GW already dying???

Actually I see more burn out with the P vs P crowd then I do with the P vs E crowd. But my two cents is the game is far from dead and How many posts do we see each week here in this community saying OMG GW is Dying ? So many doom threads, LOL

I've been bored of GW for quite a while now. After beating all 3 games on all your characters, completing quests that you need and want to, it repeats itself and is boring. I've already worked on the titles that I want so I'm done with those. Plus my guild is pretty much inactive and dead so there's really no one to chat with anymore but I'm sure once GW:EN is around the corner then they will come back because they will have stuff to do. I usually log on and I see only 1 or 2 people on and they don't even respond to a "hello" so I my as well kick them!

Yeah, people are just playing something else. LOTR Online, WoW: Burning Crusade, C&C3, a new Magic: the Gathering set just came out, consoles are churning out titles, summer movies in full swing, then there's those wierdos who go outside... It's not likely to change anytime soon, either. WoW: Lich King is coming soon, Starcraft 2 coming soon, Fallout 3 coming soon, school starting again soon... But GW:EN is gonna make or break GW2 for me.

With so much fun stuff to do, it's hard to stay with just one activity, much less one game. It's a great time to be alive.

Good luck finding parties off the beaten path in Prophecies. Thank goodness for heroes.

I can still find parties in Factions in the major areas. Minor areas, not so much, but people are there every now and then.

Nightfall is Nightfall... too easy to find a party.

I'll disagree with Malice slightly.

When Night Fall came out, none of the players knew about the planned transition to GW:EN and then GW2. That announcement was when a lot of players got upset about things. I think fewer players will purchase GW:EN than the previous expansions, and those who do buy it will tend to be those still having fun with the game. So, while there will surely be disappointed gamers complaining on day one of GW:EN's release, there will also certainly be fewer complainers in general.

I mean, if you are really unhappy with the game's direction and disillusioned with the franchise migrating to GW2, why would you purchase GW:EN? Unless you like complaining and wanted to get more ammunition for why you dislike Guild Wars, what would the motivation be?

I've already noticed a bit of a split in the community. Those who post on the GW:EN forum tend to be more optimistic. Those who post in Riverside tend to be more gloomy. I think that split will widen post-GW:EN as the pessimists who don't buy GW:EN will have less to directly complain about.

As to the question in the OP, my belief is that GW doesn't really have enough content to fully support 2 years of continuous gameplay. I started playing a year after the launch, so I am still enjoying it. Will I still be in another year? I love the game, but I really doubt it. I think a lot of the players who more keenly feel the decline have played for longer than I have. Most of their friends have moved on. Well, two plus years is a very long time to play any computer game, so it's natural. To a newer, old-timer like me, the game still has a lot to offer. I see new players all of the time come into my guild, get excited, and become devoted GW gamers. I also see players go inactive. That cycle will continue for some time to come.

I think the problem many players have who've been here from the beginning is that they blame their declining interest in the game on changes Anet has made. I tend to thing most of that is really unfair to Anet. I sincerely believe that the vast majority of Anet's changes have made the game better. A brand new player to GW today will find a much better game than the brand new player of 6 months ago. And that player was better off than the brand new player of a year ago. And so on. Yes, I realize this is a controversial view.

What I think is happening is that the players are naturally getting to the point where they've done most things in-game they've wanted to do. As GW is fairly addictive, they've probably overplayed a bit, too. Then, they hit a point where the game just becomes less fun. I always read the "I've had it with Guild Wars" threads with some curiosity. Normally, the reasons given are just hard to believe: "I quit because of synch farmers" "I quit because I can't farm Urgoz vampires." "I quit because Anet won't ban enough bots." "I quit because Jade Quarry isn't fair to Kurzicks." "I quit because some PVP build is ruining the game." They are legitimate things to complain about, but are they really good reasons to give up the game? I think the player had just played too much and was - maybe subconsciously - looking for a reason to stop playing.

I'm sure I'll hit that point myself. I can already feel my interest starting to wane. GW:EN will renew that passion; I am sure of that, but at some point, you just move on.

But just because it's ended for you, it hasn't ended for the new player who comes along. And given the links to GW2, GW will probably be around for many years to come - whether you're personally playing it or not.

