GW2. Was it a mistake to announce?

headlesshobbs

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2006

Ok I have a serious topic here to bring up.

When Anet decided it was time to start working on the next game, we already took that as a sign this one wasn't going to be around much longer and for obvious reasons. The main thing is the dev team will no longer focus on expanding or trying to make real improvements while the community either waits out doing something else or migrating to other games such as Aion.

I'm quite disappointed with this overall. Take a good look at Warcraft, sure they're our primary competitor, but they're still on the same game and after having only 2 expansions they're still going strong due to the fact that the support team is able to keep things updated with new content and all kinds of perks. Look at Everquest, they have 8... 12... god knows how many expansions they've gone through and they were able to focus on the original for several years before finally deciding it was time to move on. So how do we compare?

3 campaigns, 1 mashed down to an expansion, very minor updates and a team that could have continued to build on this for a few more years, yet they decided to dump early and make way for the next chapter. Truth be told If any development for GW2 were held back at least another 3-5 years, who knows just how much better this one would have been and maybe for once it would grow to be on level with Blizzard's offering.

Overall Anet has proven to be it's own kind of monster.

Your thoughts?

Nomme Moon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2007

Yes. I've completely given up on both GW and GW2 out of sheer boredom. Arenanet is out of their minds if they expect to hold on to their community for this long.

/thread

Winterclaw

Winterclaw

Wark!!!

Join Date: May 2005

Florida

W/

They had to announce it eventually. If a year had passed without an expansion or any reason the fans would have gotten angry. However Anet failed to stay on the good side of the fans by failing to provide any major and substantial updates, nor did they finish their last campaign, Utopia in order to give us something to do. They still haven't even finished GWEN.

Arkantos

Arkantos

The Greatest

Join Date: Feb 2006

W/

They had to explain why there would be no more campaigns/expansions. GW2 was released in 2007. It's now mid 2009. If they didn't announce it, do you know how pissed off the community would be? It's almost been 2 years since the last expansion. They couldn't have just said 'we're working on something huge, but you have to wait another few years to find out'. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Brianna

Brianna

Insane & Inhumane

Join Date: Feb 2006

The real problem is people keep expecting these magical updates on GW2 when it should have just been left at the fact that they're making it.

You can't just shit out a good MMO in 1-2 years.

Lishy

Lishy

Forge Runner

Join Date: Jan 2008

Look how huge Guild Wars Prophecies is.
Obviously Gw2 takes years to produce if the original GW was so huge.

They want to bypass our expectations. And the GW community is too spoiled to realize it.

Expherious

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Dec 2007

Wolfenstein Fuel Dump

Melandru's Elite Hunters [Hunt]

D/

IMO it was a good move because they saw into the future, would any of us still be playing if they had not announced it?

I think the market would have crashed for GW, all thats left to do is PvP and title grind and they saw that coming, no matter how experienced you think you are at GW they are always 1 step ahead of us, ALWAYS.

wilebill

wilebill

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Dec 2005

Mt Vernon, Ohio

Band of the Hawk

W/Mo

There is nothing wrong about announcing GW2. Nothing wrong with keeping details secret, either. Perfectly normal procedure for any studio.

Further, ANet has done a lot with GW. Special events, the recent additions to gameplay.

True, they did not do all they might have done if they had had the huge amount of money that NCSoft threw away down the Tabula Rasa rat hole. With that money they might have finished GWEN, yes. But that's all water under the bridge.

Devoting their resources to GW2 is a strategic decision that I think will pay off in the end. Meanwhile, there is the meanwhile and no way to shorten it.

Nerel

Nerel

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2008

Australia, what you want my home address?

[CAT]

Mo/

The long period of abandonment for GW1, between the announcement of GW2 and it's (eventual) release is pretty hard, the lack of information and detail on the progress of GW2 does nothing to fill the void.

Obviously they hadn't planned on leaving us waiting this long between the final chapter of GW1 and the release of GW2 (Beta in 2008, anybody?) but still they should have either finished GW1 with far more content to tide us over (GW: Utopia), or allowed for a larger live team to keep things interesting, perhaps even brought back some big tournaments of yesteryear.

Failing actually delivering content in GW1, then throw us a few morsels on GW2... more concept art, screen shots of creatures, armor skins... anything, give us more information about the way PvP is being implemented, or the value of working on our HoMs.

Anything really, throw us a bone...

Zinger314

Zinger314

Debbie Downer

Join Date: May 2006

N/Me

Guild Wars would be dead if ArenaNet did announce GW2.
Guild Wars would be dead if ArenaNet didn't announce GW2.

zwei2stein

zwei2stein

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jun 2006

Europe

The German Order [GER]

N/

No.

