Question about the state of the game.

I love GW2, i really do. I play it daily and i can't seem to stand any other MMORPG out there.I have started to play more and invest more of my time playing it and that makes me worry because i'm unsure over the state of the game and i would hate to invest so much of my time into something that is going to disappear sooner rather than later.

ANET pretty much halved a few months ago and i was told no expansion will be made again.I am enjoying Living Story and the new episode was fun, but is there really a future?What's going to happen after LS5 ends? More living story like the jump from 4 to 5 we had? An expansion would be made after all? GW3 reveal? Or cease of major updates?

Should i be worried? Play less? Or is there a bright future unannounced or that i'm not aware of?

Nobody knows.If you're having fun, continue playing.

@Glider.5792 said:Nobody knows.If you're having fun, continue playing.

This is the only relevant answer.

We don't know what's going to happen after Season 5, but that's not unusual. We usually don't find out what's coming next until the end of the current season.

During Season 1 (which was only called a season retroactively) we didn't know there would be anything else coming, it was only after it ended that they announced the switch to permanent updates and the 'seasons' branding. (We also didn't know the little mini stories we'd been getting were part of anything bigger than one villain's plans until right at the end.)

HoT was announced right at the end of Season 2 and although most people assumed HoT would be followed by either more living story or another expansion, we didn't know what it would be until afterwards. (There were of course also some people who claimed HoT was the end, a last cash-grab before the game was shut down, because everything that happens, or doesn't happen, in an MMO is proof to someone that it's shutting down.)

Path of Fire wasn't announced until the end of Season 3, and although they did say Season 4 would start much sooner after PoF we didn't know anything about it until it started. Then Season 4 ended and we were told it would lead into Season 5. We're currently at a similar point to where we were at the start of any previous release. We can assume Season 5 will have at least 6 episodes (because that's the shortest a season has been so far) and they'll be released at least 2 months apart, (with festivals in between) so that gives us the plan for the next year or so. Sometime around the end of Season 5 we'll find out what's coming next.

I am having fun and play daily but I have been hesitant to spend money in the gem store lately. I know it is silly to label Gem store purchases as "investments" but I have had games cancelled on me before right after some nice purchase. :) Also, people tend to "invest" more if they know it is for the long run.

Luckily, no other MMO company has managed to reproduce the things I love so much in GW2 so I guess Anet is safe for now. :)

Guild Wars 2 is not going away any time soon. The worst-case scenario is it stops moving forward.

@"Trise.2865" said:Guild Wars 2 is not going away any time soon. The worst-case scenario is it stops moving forward.

Content not being released in an MMO does rather "kill it" though.

@DaniTheHero.6318 said:

@"Trise.2865" said:Guild Wars 2 is not going away any time soon. The worst-case scenario is it stops moving forward.

It does if said worst case scenario were to occur, hit that is a situation that is not on the horizon. People can debate the cadence, presentation and quality but we have no (pve) drought or an indication one is due.

We know S5 is the immediate future. Anet have not said whether S6 or an Expac will follow. Their desire is for Seasons, however they have acknowledged the high demand for an expac and will have that discussion when the time is right, if they have't already. They have not ruled out expansions - that is the usual internet claptrap we get round here where people speak in absolutes due to a mix of misinformation, an inability to read what is written and outright trolling to get a rise.

The one guarantee we have is tht we will never be fully kept informed of anything. Anet are not big on communication or community interaction and the new Director appears even less a fan of it imo. The simple answer is goes back to the first reply in this thread.

My personal opinion is we will see less, but the game will continue on for years yet

@"DaniTheHero.6318" said:I love GW2, i really do. I play it daily and i can't seem to stand any other MMORPG out there.I have started to play more and invest more of my time playing it and that makes me worry because i'm unsure over the state of the game and i would hate to invest so much of my time into something that is going to disappear sooner rather than later.

ANET pretty much halved a few months ago and i was told no expansion will be made again.I am enjoying Living Story and the new episode was fun, but is there really a future?What's going to happen after LS5 ends? More living story like the jump from 4 to 5 we had? An expansion would be made after all? GW3 reveal? Or cease of major updates?

