GW Chapters 3, and 4 before summer 2007...O.o

So, take a look at this, some of you have already seem it no doubt. But, wow, they must be working their socks off.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=137818

Quite frankly, going by the cost of factions and prophecies, Im not prepared to pay $100 for two games which haven't even been in development for 12 months...

Comparing this to HL:2, which was in dev for at least a few years (3+) and that was an absolute stonker of a game, the very best ive played.. And i picked the collectors edition up for $24.99 on its day of realease. Compared to Factions... I picked my CE up for $49.99 after a lot of trouble even trying to get hold of it..

What do you all think. And no rants, this is just an observation.

Since Prophecies was so darn good I'll buy Chapter 3 at least. I'll see how they solved access to the high end PvE there before I consider buying #4.

it seems like this is there way of adding low monthly fees part of me is excited that there will be a game coming out all the time but like you said they wont be worked on very long and i doubt any one accept the people who play alot will keep buying them for the price of 50$ evry 6months.

Hmm, still another $34 or $49 every six months... So, Anets "Free Online Gaming" Isn't so free afterall.

Well, yeah, they have to pay for their servers, they can't keep selling only Prophecies forever. But if they remain true to their idea that you don't have to buy every new one to remain relevant in Prophecies, and that you should want to buy it on its own merits, it's still a nice system. We'll have to see how it all pans out.

Indeed, it'll be interesting to see if the next one is introduced on such a grand scale as factions aswell.

it still works out cheaper than a monthly fee. ~9.99 a month compared to ~20 every 6months. (UK prices).

The bit i'm more worried about is the quality and originality of these new expansions.

I think my preordering days are done with this series. Since I'm not into the PvP thing, I'll have to see what the masses say about the next chapters before I fork out for them.

Anet has said before that EVERY CHAPTER RECIEVES 12 MONTHS OF DEVELOPMENT! They are not charging us 50 bucks for a game that has been worked on for 6 months. The Anet team is divided. This is my best guess: 55% is working on chapter 3, 25% is working on chapter 4, and 20% is working on current guild wars. As chapter 3 becomes closer to release, the numbers will shift. Chapter three began development Fall 2005, and will be released Fall 2006. Chapter four began development Spring 2006, and will be released Spring 2007.

Who is complaining? I see people expressing valid concerns about quality. I know their dev teams are on staggered schedules, and I am still concerned about quality and content.

As a PvP player, I'll have to buy the expansions whether I like the content or not, because new skills and professions are required to stay competitive.

So it is, in fact, a monthly fee for some of us, but I'm not complaining. GW PvP stomps other "montly fee" games into the ground anyway.

All I can say is that I'm not preordering anymore Guild Wars games. In addition to being a gigantic hassle, preordering Factions just didn't seem to be worth it. From now on I'm gonna wait and see what other Guildies and friends have to say before buying.

No complaints from me, I'm sure Ch 3 (and beyond) will be great. At least I hope so.

No-ones complaining. I said in the first post this isn't a rant, only an observation of the future.

i think you should read a bit before you make comments like that since it was announced many places that chapter 2 was started AT the release of GW for a 12 month release a year later (April 28) and chapter 3 was started by a different team 6 months after release for a 12 month release this Oct/Nov with a full year of work.

chapter 4 should be getting started right now for a 12 month release on (you guessed it) April 28 of 07

Yep i remember hereing that 3 should be out around x-mas which is badass, really smart on their part. And even though that factions wasn't as long as i though it could have been, the modeling is crazy, i love it and can't wait to see what else the plain. Their is so much they can do.

Yeah i have to admit i was somewhat under the impression that they had on;y worked on it, or them for 6 months at a time.

That's the exact opposite of their philosophy. The idea is that it's "different, but not better (or worse)." Did you need to get Factions?

No hassle. Walked into the store, picked up 2 pre-order boxes off the shelf, paid for them.

Added the keys and participated in the preview weekend. Got to start the game a bit early with some max weapons.

Factions was released, took my receipt in, picked up 2 release boxes off the shelf, paid for them with $10 off each one due to the pre-order. No hassle.

It is pretty lame to claim you will or won't buy the next chapter when you know nothing about it yet.

Monthly Fees in games aren't to pay for their servers. They get great deals of very cheap server space - the price of the game covers how much you'll cost them server wise almost indefinately.

Monthly Fees, literally, are to pay for more staff constantly creating content. You pay them 12.99 /month (WoW 6 month package) so that they can pay a team to be constantly creating items, quests, areas, etc.

ANd since most of Guild War's staff is in delevoping new chapters, they can afford no monthly fees.

Hmm.... so let's do the math here. For the people who claim that you still have to pay a monthly fee, most MMO's charge at least $12 a month to play. Over 6 months that $72. Over a year that's $144. You only paid $49 once for GWP. That's almost $100 in savings for a years worth of paying. And, each chapter is it's own game, not just a lousy add-on. So over 2 years with 2 campaigns now, you are saving over $200 dollars in monthly fees. A-net rocks and so does their business model.

As far as the staggered development goes, the teams are not 75%, 50%.... whatever. They have said repeatedly in interviews that they have completely separate teams working full time on each campaign. Sounds good to me.