Lack of additional campaigns would make people speculate about anet going belly-up and similar stuff.

Just imagine what would it be if they said "No more campaigns. PS: don't expect much of anything that would require dev work."

Gigashadow

Gigashadow

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Aug 2005

Bellevue, WA

W/

I think GW2 ended up taking a lot longer than they thought, but by the time they realized that (or changed their plans and decided to make it a bigger game), they had passed the point of no return where it didn't make sense to take resources off GW2 to go back and develop a new GW1 campaign.

shoyon456

shoyon456

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2006

D/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zinger314 View Post
Guild Wars would be dead if ArenaNet did announce GW2.
Guild Wars would be dead if ArenaNet didn't announce GW2.
This. GW2 isn't the mistake, YET because we don't know anything about the game. The announcement was inevitable, but failnet's subsequent management of GW1 is where the shortcommings are.

They should have subcontracted GW1 out, since obviously it is too much of a hassle for anet to do anything effectively while producing GW2. And hey, who cares who they subcontract it out to, obviously they don't even give a 2 cents about it or balance, and when they do it takes half a year to nerf something that should have never allowed to live for more than a few weeks.

GW2 announcement hurt player confidence in the point of playing GW1, but what hurt it more (totally my opinion), was the grind tied with eotn, skills/farming going unchecked like ursan, late, buggy, and nonexistent updates, and the staleness that has occurred because there are no resources for new content. Im now thinking that if they subcontracted to a very capable company, combined with the BMP they probably could have gotten away without any GW2 talk for at least 6 months. But rumors would have flown like crazy b/c of the HoM, so that would have forced some kind of info.

arcanemacabre

arcanemacabre

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Feb 2006

North Kryta Province

Angel Sharks [As]

The biggest failing wasn't the announcement of GW2 or even the ceasing of full chapters. It is entirely due to Anet's idea of focusing 95% on GW2 and only 5% (if that) on the existing game.

If there was much more focus and understanding on what the HoM will really accomplish in GW2, as well as a constant flow of new content (even paid content, such as in the form of more expansions like EotN), GW1 wouldn't die, even after GW2 is released.

The paltry content we get now tastes like the last few drops of water in an empty canteen in the middle of the Sahara.

RolandXiom

RolandXiom

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jul 2009

E/Me

First post lol

Announcing something does not kill the other thing. They are two different games. And it is hard to compare one to the other.

I think the new team is doing a great job with the updates actually. High Levels players are now getting their butts kicked in areas they once owned, the way it should have been all along. Take for example the last Dragon festival. I think the new masks make up for the stupid "RUDI" mask from Wintersday.

All I hope is they do not tinker with what makes GW a great game in the first place. Many old school MMO players will remember the Asherons Call 2 fiasco. Which caused the death of the original game. And the entire franchise as a whole. Which is sad really considering in all actuality what a great game AC was.

I have faith in the development team...

But do I really.. REALLY want to play as an asuran?... I think not lol lets hope they fix the "announced" races list and then go from there.

So should they have held back? I think we need something soon. At least a teaser but as with most companies we will get it when somethings ready.But GW moves on as it always has. lol

That's a good thing =)

Gennadios

Gennadios

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2009

N/A

Lately I've been bouncing between thinking that the complete lack of information is a business decision related to keeping competition away from Aion, and thinking that GW2 just may be a company destroying, Tabula Rasa style time bomb that Anet is trying to keep blanketed to milk GW for all the worth it has left.

Either way, announcing GW2 was a good decision, GW just wouldn't be as active if there wasn't the carrot of GW2 leading most of us to furnishing our HoMs.

I do agree /w shoyon however that my confidence in GW2 IS somewhat shaken because EotN was billed as not just a bridge, but as a proof of concept for GW2. All that proof of concept seemed to show me was that GW2 will widen the gap between PvP and PvE players by splitting skills and dumbing down PvE with a steady stream of over powered grind skills to keep the the tards that can't put together a good build happy.

psycore

psycore

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

all good things take time. how about you go and do something else and come back when gw2 is out.

Nerel

Nerel

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Jun 2008

Australia, what you want my home address?

[CAT]

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gennadios View Post
Either way, announcing GW2 was a good decision, GW just wouldn't be as active if there wasn't the carrot of GW2 leading most of us to furnishing our HoMs.
You mention a carrot, and yet I neither see, smell nor taste carrot. Just having ArenaNet yell "carrot!" and disappear does not provide incentive, I want to see the carrot, I want to savor the expectation that I might one day be able to taste that carrot dammit!

The carrot is a lie.

