What Brought About The Downfall of Guild Wars

Things in my mind and in a few friends on what has, over the years helped to bring about the downfall of our beloved Guild Wars. Feel free to add your takes whatever they may be.

1. Selective Salvaging. The ability to choose what you want to salvage from weapons, armor, drops, etc. This had a huge impact on the GW economy, driving down prices on just about everything, from perfect Fortitudes and Sundering to Superior Vigor runes and all runes in general. You could sell a perfect +30 sword hilt for 30k minimum and Superior Vigors were sold for over 90k at the trader. Now it's pathetic.

2. Assassins. Some claim that the introduction of the Assassin is also a major reason. With many abilities that weren't balanced for far too long and left to dominate many builds for overfarming. I guess the same could be said for the 55 monks that dominated solo farming for so long, but then you were limited to being a monk at least and could still be killed by simple mistakes.

3. Heroes. Plain and simple. A vast majority of people will play only with their heroes and will not group with other people. To many out there that actually want to group up out there, it is getting harder to find a group of real people. Causing alot of anti-socializing out there. A suggestion for this would be to not allow people to add henchmen to their group if they already have heroes in it, or to only allow a smaller number into the group ala HoH.

4. Loot Scaling. You know you miss those days when all drops were yours to be had. It was an honest way of farming and making some extra coin for yourself. You didn't have to spend trip after trip to fill up your inventory, it was done in 1 run. Those white drops added up when it came time to merch them.

5. PvE Skills. Face it, these skills are meant for PvE only for a reason. But to help make the general aspect of the game even easier? No wonder alot of people think PvE is too easy. Some of these skills should probably be classified as elite due to their power, or only allow 1-2 equipped instead of the 3 that can be equipped now. Killing a high level Infernal Wurn with a single cast of Pain Inverter may look pretty cool, but like I said, it makes it too easy.

6. Consumables. This is just plain dumb. Sure alcohol and sweets are a good thing. They didn't give you any advantage over the game. But all of the GWEN consumables do.


This thread is not meant to be a PvE vs PvP flame war, but a discussion on what people think is at fault.
These are only examples that I listed here. They are meant to be an opening of a discussion of what many people may think that may be at fault. Whether anyone agrees with me or not is not really the point. The point is, what do you think is the cause? And why?

3yrs and i still have yet to see this "downfall" you speak of.

1, 3 and 4 are pro's. 5 and 6 are shit and agreeable with. 2 could've been awesome in another world, but not in GW's world.

Don't think they all brought upon GW's downfall, though.

Everything you mentioned, plus lackluster end-game content.

We never even saw the three remaining Realms of the Gods.

PvE was never really meant to have an endgame. From the start it's been "play through once, yer dun!" Granted there are things you could go back and accomplish, but GW's PvE was never meant to hold you.

But I will add that to things that have hurt GW: Treating it like and demanding features prominent in an MMO.

@Below: Yesssss

Time..................

Does this mean I can plug my doomsday thread here?

yawn, always the same moans, the same QQ, has been of more than one thread with this topic

btw i bet you NEVER use your heros, consumables or your PVE skills because you dont want to contribute to the downfall of GW and like you said this is bad, BAD things.

am i right? huh? am i?

Wrong, it was "play through once and then keep playing it for lucky pvp unlocks". That was the state the game was released in.
But the pvp community (rightfully) complained that a random factor doesn't belong into esports and got their Balthazar faction.

All that has little to do with it. The simple fact is that there's no new content so there's no reason for most people to keep playing since there hasn't been any news about the increasingly vaporware-ish Guild Wars 2.

LOTRO is releasing the Mines of Moria expansion next month, so I went back to it. What's Guild Wars got coming up? New titles or silly weekend events?

There's no persistent world, no new content, no real endgame content, the PvP is largely dominated by elite players now and inaccessible to newer people, and even the grinds are pointless: who needs to grind for a new faction skill when there's nowhere to use it?

They took a linear, single-player game and added an online component, and it has run its course liek a single-player game with an online component.

You can't keep a game running when it never changes. People get bored with it and leave.

Where is Regina, anyways? You'd think she'd work for her salary...

Are you kidding? That was one of the best things ever to happen to this game!

In summation, more campaigns led to imbalanced PvP and more grindy PvE, and in response to that, ANet decided to stop talking to its players so much, further screwing over the game design.

GW2 is also indirectly bringing down OGW through EotN and the HoM and the mindset of grinding titles in PvE, as well as taking attention away from properly balancing PvP and making it truly competitive again.

Originally, Guild Wars was going to have a new expansion every 6 months. They had 2 teams working on these expansions, so each of these would have a total of 1 year to develop the content.

Anet realized that what players wanted was more than what GW1 could offer and decided to release EOTN as an addon and concentrate their efforts to GW2. It is true that GW1 without new content has become stale but all of us knew this and in a way agree to wait for the new and improved GW2.

I for one, keep playing mostly in weekens and I do this to keep in contact with my guild and my aliance. My Guild members play daily and we have a few that are new to GW and in a way they make the game new to us since we help them with missions and take them to the elite areas.

