LW & Expansions

I think the right way to do this, basically permanently, is to continue doing both expansions and the LW but to conceptually separate their respective foci

LW would be the vehicle through which new open world zones and story content would be updatedExpansions would the vehicle through which everything else would be added - dungeons, weapons/skills, classes, races, pvp maps, features/systems

There is no need for any interdependence between the two. Expansions can be released basically whenever and apply to all LW content, and can be available as major "bundles" (big enough to generate hype) through the gem store. Think theme packs like skill bundles, race bundles, etc. I also think it's time to revise some aspects of the PS and re-do/re-release LW1 - potentially as an expansion in this case.

I think story content and some ow content is cool tho with expansions because they too take a spot between lw releases or at least used to.

Also the story told in expansions is told better because it has a start, a finish and no 2,3 or 4 month breaks inbetween.

@zealex.9410 said:I think story content and some ow content is cool tho with expansions because they too take a spot between lw releases or at least used to.

Also the story told in expansions is told better because it has a start, a finish and no 2,3 or 4 month breaks inbetween.

Well, they could add start-to-finish side stories as expansions from the Gem Store while the main story would progress in a saga format through the LW.

@Einlanzer.1627 said:

@zealex.9410 said:I think story content and some ow content is cool tho with expansions because they too take a spot between lw releases or at least used to.

Also the story told in expansions is told better because it has a start, a finish and no 2,3 or 4 month breaks inbetween.

Im all for paid dlc wether thats raids, fractals, dungeons or story n such but i dont think everyone is.

I think you kind of hit on something that could be perfect, which is mini expansions. Like say, release new elite specs and just them, for like $20. And they aesthetically go along with the current living world saga. It’s like basically you bought an expansion missing everything but specs, yet priced accordingly. And this concept can be applied to any kind of content.

I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

@Ashantara.8731 said:I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

They have 200 employees. This is a management/organization problem, not a capacity problem.

@Einlanzer.1627 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

I think you underestimate the capacity required for respective content such as LW or expansions. There are many departments involved in that 200 number.

Well no elite specs alone. You cannot sell them alone, where are we going then, paying for maps, for basic skin mount, for story or lores pieces. All of that for 20€ each thing? It's a strong no from me. Of course I want to help them and give them money but with a minimum structure. Maps + Especs, Story + Mount, Lores pieces + Maps or Masteries + Story.

You can mark my words. I swear in front of anything. I will not buy just especs. Need to come with map explaining them.I've bought only basic for HoT because sylvaris. Same with PoF because humans.But if third is Asura, I buy deluxe.I'm even ready to pay extra asuran maps if with lore and some nices features.

See, If housing was already there I may have bought a house, garden etc somewhere near Rata Primus. At the north within the volcano.

Since the start, masteries, mounts, especs always came with maps. Change it and the future is uncertain.

@Einlanzer.1627 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

They reorganized their teams earlier this year after the layoffs. We just need to give them time now to see if the new arrangements will work long term

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@Einlanzer.1627 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

Correction: they have ~290 employees now, that's 50% higher than 200. Worth noting that the game was launched with 200 people. S4 after Heart of Thorns started with 220. They have way more employees now than they did at any point in the past before Path of Fire. So anything they've done in the past (both Lw and exp) is perfectly doable since they have increased man power now.

I am fine with the current structure of living world given they do deliver content this time that is not just there for grind, monetization and make it fun to replay (and replayable as a whole). I would not like if they add expansion or side story in gem store as we have paid for the game via buying the expacs before the content comes out. Mind you, I found lws4 a bit lackluster (missing replayability, maps unfinished...) but the current prologue does seem interesting as it didn't bore me yet.

I don't mind if they put out another paid expac but I am not sure if I would get it (I don't like spending too much money on games that can just stop on demand of the publisher). For me its different for games you will keep eternally and can play eternally.

As for capacity. If they have x amount of employees it does not mean they all work on gw2... I still recall a recent, after layoffs, sales and profits chat from ncsoft where they said that they want to make all old games they have run on consoles too (maintenance mode games) and that they are currently prototyping a gw2 mobile game. That interview with speech and text was on reddit a month or 1-2 ago.

Well unless they make the living world bosses easier solo i'm not buying anymore no matter what they tack on to try and force it.. They just aren't fun at all and way too painful to follow solo..

And trying to get people to join you in them is impossible.

I spend way more time in Tyria core than any of the other content..

@Dante.1508 said:Well unless they make the living world bosses easier solo i'm not buying anymore no matter what they tack on to try and force it.. They just aren't fun at all and way too painful to follow solo..

And trying to get people to join you in them is impossible.

I spend way more time in Tyria core than any of the other content..

I actually find them easy and most times you can afk and let npc's do all the work :open_mouth: . The only ones I struggled with were Mordremoth, Caudecus and Balthaar (before I knew what to do tacts wise). I would consider to take a good look at your exotic build (I play on exotics with ascended accessories or exotic accessories), watch mob animations (they have tells of what they will do), use your dodge/positioning and only use skills when you have to as its not a good idea to just press anything off cd. I would also advice to go to pof and hot zones because even tho the mobs are more difficult you do learn a great deal of surviving and gameplay with them. Perhaps start on HoT meta events like Auric Basin Tarir, Chak Gerent in Tangled Depths and Dragonstand as those show these harder mobs and bosses with tactics but you have the team of other players around you as a safety net. P.s Pocket raptors react good to AOE's and smokescales to you non stop moving.