Neo Nugget

Neo Nugget

Site Contributor

Join Date: Jan 2006

R/

Nope, don't think so. I really don't think it would have mattered if GW2 was announced yesterday, it's still years away.
And, in my opinion, i'd rather have it come out in 2012 than 2008, that way they can make the game better, and not end up being a huge dissapointment.

upier

upier

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Done.

[JUNK]

Quote:
Originally Posted by psycore View Post
all good things take time. how about you go and do something else and come back when gw2 is out.
Yeah.
Or stick with the new thing once GW2 comes out.

On-topic:
I find myself caring less and less.
It's their salary.

Sarevok Thordin

Sarevok Thordin

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2006

Scotland

W/N

No.

What IS a mistake is not releasing any more info about GW2

draxynnic

draxynnic

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2005

[CRFH]

As people have already said... ANet was really caught between a rock and a hard place with the GW2 announcement. They probably would have LIKED to keep it secret until they could do a huge Blizzard-style announcement, but the natives had already noticed the C4 deadline had well and truly slipped.

It probably would have been better if they had arranged a bigger and earlier Live Team and continued publishing content, but I expect there's a reason (not necessarily a good one, and possibly related to other failed NCSoft games at the time) they didn't.

Arduin

Arduin

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

The Netherlands

Limburgse Jagers [LJ]

R/

According to Anet, the 6-months-a-chapter, with 2 new Professions, hundreds of skills and so on just didn't cut it anymore. Balancing got too tedious. Also, they wanted to implement stuff (don't know what), but that just wasn't possible with the GW engine. Therefore GW was aborted, and GW2 was started.

So sure, WoW and Everquest keep getting updated, but those are in essence different games. With monthly fees to boot, as to enable a steady income.

It's a good thing GW2 was announced this early. Knowing GW is now Anets second choice, I can safely leave this game, only to return with a nice big update, or even GW2.

cosyfiep

cosyfiep

are we there yet?

Join Date: Dec 2005

in a land far far away

guild? I am supposed to have a guild?

Rt/

Yes, it was the only way they could pass off the 'expansion'....with its half finished story line, duplicative armor and reused dungeons (and gee they should really finish the ebon areas too)....
they should have taken extra time to finish gwen, then waited a few months THEN announced gw2 (at which time they could have also announced the HoM...finished).

but thats all water under the bridge...cant take it back (but they really could finish gwen)

distilledwill

distilledwill

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2006

Blighty

The Legion of the Blue Blade

R/Mo

Its a shame, I've ordered Aion and its looking really good. GW2 is gonna have to blow my socks off to tear me away from it, i think.

daraaksii

daraaksii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Oct 2005

That was the only way for them to keep some more playerbase.

Abedeus

Abedeus

Grotto Attendant

Join Date: Jan 2007

Niflheim

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by daraaksii View Post
That was the only way for them to keep some more playerbase.
Or, you know, making a new chapter, like they promised in the times of Prophecies and Factions.

QueenofDeath

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2009

Also keep in mind that an Everquest expansion will last a lot longer than a Guild Wars expansion as you don't go romping through any EQ content like you can Guild Wars. I played EQ for nearly five years and never saw it all. I played Guild Wars for all of its years now and have seen it all way too many times. It's boring now. The content is boring, and the loot content is boring. I've long since moved to playing many other games now whereas with EQ you couldn't pry me away from that game until the money ran out. Yeah unemployment sucks even back then.

Socrates The Mauler

Academy Page

Join Date: Oct 2006

W/Mo

Recently I've seen the layout for classes in Aion. This diagram looks Exactly like the back of every Magic: The Gathering card ever made.





Now, Aion might not have the synergy depicted on the back of a magic card, but one thing is clear: These fools have zero originality. They simply use the content of another game and re hash it for their own game. They might as well take out a license from Wizards and slap their logo on the box, might as well draw an animated pair of hands holding skill icons where the skill bar is.

If Aion continues to rip off guild wars, which is in itself a rip off of Magic, I see no reason why GW2 should be any different.

When I started this game I was expecting deep and continuing content. Heck, I was expecting user made mods a la Oblivion. I was expecting more than what I would find in a single player RPG. Over 4 years later, I still have only 6 titles maxed.

The Magic concept is totally played out. It's 16 years old now, and Anet knows nothing more than this.

I only play GW now because nothing free has come along to replace it yet. GW2 had better blow my mind, cuz I won't be playing a 20 year old concept, free or not.

Avarre

Avarre

Bubblegum Patrol

Join Date: Dec 2005

Singapore Armed Forces

How is offensive physical / support physical / offensive caster / support caster a rip off of M:tG.

