I fear that Anet is abandoning Guild Wars.

I don't pay monthly, so personally I feel that they're not abandoning anything, just giving us exactly what we paid for, no more and no less.

They said they're working on a massive skill + other stuff update. Ursan is just one of the many things that's going to be hit, and if they plan on rocking the game that hard, I can't imagine what else they have planned. So...chiiiill.

I heard Lindsey is coming out with something in a few months being the sole GW designer.

That's because they are. 1 dedicated dev, Regina, and a handful of GWW trolls.

Repeat after me: No new content, no new content, no new content...

I'm re-posting what Free Runner shared with us because, clearly, people are continuing to FALSELY claim there's one developer working on GW1, which is simply not true. So stop spreading the chisme.


As for Utopia...
I am sure that many of us agree that fans would have rather had Utopia in a couple years instead of GW:EN in one year. Ironically, I was the only one at the time bitching at the announcement of GW:EN and GW2 that they weren't finishing Utopia and putting our "grand finale" in that campaign in as epic proportions possible.

Honestly, the Mesoamérica concept art is the best and most inspired that we've seen in any previous installment and, quite honestly, there's so many ways that our "expansion" could have been better expanded upon. While I still play and enjoy GW:EN and parts of the other campaigns, I argue that GW:EN feels like merely an expansion to Prophecies (GW:EN is Inscribed with: "Screw you, Cantha and Elona!"), which makes it feel like an extremely condensed and centralized simplification of the conclusion that Utopia could have been.

The "magical" Asura as we know them are missing the depth in culture that those of apparent Aztec roots seemed to have and the Dwarves seem as dry as they always have and a lame excuse to get rid of the Aztec culture (as I speculate that the Utopian story would have pitted this Aztec culture against the Destroyers instead of these suddenly-allknowing-Dwarves that we currently see). The human cultural design remains the absolute same, which does not reflect the cultural assimilation that they would have experienced merging with other cultural races. Nor does it resonate the concept of refugees who have branched into their own subcultures -- which we DO see in human artwork for Utopia that doesn't look Aztec-inspired, such as swashbucklers and gypsies. The Norn and Charr are probably the best expanded upon in GW:EN, which a shame because they make the game feel the most like an expansion exclusive to Prophecies (besides the geographic location of which the expansion takes place).

Ultimately, GW:EN feels like aNet took the easiest route away from the final product rather than the best route toward the final product and it shows and it is a shame.

Considering that they decided to do GW:EN, and not Utopia, the least they could have done was invest enough time in that give it greater depth. That Cantha and Elona are left out and not expanded upon is awful and that GW2 is going to be a condensed Tyria seems absolutely absurd to me... Almost like the developers are being lazy or are trying to pull back the reigns on something that they can't seem to wrap their heads around ways to make any bigger. In geographical descriptions of GW2, Cantha and Elona are CUT OFF from the centralized action, and Tyria is flooded and changed in ways that seem to put everything in a central location; which is boring and uninspired.

And, quite honestly, the idea of an Ancient mesoaméricana-inspired culture like that we've seen concept art for fighting off the Destroyers (and knowing about the ultimate-threat, which lead to the events of GW2 is much cooler than anything we saw in GW:EN

In my opinion, creating GW2 (and taking place >100 years later) should give aNet the brilliant opportunity to EXPAND upon the GW universe and geography and significance of cultures and depth of story and plot elements in ways that would make the game "the most ultimate Guild Wars experience"... Instead, it sounds like they're making it the ultimate Prophecies sequel and ignoring Factions, Nightfall and what could have been Utopia and losing sight of the big picture; instead, opting to simplify these extensions of GW1 so that people cannot entirely complain at the lame exclusion of their presence.


The best we can hope now... is that a lot of the ideas and themes and cultural inspiration that went into the design elements of Utopia that we have seen will continue to reverberate and be implemented in GW2. I certainly don't know what aNet is doing, but I can almost guarantee that it is nowhere near as immense and powerful as the potential that I can SEE for GW2 (if they would utilize all that they have made available to themselves).

What I don't understand is...

If you guys fell this pissed off and "abandoned", why are you all still here?

Because we hope to make the game *yawn* better. Or maybe that they will get new brains and think about why most of us, complainers, bought the game.

Won't people understand that the multitudes of kinds of "we" means that some people will always QQ, thus generating a bad ambiance? There's the "casual PvE"-we, the "elite PvE"-we, the GvG-we, the HA-we, the HB-we, the "look nice"-we, the trader-we, the title-greedy-we, the lore-we, the anti-title-we, the leave-me-alone-we (and the very famous troll-we!) etc. etc.