@Einlanzer.1627 said:

@Ashantara.8731 said:I don't think they have the current capacity to do both, hence they've decided to stick to LW seasons. :/

When they moved resources towards working on other projects, they moved way too many devs from gw2 - probably they raided not only the whole expac team, but also other teams as well (there was a reason why fractal and raid teams got merged, for example, and i doubt it was because they got more devs working on those content types). When the layoffs happened, they didn't move all of those devs back, but lost most of them instead.

@maddoctor.2738 said:Correction: they have ~290 employees now, that's 50% higher than 200. Worth noting that the game was launched with 200 people. S4 after Heart of Thorns started with 220.Correction: the numbers are not so clean, because when they were revealing them, sometimes they were speaking about devs only, and sometimes included other employes. The numbers mentioned after HoT were about devs only, if i remember right. The numbers from around layoffs included everyone.

The only reason to do an expansion is because people wouldn't pay for it in gems.

If you spend a lot of time playing this game it's easy to forget the things added as part of Living Story such as roller beetle and skyscale.

They could bring in contract or contingent workers to temporarily help with each project as needed and let them go when finished.

I am more interested in new professions/specializations and new map expansions than story lines and which NPC lives or dies, but I may be in the minority there.

@Game of Bones.8975 said:They could bring in contract or contingent workers to temporarily help with each project as needed and let them go when finished.

I am more interested in new professions/specializations and new map expansions than story lines and which NPC lives or dies, but I may be in the minority there.

You aren't. That's the problem. Even for people that are interested in that stuff, it doesn't hold their attention or generate hype the way gameplay expansions do. I'm not sure why Anet doesn't seem to realize this.

I don't know how they could generate revenue from this but the seasons that Diablo 3 runs feel pretty good. Is there a way we could do seasons in GW2 with season exclusive rewards while somehow boosting gem store sales at the same time? I'm not against expansions and living world but between those releases the current achievement system doesn't hold my attention. I'm just wondering if something besides or in addition to expansions and living world is a better direction to go.

@Game of Bones.8975 said:They could bring in contract or contingent workers to temporarily help with each project as needed and let them go when finished.

Maybe they don't have the finances to do this?

@Super Hayes.6890 said:I don't know how they could generate revenue from this but the seasons that Diablo 3 runs feel pretty good. Is there a way we could do seasons in GW2 with season exclusive rewards while somehow boosting gem store sales at the same time?Personally I'm happy that GW2 does not do seasons any more, and even re-introduced a lot of the rewards from season 1. It is indeed one of the reasons I prefer to play this game over some of its competitors. If I see a shiny offered at a time where I just don't have the time/resources to play enough to get it, I know I can still get it when the festival comes back next year, or better yet at my leisure if it happens to be tied to a living world release.

@kharmin.7683 said:

@Game of Bones.8975 said:They could bring in contract or contingent workers to temporarily help with each project as needed and let them go when finished.

Maybe they don't have the finances to do this?

It's cheaper, in the long run, for temp employees to do a job than full timers who require benefits.No money comes in if no products go out on a regular basis.But I do agree with you that it does take money to make money. If you don't have money to start the process, nothing happens.

At my most optimistic, I see the current Saga decision as a way to provide the time necessary to focus on an expansion that will be announced shortly after the final episode of the current Saga.

At my most pessimistic, I see the Saga as the only method in which we will be given content, features, and other tangibles. It will just be a constant piecemeal way to build a host of features and content over a long period of time instead of a single unit "expansion."

The reality of the matter is that Anet appears to have just recently moved from treading water to swimming forwards in terms of moving the game forwards. If the living world releases are any indication of what they valued most for launches, then lets take a look at the distance between episodes 4, 5, 6, & the Prologue:

Episode 4 -> 5 ------------------- September 18th -> January 8th (About 3 & 1/2 months)February 23rd or so ------------ The layoffs happen, big concerns abound everywhereEpisode 5 -> 6 ------------------ January 8th -> May 14th (A bit over 4 months)Episode 6 -> Saga Prologue --- May 14th -> September 17th (Almost exactly 4 months)

It took a year to get from episode 4 to the new Saga. I grant that the only reason I've chosen this is because it illustrates a few points:

1. It's a year back from the most current release
2. This does not include Special Events like Halloween, Wintersday, SAB, etc. Largely because while rewards for those events continue to change, they haven't been expounded upon with nearly the regularity as I would have liked to see by this point. The story of the Mad Prince, for example, was a one time thing and we just don't have anything new with the festivals that is really considered additional content.
3. It's a good example of the volume and depth of content that ArenaNet can accomplish in a year, as well as how they adapt to a pretty severe setback.
4. This helps visualize what could be the norm going forwards

The thing is.... if we look at 2012 - 2015 - 2017 - present, for Vanilla, HoT, PoF and where we actually are... 3, 2, 2, ? is what we're at for significant releases. I look at this and am concerned. If I knew with certainty that there would be an expansion eventually I could be at ease. But I don't, and that's the problem