Rocky Raccoon

Rocky Raccoon

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2007

Massachusetts, USA

Guardians of the Cosmos

R/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Avarre View Post
How is offensive physical / support physical / offensive caster / support caster a rip off of M:tG.
So true, all games have only so many variations to work with as far as professions go, they are all go to have similarities.

Ravious

Ravious

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Mar 2006

Servants of Fortuna

N/Mo

There are two problems, really rolling in to one, that IMHO created the negativity we see on active forums:

(1) They not only said they were working on GW2, but they discussed some features, lore, gameplay mechanics, etc., and

(2) Mid-development they decided to go from a damn near imminent beta to silence.

Now (1) is not a huge deal if things are coming, and when they released that initial influx of interviews, magazines, etc. their plan was to have things happening (like beta) very soon. However, (2) happened, which is also not a bad thing. More polish, more time, more content = better game. It was, IMHO, the combination of (1) and (2) that is creating much of the negativity because we were teased with some information, some dates, and then changeup and silence.

damkel

damkel

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2005

W/

Quote:
Originally Posted by headlesshobbs View Post
....I'm quite disappointed with this overall. Take a good look at Warcraft, sure they're our primary competitor, but they're still on the same game and after having only 2 expansions they're still going strong due to the fact that the support team is able to keep things updated with new content and all kinds of perks. Look at Everquest, they have 8... 12... god knows how many expansions they've gone through and they were able to focus on the original for several years before finally deciding it was time to move on. So how do we compare?
You are comparing the content updates of GW to that of Wow and Everquest.

That's entirely unfair and idiotic

Both of those games have a monthly subscription.

draxynnic

draxynnic

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Nov 2005

[CRFH]

You're really stretching if you're claiming those are identical.

The Aion class system looks like it has more in common with the D&D division of heavy warrior, sneaky-type, divine spellcaster and arcane spellcaster. I'd certainly love to see your theory as to how the different Magic colours align with nonmagical classes.

Now, there may be analogues among the spellcasting class with the Magic colours, but if Magic was indeed the first to use the five-colour system, it was only through the codification of existing tropes - the necromancer, the holy, the subtle (blue) and unsubtle (red) wizards and sorcerors, and the practitioners of natural magic.

Shanaeri Rynale

Shanaeri Rynale

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Aug 2005

DVDF(Forums)

Me/N

Hindsight is wonderful, and we have no idea as to the economics involved. From what Lindsey & co have said, Adding new quests, skins etc takes a lot of effort and I would imagine the devlopment costs for a new chapter runs into the millions.

Personally, I think Anet had a choice, divert money into GW2 or keep trying to delay the inevitable and make another chapter. If utopia had been made, all that would have happened is we would have gotten a content void later on.

Personally, I would have made utopia and delay GW2 but I don't think the economics would not have supported it

AngeliqueSynner

AngeliqueSynner

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Aug 2008

Florida, USA

Sacred Storm [Strm]

N/

I personally don't think it was a mistake announcing it.
Even if it takes 5 more years to beta, I think it'll be worth it.

Driver 3 took near 5 years concept to release, and look at how much better it is compared to 1 and 2. :]

Patience, grasshoppers. Patience. :]

Ghost Omel

Ghost Omel

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Aug 2007

----//---//---//-----//----

W/

No it wasnt.. gave me something to look forward to BUT as some others ahve said.... The mistake is keeping us in the DARK.

disarm76

disarm76

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jul 2005

Portugal

Monthly screenshots, video or any news about GW2 would be enough to keep players hanging for it.

slowerpoke

slowerpoke

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jul 2007

Cuba

"oh hey, we decided while in the middle of the 4th campaign to scrap it, turn it into an expansion and drop all work on gw1 so we could er..work on a sequel! stay tuned folks, beta comes 2008"

Regulus X

Regulus X

Banned

Join Date: Oct 2007

N/A

D/W

I just think it's sad to be at the death bed of a game one truly loves to no end. It's so hard to let go...

Concerning OP: Disclosure of GW2 was never the mistake, it was not "delivering" that make them appear care-free and unreliable coupled with pumping out degenerative updates (Buff OverPower'd PvE & Nerf UnderPower'd PvP). Their excuse to drop the ball was GW2, but it's not helping their fanbase at all. Many players quit GW1 and some will be forever lost because they won't be buying GW2 when it ever does come out.

I fear buying GW2 quite simply because history tends to repeat itself. I like the concept of paying a monthly fee because it provides incentive to the Developers for updating the damn game! I'd actually like to URGE Anet to adopt that pay-to-play model with a rate that completey outshines the competition because by this, they'll be making a killing while keeping many of the same styles and attributes from GW1 that all the die-hard fans love most intact.