Look closely at the thread title and you'll see that there's no real discussion here. Abandoning GW? Closing servers? People loose perspective, and worst of all, people want continuously updated, refreshed and renewed content (more quests, more monsters, more nerf/buff, more balance, more colors, more armors, more more more more) for no monthly-fee. Welcome to the MMO effect.

Who gives a damn what the multitudes think? The playerbase that matters is the one your game caters to, everyone else can be ignored. The best games know what they want to do, and who they want to attract, and do it well.

ArenaNet does not do this, and instead tries to give four million simultaneous handjobs to every player type in existence.

I didn't ask you to, but Anet does. That's why they've created a rich experience that a multitude of people can enjoy. And then there's the ones which want the game to be the way they desire because they think that their vision is much superior to the vision of Anet's designers. I'd rather play with the game that they managed to design, rather than the one that you propose.

Excuse me what experience? You mean mindbreaking, gamepwning and kittenstomping PvE skills, repeated dungeons with crap rewards (few dungeon types/level designs with changed skins...), 6 hours of plot and uhm... no changes to pvp.

I've got a perfect word for it: Fanboy. Blind fanboy.

If you're going to create a game with an economy, you'll have to pay attention to the playerbase that plays the economy. Otherwise, don't make a game with an economy.

If you're going to create a game with pretty "loot", you'll have to pay attention to the power trading players. Otherwise, don't make rare items.

If you're going to have a guilld system, you'll have to pay attention to the GvG'ers. Otherwise, don't make a guild system.

If you're going to make a PvP system, you'll have to pay attention to the HA'ers, the tournament players, and so on. Otherwise, don't make PvP.

If you're going to make a system that isn't 80 levels of eventual 0.01%exp per kill on monsters, which makes for casual player attraction, you'll have to pay attention to them. Otherwise, don't make the system.

Following the pattern? Unless you want a completely stripped down game with one focus area, online games, or more specifically; the MMO/CORPG will continue to have these aspects. The best games, as you put it, are the best because they polish all the edges and they do so because they know the more polished edges means more players. The best games have never focused on one playerbase and completely told the rest to get lost.

Don't get me wrong, Fury tried to do that in many ways, but well...most of us know how wonderful that worked out.




Online gaming has never been a monogamous relationship. That's for console/offline if you want the one on one experience.


As opposed to the generic:

Kill Xnumber of Xmob + Collect * 5 = Complete quest.
Level up.
Lock in points.
Adjust skill tree.
Repair Equipment.
Repeat process for months at a time because I have no choice.
And if you're looking for something special; a gankfest PvP system where there's as much "skill" as Ursan mashing.

Fury didn't die because it tried to cater to one audience. It died because it tried and failed to cater to that audience.

Way to completely misinterpret. Not focusing support is not the same as telling players to get lost. Allowing all types of players it one thing, but trying to develop a game in every direction only ever results in the game being diluted.

How much support have, say, SC, or CS, given to Single-Player gamers? How much focus have they put on competitive play? Are they some of the best games, in terms of longevity, support, and popularity? Without question.

ANet completely alienated the casual player from PvP, and they're doing it in PvE just as much.
They alienated the skilled players, by removing tournament support and allowing imbalances and hilarious junk in PvE. I guess it's an ok game for the dedicated mediocre player, but if ANet really wanted to head in that direction they could do a lot more. Like changing their box art to the World Of Warcraft picture, and hoping to trick people.

If GW as it is was released today, do you think it would be a success? Maybe.

What a massive argument, ouch I'm ... speechless. You may not be a troll but you surely behave like one.

This thread attracts too much intellectual short-sightenedness.

QFT. I wonder the same thing.

Agreed. I tried to start some constructive discussion but, instead of adding to it, the lot of you decided to go back and forth on whether or not aNet is abandoning GW. -_-;;

I know. I used a massive argument, because anything else will be countered. Even if effortlessly. I mean, there is no arguing with fanboys - they can't be convinced. Ever.

Already told you. Doing LALALALA WE CAN'T HIER UUUUU ain't so great.

I'd rather play the game they managed to design 3 years ago...you know, the ORIGINAL design, rather than the current trash it has become in the name of a "rich experience". Instead we have a ridiculously easy game with no depth, no good pvp to speak of, and a game that is selling less and less everyday.

