make the sale of unidentified gold items a much bigger facet of trade.
Anon:
The article indicated that there may no longer be level limits. Yep, you could have level 100+ characters. Now to me that seems a bit much. That is one thing I liked about GW is that given some time you could at least get up to max level and with a build or two participate in outings with other guild members who play a lot more plus you could switch over to another character that was also maxed out. With this new proposed system you would have to spend most of your time with one character if you wanted to have a sufficiently leveled character wouldn't you? I like trying a character class out and then when maxed out going for a different one. It also seems like the GW1 economy could be severely affected since you can't bring much over (just a few weapons and some skills? from GW1 to GW2). I guess it is like in real life where you can't take it with you. In this case though you know when the end is. All that hoarding of stuff now seems to be a waste. 
Morgol:
Well some are speculating that the level cap (if there is one) will be merely cosmetic. This might mean that levels past 20 or something will not have a performance effect, or maybe not affect combat as far as hitpoints, etc. In my economic idea (see above), maybe you could have your combat exp get you to level 20 (or whatever a good mean value is), but economic exp would be what you need for level 100. This way, you could still enjoy all the missions and combat at full force at level 20 and be able to take your time with the economic stuff. Also, the Hall of Monuments feature really makes me want to do even more in GW1 so I can have all that cool stuff in GW2 that can't be had otherwise.
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So to summarize:
Be patient. Try to be reasonable. Try to LISTEN. Try to be open-minded. Try to be positive too. Oh, and if you have a problem with a proposed change, why not give CONSTRUCTIVE criticism a go? ANet has proven that this method works best with them. Don't forget that these are people and gamers who are creating our game, so don't just haul off and assume you're talking to a wall. They do care what we think, and they do appreciate praise for a job well done.
On that note, ANet: Good job! I am thoroughly happy to have found GW.