There are a few issues with GW dying, since the hours that you log into GW can affect it quite a bit (obviously :P). From what I remember of way too many runs of The Deep was that there'd be a huge amount of people in the Int'l D around 6 PM CST and next to none when it was 1 AM when I checked at random.

Most of the old players, as mentioned earlier, are already where they want to be, which is probably endgame, so there'll be fewer people in the in between missions (that don't lead to farming spots). There'll be even less in Prophecies and Factions, since there isn't that sense of "newness" and being unplayed. I have to admit that it's nice to not have to deal with the massive amount of lag from huge districts... .

The other thing is that if you have a group of friends who you can goof off in the game with, there's not much of a need for serious stuff or goals. It's pretty amusing to see what you can do and come up with random challenges. One guildmate decided to run through Tombs with henchman a while ago (yay flags) and was talking about it in Guild chat, so I ended up giving him pointers :P. A solo player is pretty much stuck with what the game offers. The community can really keep people around, though I guess that for some, it's more just forums/chat instead of the actual game.

Yes, because obviously quest itself can never be fun and everything you do in game must give you advantage.

PC games especially. Though remember 25 years ago games almost did die

The OP is about Factions. There are some outposts there that seem abbandoned since a long time, even before NF was out.
Specially the missions behind HzH and Cavalon (10K faction requirement).

More general, there is an other problem:
People are on 3 games, with two of them having 'split storyline', meaning less people for each mission.
With the split storyline, people won't play the other mission(s) except for titles.

Then there is the problem of game-fun.
I know several members from my guild will come back after GW:EN is out, play for a short period and disappear again to their other games, in which they have more fun.

Then there is the guild/community.
If you are in an inactive guild and have a small friends list, the game will become boring faster then without.
A lot of people I know stick to the game because it kills time and they have a good time with the people around.

Heroes added to the 'solo-game' problem, where people prefer heroes over human players.
This has to do with trust, timing and player availability.
Even in our mid-sized guild, it's hard to get a full guild-team together for 8-person missions.
The only way is to schedule something in advance or being lucky.
Now try scheduling something in advance in GW without a guild ....

I think you're right.

GW2 Beta tests start early 2008

ACE post of the thread.

Expect things to heat up with the release of GW:EN. thats the key reason im looking forward to release

Haha! You're so right... people are saying GW is dying, people say WoW is dying, etc etc...

GW isn't dying, its changing...

Pull up groups suck anyway...find yourself a nice guild that does PvE and you'll fly through any campaign...I've done NF 4 times this past week and factions 3 times...you just need a guild and good friends . Theres more runners now, more experienced players...and less new players going through aswell as the population is spread out into three areas, soon to be 4 in a sense(though GW:EN is attached to Tyria). I doubt the game is dying...but I don't see much cooperation in PvE anymore. NF is filled quite a bit, so it could just be that people are more interested in playing the newer one.

It died and it's starting to smell.

That's dumb. As long as NEW content is added, there will be a tendancy for people to go to the NEW PLACE.

When I played WoW there were deserted places.. big deal?

Factions put a really bad taste in alot of people's mouths, especially mine. Right off the back it split the population in half for most of the mission and then well it just generally sucked going through this repetitive mass of bland crappy looking areas. Errr sorry what this about again lol, oh yeah. I'm confident that the population is as strong as ever it's just now everyone is so spread out over the 3 campaigns. When GWEN comes out i'm sure everything will go back to normal. Praise heroes!

They have sold more copies of GW now than they had 2 weeks ago. This number is probably 4,000,100 compared to 4,000,000. So technically, the number is higher than it ever has been, and tomorrow it will be even higher than it ever has been, because the number cannot go down, only up.

Well there is Prophecies, Faction's, Nightfall, and all sorts of PvP (RA, TA, HB, HA, AB, FA, GvG) and then there are people that actually go on vacation or take a break from GW. So that's a lot of spread out players. And the last part of Faction's has always been pretty barren.

GW isn't dying itself, but the "community" + "teamwork" aspect has been since NF was released, groups have become seperated.

I think "spread out" is an accurate description, and even within outposts you have more of a seperation now; HMers, guild/alliance teams, those who go H/H, and your average (lost, scared and slightly confused) PuG.

