Solo, Groups. Casual, Hardcore. Can Anet give the best of both worlds?

Gattocheese

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: May 2007

New Mexico

GWEN

wrong area sorry

Craywulf

Craywulf

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2007

Righteous and Honorable (RAH)

N/Me

No game can, so to think Guild Wars suffers this problem alone is sure sign of lack of gaming experience. All ArenaNet can do is try to find the middle ground without making another run-of-the-mill MMORGP.

Its not easy trying to please such a broad base of gamers, because one demographic contradicts the other. Casual gamer is complete opposite of a hardcore gamer, just as soloing is on the other spectrum of group play.

Striking a middle ground can make both sides of the equation unappealing to the respective gamer. I think for the most part ArenaNet has done a great job keeping the game balanced. There are few things they've changed that have created both enhancement and yet more division with its demographics, most notably the inclusion of Heroes has eliminated the need to engage any interaction with other players.

darkknightkain

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2007

P/W

I think the whole point of trying to find middle ground is root of the problem.
The game is based off instancing anyways.
Instead of forcing upon things that the players may not necessary want, why not just let the players customize the game themselves?

ie.
difficulty: Beginner -> Easy -> Normal -> Hard -> Ex-Hard
partysize: 10 -> 8 -> 6 -> 4 -> 1
heroes: 7 allowed -> 5 allowed -> 3 allowed -> 1 allowed -> no heroes
... and etc.