Because its free and something that is incredibly easy to rant about (due to its truthfulness). Face the facts...if this game was pay to play Anet would be out of business because of the way they managed their game.

What I wanna know is why this game was updated for 3 years.

Apart from new content which was nice of them to give us for free youd think they'd have things ironed out a couple months after release and not still balancing and tweaking up to now.

Well whatever they did I hoped they finally figured out what worked and what didnt and apply it to GW2.

Re-skinned Armors.
Mass amounts of re-using areas in dungeons.
Very short campaign.
No imaginative titles.

No it wasn't a good product. That said I did enjoy it like I said but it cannot be called a good expansion by any standards. Except by Sims standards.

We would like to play.

^_^

As to GW:EN: it may have had a handful of reskinned armors, but it also had some of the most intricate new weapons in the game, as well as undeniably the most detailed and (imo) beautiful environments we've seen in GW. Yeah, they reused some rooms in multiple dungeons, that doesn't change the fact that those rooms were goddamn gorgeously made. You could also tell that they put a lot of time into trying to make quests that weren't your standard, "Go here, kill X," quests that we've seen for the past 3 years. I mean, I actually sought out side quests because they were so well written, and normally I'm not terribly keen on them unless there's a good reward in it for me.

Opening post; it's okay, I think ANet isn't abandoning Guild Wars... wait, it is? O.O I don't knows!!

Most of you guys are assuming way too much. All you really know is what the Dev's are telling you and that's it. Your pessimistic and baseless remarks do not add input of any value.

Of course they are abandoning Guild Wars, the first game though, not the franchise. We knew this around the release of EotN.

Does this look like a pay to play game to you?

This is the way the entire world works, just look around.

How i see it:

How often does warcraft get a skill balance?

How often does Age of conan fix a bug?

How much do them companies make a month without doing anything for the customers?

Guild wars is probably the only MMO ive played where the developers actually try to make the game better. The only problem is people have got used to things changing and start whineing for more change.

Anet DOES care, wake up and look at guild wars. Even with the announcement of them working on the sequel, they still give us updates, events and skill balances. I dont see that dedication in other MMOs, even where the players pay monthly. Sure they copy and paste code from previous events... But hey, i dont see WoW getting anything remotley similar, except from holiday events.

$0.02

i agree, but imo, when you're given nothing but the best, you expect the best, and that's no ones fault. GW's has a higher standard, and we're just living by it.

Updates? Like HoM update... oh sorry.
Events? Were there ANY original and not seen before events after EotN release? Nope. I don't count double/triple reputation, because it's just changing from NF areas to EotN areas.
Skill balanced? Oh right. That's why Wounding Strike is still shitpowerful, Me/N's keep everything blinded 24/7, SF nerf killed all non-assassin builds and sins still can farm in UW, ursan is still not nerfed...

Want a game where fixes are every week? Yeah, every. Ragnarok Online - every week they fix/add something, change stuff and try to balance the game. For example, few weeks ago they added repeatable quests, for people that want a bit of fresh air. People still need to kill monsters to gain levels, but at least they don't have to grind your ass on it. And you can't gain max level with those quests, not even close. So helps new players, doesn't hurt old players. Bah, they can sell/give those items needed for quests for profit. And pvp players don't care, because those quests, even if give items, they aren't worth a crap (some potions), so someone that leveled to 60-70 using only quests has probably much weaker equipment than someone that leveled normally.

I see a game, that I wouldn't touch with a 7 meter long pole 3 years ago.

Your arguing for arguments sake. Im sure hardly any of us would have started playing if we had foreseen the grindfest ahead of us. But read the dev notes

Anet is planning something, thats why we haven't had a recent update. Just sit tight and let them do their thing. Surely they have realized by now, they cant just give us nothing until GW2 comes out, it would be stupid to even believe such a thing. They aren't going to abandon a game that carries 75% of there potential customers for their next product, regardless of how selfish and bean counting Anet has been made out to be, i have faith that we will have a nice update soon. Its just a matter of waiting and enjoying what we have

I see a bad game that has: Skill balances lacking balancing. Look at how long Wounding Strike and SoH / Conjure stacking have existed. Infact, usually it was every week, now it's every month with barely anything in it. Plus there's UB / VB / RB that completely derive three things that the game promised, and allowed grind to give benefits. However little, the benefit is still powered on grind.

Oh, and there were tons of bugs which took around three years to fix.

This game has gone great to bad to worse.