It goes without saying really that more people will play again once new content is added (ie, GWEN). Mind you,
everything goes up and down - remember when NF was released and AB was empty?

Lets finally get this clear. You can't see if GW is dying if you base your "low player base" by missions we did 2 years ago. Think about that for a bit would you please? Before making a complete imbecile of yourself.

Unless someone can hack GW and place everyone in the same outpost and same district... you are not going to have any idea of how many people still play... which is alot no doubt. That would have to include the people who are actually PLAYING the game outside of outposts too. Which is comparability large when you include PVP into that too.

Plus no one wants to do a mission, as like myself, with random people because 80% of them give or take are horrible players and pale comparison when it comes to "common" sense which isn't common at all. Let alone rational logistics...

Oh and let me just add that if your guild or friends aren't on as much anymore this doesn't mean the same for the rest of the world. The world doesn't revolve around you, your just riding along with it in the dark.

Guild Wars isn't dying. You want a game that is dying? Go try to get into Auto Assault...

Isnt that already dead? Well i guess it WAS dying.... it just had the life support taken away from it :O

But sadly, GW's life support system is called "titles"

I think it's the spread and addition of heroes that make it seem like there are fewer people playing. You still see the crowds in the major cities. Factions was set up for the PvP fan, with Luxon-v-Kurzick, etc. More people playing Guild Wars are attracted to the pve aspect than before. Prophecies is great for pve if you like that pace, as is Nightfall.

Also, it doesn't help the way the three main areas were designed. Kaineng was designed by a team with ADD. Echovald is a bit too Anne Rice goth(so dark......). I go blind looking at all that Miami jade green in the Jade Sea. They put too much into Factions, and people just go through the missions if they're a sin/rit and need the elites.

I went through three different PUGs in Sebelkeh with my para in a few hours(yes, I did get through it), and that is a mission with no elite caps, as well. So yeah, there is still plenty of interest.

OH NOES!!!!

There's your first problem. When Nightfall came out most people screamed "Cantha is Dead. DEAD I TELLS YA! I've gone to Elona an Burnt all my boats". Generally Cantha is unloved. Personally, I love it. My first character grew up in Cantha, and one of my favourite areas of GW is the City.

It is inevitable that the older games will lose their appeal as newer games come out. My guess would be that Nightfall's towns will depopulate slightly once Eye of the North is released.

I don't think GW is dying...I think the population is just spreading out more and more. Then again, I'm winding down a little until Eye of the North is released, I'm not playing GW quite as much as I used to, and it's kinda come at about the right time since I just moved house and need to get everything organised. Sufficed to say I'll be taking some time off work to give Eye of the North the attention it deserves.

So by ANet's calendar that's the end of 2012?

There've been dozens of these threads. This one is no different. And BTW, there was the double Fame weekend. Many, many people were in HA...even PvEers. It's no wonder you couldn't find a group.

The game ends when you finish the storyline?? Nobody told me that. I thought it just started there.

But then, I tend to treat it more like a toy than a game. How do you finish playing a toy?

I'd say I've had about enough of GW by now, anyway. After 1000 hours, I keep having trouble gathering up the motivation to play more.

One should never limit himself to just one game, or just one book.

GW:EN will rekindle interest but I'll welcome Bioshock and Hellgate London when they hit the shelves. And by the time they are over - Guild wars 2, with an all new engine and storyline will be there, waiting for me.

This may stir the kettle a little bit but here it goes anyways.
If you want a measure of how dead this game is just go to any town that is infested with bots. Take a look at Altrum Ruins in Factions as only one of many examples. If there is a thriving bot community then the game is far from dead.
I will actually start to worry about the game being dead when all the bots dissapear.
This is not a rant about bots or gold sellers. Nor is it in anyway a rant about the way bots are handled by anet. I am simply pointing out that a healthy population of bots means people are still buying gold and that the game is still going strong.

GW kinda got boring for me when heroes were introduced. It really took away
the community aspect of doing missions and so on. I haven't really been on in over 2 months except to login and just see what was going on and since that time I kind of lost interest. I just think the game has serious limitations. It is still a good game but once you have done alot of things in the game already you kinda lose that feeling of wanting to repeat it over and over.