Too many new maps?

Hi,First I'd like to say, that developers are doing an excellent work by releasing map each episode (at least in Season 3). But that makes me think if this trend of adding new maps is sustainable in the future. If they will continue with this trend, we can have like 5-6 new maps for Living World and then 4-5 maps with new expansion. I'm afraid this would lead to more dispersed population, making the maps more empty and maybe make some maps "unplayable". I think, that current state is OK and it's possible to meet someone doing events. After releasing new expansion almost everyone will be doing new maps, than the population will be decreasing until the next expansion, and then you will have same population for like 30 maps (80 lvl), as now for like 20 maps and of course players in Capital cities.Wouldn't it be better to add new content to existing maps (new events, new Adventures - like in HoT maps)?Wouldn't it be better to add one big map, starting with smaller map and then expand it with adding new areas each episode?

Am I being to pessimistic? What's your opinion on this?

It was a worry, but it seems unfounded as the population is strong enough and the game versatile enough given its reward structure, megaserver tech and scaling to support players in all maps. One of the advantages of spreading out to diff biomes in ls3 was to give variety to players so everyone can have a oreference of map, yet still earn similar rewards.

With so many seemingly new players, HoT amazingly still seems to be flourishing. PoF doesnt have much repeatable content, but that may be deliberate so that large numbers arent needed to most things. Even Istan scales reasonably well with low numbers.

They tried bolstering maps in ls1 with story and new events, but it didnt really attract new people. Plus adventures as you suggest arent a popular attraction either.

Hopefully if things ever become too sparse, any group content will be adjusted for it in compensation, but we arent near that point thankfully

the problem i see with new maps is that it adds only more problems, every single new map adds yet another currency and every new map is only made for the maxers.it's time they added new maps to expand the map instead of adding a pet project, i want to see lover level maps so scaling is actually used for a change and it can fit somewhere anyone can go.

IMO the biggest problem is the fact that everything is still behind portals, they don't really expand the map they just place a new instance and that's it.if they removed some of the unnecessary portals the world would feel bigger, they need to add maps that expands instead of adding to it.i play GW2 and feel quite choked, the better i know the map the smaller it starts to feel, the portals only enforce that feeling.

I think this is why relatively few of the new maps have big meta-events that need lots of people. Even the big events we have like the Bloodstone Cavern bosses and Palawadan don't actually need many people to complete them, so it should be possible to keep doing them even when the maps aren't as populated.

But also the mega-server system means it will take much longer for maps to be empty in this game than in most others. Because you're sharing the maps with everyone in your region, not just your server, there's a lot more people you can potentially encounter.

It's really a balancing thing. It really depends the kind of players you are talking to. Some players will constantly want new stuff because they feel like they've been spending too much time on one map, while others are happy to see redevelopment/evolution of what we already have. There is also only so many events that you can put onto one map before it feels like too much is going on. While I agree with re-using old maps for the current events, there can be the issue where too much is going on and players just don't know which event to go for which can cause events to fail. I have experienced that with the new Awakened side stories events. They have been released for a while now so understandably, fewer people are doing them. Most people just do them for the achievement so they do it once and that's it. Since they are in starting areas, the only help I could get were new players. Obviously, some had no clue what was going on. Some just went for other events and the ones that were trying to help well didn't have much of an impact bless them.

I think what they are trying to go for is getting new maps in order to get more new players which should resolve the population issue in theory. However I do agree that the rate of new maps is a bit too much.

I don't mind the new maps as much, or the fact they are level 80, but it would be nice if some of the maps were sprinkled with some nodes that are less than level 80. I tend to get more mithril & elder wood than I can use, but end up being on the short side of things like iron & hard wood. It is a design decision that those nodes don't exist on level 80 maps - there is no reason you couldn't have an iron mine on a level 80 map, for example. And while I could play the lower level maps to get those materials (which may be the intention), that is old content and the rest of the rewards are that lower quality.

Eventually the separate daily achievements for new maps will have to be streamlined and merged for each part of the content, to encourage leading players to every each map once in a while.

@"DaRoto.9684" said:Hi,First I'd like to say, that developers are doing an excellent work by releasing map each episode (at least in Season 3). But that makes me think if this trend of adding new maps is sustainable in the future. If they will continue with this trend, we can have like 5-6 new maps for Living World and then 4-5 maps with new expansion. I'm afraid this would lead to more dispersed population, making the maps more empty and maybe make some maps "unplayable". I think, that current state is OK and it's possible to meet someone doing events. After releasing new expansion almost everyone will be doing new maps, than the population will be decreasing until the next expansion, and then you will have same population for like 30 maps (80 lvl), as now for like 20 maps and of course players in Capital cities.Wouldn't it be better to add new content to existing maps (new events, new Adventures - like in HoT maps)?Wouldn't it be better to add one big map, starting with smaller map and then expand it with adding new areas each episode?