We all plan to move together to the new GW2 and we all hope that all this waiting and secrecy regarding GW2 is worth the wait.

It is my "CHOICE" to wait and to play and to go and play other games while GW2 is released.

It is "your" choice to wait or not. You will still have the chance to return to GW2 like everyone else once is released.


this is only my two cents.

I don't think she actually contributes to the downfall of GW.

GW is just a finite game and people have to know when to move on, however pve skillz were complete crap and should be removed from the game. Consumables should be more expensive so people don't use them like water.

Er, no. I didn't agree to wait for anything, and I won't. If there's nothing new and I'm tired of doing the old stuff, I'm going to go do something else. Now, if ANET wants my money for GW2, they need to peel me not away from Guild Wars, but from another game offering me what I want.

They screwed the pooch on this. They should never have stopped developing content altogether for the existing game. Now people are getting bored with the title and rep grinds and leaving for other games, and to get that money back, they're going to have to compete with those other games rather than their own, outdated product.

Again, no. At this point, GW2 can't really ride Guild Wars' coattails. It's going to have to compete - for me anyway - with LOTRO or some other game, not the old Guild Wars.

As I said at the end of my post :

It had a good beginning, but the live development was awful and underwhelming all the time, which made it hated.

It's hard to explain without a billion details, but it's like GW is this really nice new thing you get, and you're impressed. You think it's slick, and well-made and that it will never fall below it's potential. Then it breaks a couple weeks after you've started using it. You're surprised. You send it in for repairs, and are sure it will come back great and you'll use it for a long time. Then it breaks again after a couple weeks. You're starting to get frustrated. This thing could be so good but why does it always screw up on you? You send the manufacturer loads of ideas, sure that they'll listen. You even realize there's forums where thousands of other people are doing the same thing. They all see it... this is a good thing but it shouldn't have those few fatal flaws. Unfortunately, the maker never really gets beyond the problem. (I mean look today and there's still no auction house, static ancient endgame, hardly popular PVP...) Then what happens next... they announce a new version is coming. You already bought a ton of upgrades to try and get them to fix the last one, so this is a bit strange. And then you finally realize... oh, I get it, I'm a fool with my money. And move on.

yea i think its been a little over two or three weeks since ive anyone has heard from her, but most of this does make a little sense as to the downfall of the game, but i have to point the direction to another place as well. When EotN came out and announcement of GW2 was the big hype, the long wait time was promised to be filled with interesting and fun things for us to do until that time. So far, we havent really been that wowed with the Bonus Mission Pack, M.O.X., and the large updates over the past recent months. I believe that this lack of things to do and the easy storyline of EotN has caused people to look for other online MMORPG games, one big one is Warhammer. I have talked to alot of people who are currently playing that game that used to play GW, and i get the response that many got tired with GW after EotN was beat, but are simply waiting for GW2 to come out while playing something other than GW for awhile.

So for some of us who are gonna stick it out in GW until the day arrives, i guess we are just gonna have to put up with lack of people online, or follow the warband that has gone to Warhammer and WoW.

i dont really think GW is dying or dead, but its just in a slump, we'll have our rebounds during the events and such. I think the time we really see GW goes down is when GW2 comes out .

#3, has always been a problem, ever since Nightfall came out, people took heroes over henchies because they could choose their skills, and before that people took henchies over people. But i can sypathize with people over this fact, most people probably dont wanna go with other people because you dont know what kinda player that person is. Most people probably dont know that Heroes and henchies also kill the drops you get, so its better to take people, most people dont know that. Now with the lack of people playing, its harder to get a group together to do anything in PvE, forming groups is more of a PvP thing. Its good that Guild Wars is solving this problem by making it possible to meet and add people to your party while out in an exporable area, much like most MMORPGs.

#1, i dont think this ever affected the economy, i believe this was a combination of overfarming, gold buyers, and drops.

sharks with freaking lazors on their heads..

but seriously for me the only thing ruining the game is the fact that ive played it to much.

I see they sky is falling again.

most of what you listed where good for the game. If you are bored of the game after this long (which is understandable) then take a break. do not try to convince others there is a problem with a game they still enjoy, just go.

Essentially, yeah, she does, because she's supposed to be the link between the community and the developers. If she isn't doing her job by communicating between the two groups, then she's indirectly contributing to the downfall of the community's impression of herself, OGW, GW2, and anything else associated with OGW.

The fact they don't listen to what their community wants most, favoring the stupid ideas over the logical ones.

And, the level 20 cap.

Wait, what's the flaw in this core mechanic that's been established since the beginning of GW?

This was the first thing that crossed my mind.
Then I remembered that I only went though GWEN once - despite other chapters keeping me busy for ages!
So I'd modify the "no new content" to "no new GOOD content".

GWEN - GW's legacy wasn't a bang.
It was a stinker.