It could be as simple as Guild Wars 1 doesn't need that many updates anymore. Guild Wars 1 is what it is at this point and I don't see much changing in the future either. The game is still fun, it's very playable and many people still play the game everyday. What more do people want ?

they'll reappear when theres a new product to be bought

in the meantime, njoi ur neglect

Yeah. Soon = 2 more months? No, wait, more like 3.

Can't. Pve boring and lacking challenge, pvp imbalanced.

CHAAAALLEEEENGEEEEE. And balance.

Yet, people are still playing it. And enjoying it. I know I am, even after 3 years.

Sure, I like to rant at Anet for not fixing bugs too, but I know it won't help a thing.

People are playing? That explains a lot, I mean out of 70 friends on f list, only 4-5 are active. And not just on my list.

Or that a lot of people on Guru that registered LONG time ago still have old titles. They never logged back after some point.
Or that in general less people are playing. In a 63 people guild, only 10 are usually active, most afking ;d

Oh, and playing and enjoying =/= afking or afk playing festival games or HFFFing.

I still play it too, despite the fact this game degenerated. What's your point?

If anet was abandoning GWs we wouldn't have updates at all. At least we are still getting something, whether it's every few weeks or a month. Can you imagine how hard it must be to balance everything and add new things with only a few developers working on GW1? Also balance things and add new things in away that would make everyone happy. Can you imagine how hard it would be to balance something in the game with 50,000 views on it. No matter what Anet does they end up pissing a group off.

Give them time. Once they get GW2 up off the ground, to where they don't need pretty much the entire team to work on it you'll see more GW1 updates. They can't exactly just hire an entirely new team to manage GW1 or develop GW2.

Well yeah when people are use to getting updates like every week or two, practically nobody is willing to adjust to updates every month. They said that they had a few new things in development for GW1 that they haven't been able to work on. But with only few dedicated developers for GW1, it's going to take a while. Anet needs time.

I want to see you in there trying to code new events without much help constantly, but also have to make them so they are compatible with the guild wars 1 engine. Believe it or not, Anet is limited in what they can do right now. Their current game engine doesn't allow to much customization. Believe it or not, do-able ideas can run short pretty quick. Don't forget the fact that you'll have thousands of people flaming you if they don't like the event.

In short, Anet isn't abandoning guild wars 1. Anet abandoning GW1 is just an assumption made because we are getting less updates. Even though it's obvious they only have a few people dedicated to GW1, and they have another game in the development. If they want to get GW2 out when they say it should be out, they are going to need pretty much the entire team to work on it.

Also if you guys are mad at how Anet is handling things, why are you still here? There are loads of other games out there to play. If you think Anet is abandoning GWs and are unhappy about not getting updates every week or to, leave. As simple as that. Just like people that say 'Guild Wars is the dumbest game ever', why play then? I don't see any point in playing a game that you dislike whether it's free to play or not.

I thought only Izzy did the skill balancing.

I thought skill balances weren't always shitty and delayed. They didn't used to be.

Can you imagine trying to balance a skill that pleases as many people as possible. It's not easy. You have some people that are like 'I like this nerf, didn't mess me up at all', then you have other people that are like 'omg this is the worst nerf ever, I'm quitting! #$%&$'. And then you have the people that think a skill should do this, and then people that think a skill should do that.

I'm their customer. It's not MY job to tell them what I would like to have. That's *cough cough* useless *cough cough* community manager's job to view forums and look what people want, why they are upset or what they don't like.

You like to suffer and play on 1k ping ;d But yeah, agree.

Lol @ that. Last update was July 10th that screwed up with assassins, made Dervish A BIT weaker (dervishes just boosted Wind Prayers a bit), fixed graphical bugs that are 3 years old, didn't fix Me/N although tried, Me/Mo's just changed elite to SoJ and still pwn with D/E using conjures. Yay. And update before that, July 2nd screwed up with balanced UW groups, A/E's just change build to a bit slower and everything else using /A got screwed up too.

And before that JUNE 12th. Yay.

If this isn't abandoned game that has only one semi-active skill balancer, worthless community manager and one or two more unknown members of a.net crew, then my name is Elvis Jagged Abdul'Jabbar.

Lack of community relations. And balancing means nerfing overpowered skills (WS, SoM, conjure stacking), but also buffing useless skills ([I Meant to do That], [Pain of Disenchantment], a lot of Mesmer skills in pve) and balancing others (URSAN BLESSING).

Oh, because balance revolves around opinions? No. It revolves around keeping teams equal in power and the game not degenerating into build wars, while also preventing skills being too powerful.