Am I being to pessimistic? What's your opinion on this?

It's been predicted since the beginning of HoT, but it's never been an issue. Unless GW2 loses a huge number of players (right now all signs point to the opposite), I don't expect it ever will be. I did the DS, TD, and AB metas this morning as well as Palawadan and GH in Istan. I routinely run bounty trains in PoF for commonly-needed bounties (legendary facet, etc.). World bosses in core Tyria never seem to have any shortage of players either.

I think we have plenty of room for more maps. The population is showing no signs of being spread too thin in open world PvE. Not surprisingly, as open world is where GW2 is at its best!

Never enough. This game is designed so well that people are always visiting nearly every map. Bring on more maps, more metas, more options for farming, more AP, more of it all. That's what I love about GW2 end game content, there's always a reason to go back to nearly every map.

Hmmm it’s a yes and no kinda thing. Because it depends really by instance if there’s enough players. If there isn’t enough it will let you switch. But I think that new players you will always see them in Tyria. The only maps I think won’t be as full are maybe living world season maps. Only because not many thing of them as important. However they can always get them within the game sooner or later.

As much as it is possible because it spreads people out. The fact that the game will let you switch to another instance accommodates that. Personally I think expansions will always be full. But living world seasons could be empty sooner or later however I think since arenanet added a specific reason to the maps, people will be there. Like lws3 maps are great for as trinkets. So if everyone makes that a reason then it won’t be empty.

If the people don’t compare about those things, I can see that. But the fact that arenanet allows switching instance, I think were ok

@sorudo.9054 said:the problem i see with new maps is that it adds only more problems, every single new map adds yet another currency and every new map is only made for the maxers.it's time they added new maps to expand the map instead of adding a pet project, i want to see lover level maps so scaling is actually used for a change and it can fit somewhere anyone can go.

IMO the biggest problem is the fact that everything is still behind portals, they don't really expand the map they just place a new instance and that's it.if they removed some of the unnecessary portals the world would feel bigger, they need to add maps that expands instead of adding to it.i play GW2 and feel quite choked, the better i know the map the smaller it starts to feel, the portals only enforce that feeling.

Those portals are a staple of ArenaNet design, they were in GW1 and I think most people expected them in GW2. They aren't going anywhere and they actually improve performance for a game based on CPU usage against GPU, by reducing the draw distance needed if you had maps 10x the size of current ones. When you look at the World Map it doesn't just show a tiny little world with a bunch of instances, instead it shows each individual zone that make up a region.

As for the OP, I'm of the opposite view, give me more maps to explore.

Anet doesnt need to add permanently new maps.. yes new maps are nice to see, exploring new places that weren't explorable before is always nice...But if it fits better ot the story of the game, I think it woudl be much better for GW2, if anet finally implements Phasing into the Game for older maps, the real true form of living world/dynamic events that change the design of maps, without locking people out of the content, when they weren#t able to play at that time, like Anet did with season 1, before they changed their LW concept to keep content permanently (and sadly stopped with this also the concept of greatly changing maps and their environments) to concentrate themself since season 3 rather more on implementing continously new maps, because thats just simpler do do and provides no issues/provlems in regard of the old maps and requires most likely lesser effort and ressoiurces, than to add into this game a proper designed Map Phasing System which allows players to travel between time lines of the maps (anets reason so far only was, this would split the community too much ..lol)

But seriously, klike i mentioned in an other written thread before today.. we have chronomancers now even - a whole class that posseses the power to manipulate timespace - combine this with Asura Gate technology and Chronometer Devices to control said asura gates and simply turn them this way into Timespace gates that allow players to switch based on the phased timelines within the same map to play on the map either at the past, or at the present.

This is on long term also much better, than to permanently pump out always only 1 new map after another, when thee is also huge potential in changing the already existing maps and phase them into the present time with new content... just think of what Anet coudl do all with the low level maps if they would phase them into the present and those maps beign then with different new content in form of compeltely new events every then high end maps with max level content.