I understand the QQ' ers on this subject. I have been involved in a lot of types of gaming over many years and know what the problem is here. Most people have a 2 year threshold when it comes to ANY game. Guild wars is 3 years old and without expansion titles to bring in new players it has become old. ANET's only fault in this is abandoning new expansions in lieu of a whole new game. Without new content holding on to their fanbase is daunting at best. GW2 may very well be the answer when it comes, but for the now, you have the grind. I will not fault the game, community or ANET for any of this. It is free to log on and THAT was the truly revolutionary aspect to GW. No monthly fee makes it hard to quit lol. Guildwars has been an awesome game that simply has run it's course for most. As for consumables salvaging etc. I would hasten to add that truly new players needed the crutches added in Nightfall and GWEN to catch up with the rest of you. Just for the fact a player was one of the first to be on the game does not mean they get to rule the game economy and shut out nOObs. Another ANET innovation which has truly made the game great.

Anet is probably one of the companies that listen most to their customers..since i've been on this forum, a lot of things that players suggested got implemented..the problem is that, give a man a hand..and he will take your whole arm..people seem to forget that guild wars is their product..sometimes i think Anet should be more strict like blizzard and make their own choices instead of always listen to whiny kids...Blizzard wont do shit if you complain..they will probably spit on your face..since they will always tell you "this is our product we will do it as we see it"...sometimes been to soft is a bad thing, just like with girls...sometimes a company has to show who's da boss!

yea i dont really understand that level cap.

Most people complained about the level 20.

Then when they announced a higher level cap or no cap, people got excited.

Then they said there will be no cap, people got pissed.

Is there even a game out there that has no cap? i would think a no cap would be good.

So are they basing this supposed "downfall" on less and less people playing? It's been said, but time is the main reason, people have done it all and are waiting for GW2, most of the people that have left is for that reason, getting bored doing the same things. There are a few that left because of this change or that change or they want everything they ask for implemented no matter how ridiculous or whatever. But mostly just no new content and people are waiting on GW2.

But you can say whatever you want, but no downfall has happened. Can't make it so because someone says it.

If Guild Wars ever did have downfall, it was caused by time and other games...

Guild Wars was and still is a tremendous success.

There has been some new content released, the new weapons, the everlasting tonics, MOX and the Fire Imp, but thats it. Thats all the Guild Wars Team has given the players to stave off the 1 year of waiting for GW2 and we still have to wait 1 more year (maybe more). I dont think we are expecting a new expansion, but something than just the baby stuff we been given over time.

But since we are on the subject of new content, what would you like to see as far as new content in the game while we wait for GW2?

1. GW has been "dying for 3 years" according most people. To me GW has been and remains a great sucess. Sure some problems have arisen but they are slowly worked out.

2. Lets not turn this into a "GW needz moar levels so I can show how leet I am" thread. Level 20 is perfect, if you want more leveling, and this has been said a million times before, go play an MMO ala WoW.

3. I am certain that most people who say GW has "become fail" and that the developers "are shit" are merely bored and should go get a life/play another game.

Exactamondo. It's all about the Game Life Cycle, and your interest level. Any game is never going to stay statically-perfect, frozen in time.

I believe this is the obvious answer. Piggybacking Ctb, when no new content is released, people tend to leave the game when they reach, "the end".

The lack of info pertaining to GW2, even screenshots of any kind, is also disheartening to a lot of the people who have stuck through and kept playing since EotN and the GW 2 announcement.

I don't really think heroes or selective salvaging really caused any downfall... Possibly some overpowered builds, (55'ing's just creative use of mechanics and equips though =p) and overpowered PvE skills...But the main issue is that of one pertaining to "new" content coming. We've been in a dry period for quite some time, and we're unhappy that our rain dances haven't been appeasing the gods at Anet to shower us with info.

topics like this.... yes i said it.
If you think the game is going down hill then how are you helping? Just play the game if you think its fun like games are supposed to be

i would say the Announcement of guild wars 2 they should have finished utopia and then waited 6 months and then announced guildwars2

Doomsday is when they flip the switch to off on the servers, and as of yet has not been announced. All products have a life cycle guild wars is just starting the declining phase.

You're all acting as if Guild Wars is a country, or a real human being. Stop QQ'ing, it's a game for god's sake, and a game which has had a great run. If you're so pissed off about Anet doing this, or the economy being ruined by that, stop playing! You all lead real lives (I hope).. Tend to them for a bit, then come back when GW 2 arrives. You'll be happy once again for another two years or so, until the GW2 QQ'ing threads begin again. Cycle is repeated

Allow me... 3,2,1 /closespike

Next one is: Lacking decent skill balances, Nightfall.

There are many things that can be said and have been said about players leaving the game. In the end, one major cause of this was that the game was no longer about discovery but about exploitation of what was known.

When you play a game through for the first time you have the excitement of discovery. Getting good drops for the first time, finishing missions, winning halls, playing high ranked guilds, climbing the ladder in GvG. But eventually you've done everything and there are no new discoveries to make.

At this point you exploit what is known. You learn how to beat the same missions more efficiently, farm gold faster, abuse broken skills and PvP game mechanics. But this just probably can't hold players forever. There is no substitute for playing a game through for the first time. Other games or non-gaming pursuits lure people away because they have something new to offer. Finally, the announcement of GW2 meant that no new content was forthcoming. There was nothing new to look forward to, just exploiting the old.