What’s the “gamechanger” for GW2?

In addition to a fantastic game, GW has been successful due in large part to the fact that there’s no subscription fee.

Looking at the mmo’s out since 2005, and the new ones coming out in the future...will the same combination of great game + free to play be enough for GW2 to carve away substantial numbers of players from the competition?

I think that GW2 needs something new this time....and I don’t mean adding standard mmo parts like an auction house and different playable races...I mean it needs to introduce a new gamechanging idea or playstyle.

AION did something like this by adding the flying mechanic into a wow-like mmo. That, and the fact that it’s a well-designed and polished game has already equaled success for it overseas.

Any thoughts as to what Arenanet can do to make GW2 stand out in a now-crowded field?

A z-axis? ^^
I see what you mean, i think having no subscription fees is a great move in attracting players, along with a well design and balanced game. Because of the free play it might limit their budget or something, possibly limiting what they can do with it. But i think we can definitely expect a step up from the current guild wars games. Just my 2 cents.

if im not mistaken flyFF and perfect world had flying before aion....maybe city of heros?

There's really not much you can do to stand out other than make a fun lasting game. That's all that it comes down to really.

Megaman 9 was exactly like the old NES megamans, but it was successful because it was fun. All that matters.

"Bullet Time" as "Arrow Time" for Rangers. I don't know of any MMO's that take archery seriously. (Though Guild wars is at least dead accurate in animation)

An open item creating system would be good.Maybe even things like on Rogue Galaxy where you mix 2 weapons to get a new one.That and the mods giving a certain small animation to the weapon,like in fable 2,would also be immense.Guild wars crafting is pathetic and an in depth alchemy/item creation system would really rock.

it is nearly impossible to be unique and original in this day and age, what Anet has to do is cash in on fan loyalty, I can't talk for others but I will definitely be nabbing the beta if/when a beta is made available. I don't care how long it takes, I will return to the game when it is ready.

Even though I HATED paying for playing WoW it had a lot of things the the devs from Anet could learn from. If any of you have played the intro Death Knight quest chain then you would agree that Blizzard made it feel like you actually were affecting the world around you, through a tiered server system. I hope this gets implemented into certain parts of GW2 as I think this needs to be done more :P

What always cracks me up in these threads is that any MMO is described as WOW-like

What you really mean is that they are REAL mmo's whereas GW is primarily instanced, the ONLY mmo that comes into play is at in the cities which are mostly deserted apart from Spamadan (through lack of AH) and Doomlore where all the runners are.

Even all the PvP in GW is instanced

Given the strengths of Aion, Blizzards unnamed mmo is in production, D3 & SC2 are due for release also, basically GW2 is facing huge competition and I truly do not think they stand a chance in hell of competing as they have extremely limited funds compared to the big boys of the MMO market and it's kind of unlikely that NCSoft will release the type of funds to A-net that they spent on Aion.

Gamechanging? the only thing they have that is different from the rest is the instanced play and there-in lies the big problem, If GW2 goes instanced like GW then they are going to be forced to provide HUGE content to give it longevity.

I truly think GW2 has huge problems to overcome and with the normal lack of information coming from the "Community Relations" department/manager (sorry but I am laughing as I type this, as that alone is the biggest misnomer as they definitely do not relate to the community) at this point there isn't even info that they have even made a start on GW2 never mind when it is due for any type of beta testing or release.

Makes you wonder if there will be a GW2 tbh, A-net said there would be but then again A-net have said a lot and not seen it through.

I think GW pvp was original compared to other shitty mmo pvp.

The intended "gamechanger" as far as I can tell will be emergent complexity. However, I look with doubt upon the effectiveness of this "less skills, that work differently in different situations," because it will result in even more gimmick builds, that work around one skill. Compound that fact with special races/racial abilities.

Also, how many different effects will a skill have, and how many different environments/monsters will trigger these effects? I'm thinking that I would prefer to have many different skills with many different functions than one that works differently depending on the situation. It may be fun, but in high-end areas I believe it will incredibly annoying. It may go like "OOPS, sorry I forgot to get the X effect for this area I have to stand in that lake, Im used to doing Y area where its better if I dont." Reply, "kick noob now"

I think the game changer is what it has always been, just a much bigger deal. Guild Wars 2 will offer an online game without monthly fees, while at the same time delivering similar, if not superior, options that will make it a full MMO that can actually compete with WoW and all of the others out there.

That was the thing about GW1, it wasn't a full MMORPG, it was an instanced online game. I got the impression that a lot of people scoffed at it, sputtering that it isn't even an MMO, so you got what you paid for; a wannabe substandard MMO. GW2 will change that. It will deliver the same persistent experience, massive world wide PvP arenas, a deeper role playing aspects, emergent complexity, all the good stuff that others offer and more without having to plug your credit card into a fire hose.

I read somewhere long time ago that GW2 would have a new system for skills in wich a skill would act different in different situations such as if you are jumping or surrounded by foes at the time you use the skill... to me this sound really exciting and new.

I love what GW did with archery, the bow interupts and ability to inflict conditions is an awesome mechanic. Rangers just rule tbh.

God, I hope not! The surest way to kill GW2 would be to change it too much. I like GW - I'm hoping GW2 is basically GW + prettier graphics, auction house and z axis.
I don't want a WOW clone. I don't want to fly. I don't want guns and robots (MOX be gone!).

If you want gamechanging ideas or playstyle, play some other game! Play Aion or WoW or whatever - don't "red engine" GW2.

Don't try and involve that monstrosity in anything ever.

But, ehh.
As long as GuildWars 2 is still non-subscribing, I'll still buy it.