That would be over short or long a very good change to this game in my honest opinion and its lesser work to remodel an existing map with new content, than to make a completely new map from scratch each time

Complaining about too much content?This community ....seriously.

@"mindcircus.1506" said:Complaining about too much content?This community ....seriously.

"These forum posters ....seriously." fixed :)

While I'm cool with new maps I'd like to see some new type of content added to existing maps. For example, I have no reason to go to Ascalon now except for a vista or foraging daily. That seems short-sighted in my eyes.

@blambidy.3216 said:Hmmm it’s a yes and no kinda thing. Because it depends really by instance if there’s enough players. If there isn’t enough it will let you switch. But I think that new players you will always see them in Tyria. The only maps I think won’t be as full are maybe living world season maps. Only because not many thing of them as important. However they can always get them within the game sooner or later.

As much as it is possible because it spreads people out. The fact that the game will let you switch to another instance accommodates that. Personally I think expansions will always be full. But living world seasons could be empty sooner or later however I think since arenanet added a specific reason to the maps, people will be there. Like lws3 maps are great for as trinkets. So if everyone makes that a reason then it won’t be empty.

If the people don’t compare about those things, I can see that. But the fact that arenanet allows switching instance, I think were ok

Except they aren't empty because players keep going back to them. Just like all of the other maps. We keep predicting the doom or this map or that one, or this expansion or the next. But the fact is it's never been an issue.

We didn’t have new maps for a long time and I suspect it was because ANet was worried about stretching the population too thinly. However they don’t seem to be worried about this anymore. Perhaps they see good population numbers combined with the megaserver system and the ability to scale events to the available population.

Big NO!New maps are never enough.

@AliamRationem.5172 said:

@blambidy.3216 said:Hmmm it’s a yes and no kinda thing. Because it depends really by instance if there’s enough players. If there isn’t enough it will let you switch. But I think that new players you will always see them in Tyria. The only maps I think won’t be as full are maybe living world season maps. Only because not many thing of them as important. However they can always get them within the game sooner or later.

As much as it is possible because it spreads people out. The fact that the game will let you switch to another instance accommodates that. Personally I think expansions will always be full. But living world seasons could be empty sooner or later however I think since arenanet added a specific reason to the maps, people will be there. Like lws3 maps are great for as trinkets. So if everyone makes that a reason then it won’t be empty.

If the people don’t compare about those things, I can see that. But the fact that arenanet allows switching instance, I think were ok

Agreed. Arenanet has made good reasons for each map to use. And each maps are diff purposes.

There is no such thing as too many maps. A WHOLE NEWWWW WOOORLLLLDDDD! Lmaooooo

I don't think its a problem. When returning to LS3 maps I've noticed that they are still heavily populated, meta is almost always done. Even Dry Top and Southsun Cove which are now the oldest maps in the game (that weren't included at launch), are consistently farmed.

The big difference now is that we have 1k people in ten maps instead of 1k people in ten instances of the same map. The addition of more maps to the game has actually greatly increased its overall health, as its easier to meet up with friends and guildmates for things like meta events and play more strategically (like in pre-megaserver days), instead of always being lost in a zerg no matter what map you join.

The downside is, I have noticed the Central Tyria maps are very barren and something needs to be done about that. While the game's max-level player population is strong, it seems to be having alot of trouble with the uptake of new players especially in the F2P areas.

"We want new content!"Anet gets us new maps and events"Too many maps!"

I mean, i get what you're saying regarding population, etc but this is also a big problem for all MMOs. People burn through content, bore themselves of that content and then leave, causing the maps to feel empty at times and then talk about how there's no new content. Anet has greatly improved both the quality and quantity of content they can provide since the launch of PoF. As much guff as I give them about things, they are definitely getting certain things right IMO.

IMO, they should add new layers to old "not-multi-layer" maps. This would add new content and variety, while at the same time directing people to old and lower level maps.

We have a mix of players out there and the best they can do is offer up some for everyone. People that like to explore need new maps, part of the wonder of an MMOs is going new places, even while virtual. For players that like older content maps, more events that tie both events in old and new zones together. That way there is incentive to travel to both.

@MithranArkanere.8957 said:Eventually the separate daily achievements for new maps will have to be streamlined and merged for each part of the content, to encourage leading players to every each map once in a while.

I had not thought of that but that would be a fun idea. Rather than having, what, 9, dailies now maybe have a single daily system. What reward you get for doing any 3 of them (ie, the 2G/3 spirit shards for the main daily now) depends on where you did most of your daily stuff.