Should i be worried? Play less? Or is there a bright future unannounced or that i'm not aware of?

Anet likes to keep everyone in the dark so there is no real telling but if you want my personal opinion I would say GW2 isn't a "healthy" game. A healthy game would have no problem being clear on their time lines. A healthy company doesn't lose half their staff and have a lot of their best talent leave. A healthy game would release more than just mediocre small expansion packs and cash store items every few months. I'm not saying GW2 is going to die tomorrow but I wouldn't expect anything big from it and I think it not totally unlikely to start to fail sooner rather than later.

A crystal ball is not needed, for me, as I can see the writing on the wall--basing this on many, many MMO's I've seen, both 'born' and 'die.'

Instead of logging in daily--I play every few days. The game is still fun for me (to a degree), but endgame is short and replayability is lacking. I miss the 'depth' that HOT was--and wish for another expansion pack of similar magnitude. If we get it, great...if we don't--I play the same as I have been--keeping my eyes on the horizon for 'Camelot Unchained.'

@Zexanima.7851 said:

@"DaniTheHero.6318" said:I love GW2, i really do. I play it daily and i can't seem to stand any other MMORPG out there.I have started to play more and invest more of my time playing it and that makes me worry because i'm unsure over the state of the game and i would hate to invest so much of my time into something that is going to disappear sooner rather than later.

ANET pretty much halved a few months ago and i was told no expansion will be made again.I am enjoying Living Story and the new episode was fun, but is there really a future?What's going to happen after LS5 ends? More living story like the jump from 4 to 5 we had? An expansion would be made after all? GW3 reveal? Or cease of major updates?

Should i be worried? Play less? Or is there a bright future unannounced or that i'm not aware of?

Although i agree with you. ANET always kept everyone in the dark practically ever since season 1 started.And yet there were unexpected living world seasons added and 2 expansions across the years.So the game was never "healthy" to begin with when you define it that way.

@Danikat.8537 said:We don't know what's going to happen after Season 5, but that's not unusual. We usually don't find out what's coming next until the end of the current season.

During Season 1 (which was only called a season retroactively) we didn't know there would be anything else coming, it was only after it ended that they announced the switch to permanent updates and the 'seasons' branding. (We also didn't know the little mini stories we'd been getting were part of anything bigger than one villain's plans until right at the end.)

HoT was announced right at the end of Season 2 and although most people assumed HoT would be followed by either more living story or another expansion, we didn't know what it would be until afterwards. (There were of course also some people who claimed HoT was the end, a last cash-grab before the game was shut down, because everything that happens, or doesn't happen, in an MMO is proof to someone that it's shutting down.)

Path of Fire wasn't announced until the end of Season 3, and although they did say Season 4 would start much sooner after PoF we didn't know anything about it until it started. Then Season 4 ended and we were told it would lead into Season 5. We're currently at a similar point to where we were at the start of any previous release. We can assume Season 5 will have at least 6 episodes (because that's the shortest a season has been so far) and they'll be released at least 2 months apart, (with festivals in between) so that gives us the plan for the next year or so. Sometime around the end of Season 5 we'll find out what's coming next.

Wish ANET was more more open with it's player. Some communication or a roadmap would be great.

I wouldn't worry about it. The game is going nowhere and we just stepped in a brand new season. Will we ever get a big expansion? Who knows.The good thing is all the content is relevant for new players due to no vertical progression.Don't listen to all the doomsayers. The game is 7 years old and some are playing for many years now. Naturally they are bitter and bored after so much time and they will continue to be like that because in the end no game can bring so much improvement or change to itself to be able to stay fresh after long years.

Do other MMOs normally announce their schedule of releases months or years in advance?

My only other MMO is Elder Scrolls Online but they only ever announce the next release, and then only a month or so before it comes out (they only do 4 releases per year, so they have more time in between). Players can guess what's coming because it's fairly predictable (the next one will be a dungeon, then a paid expansion with 1 map and 1 new feature) but they don't actually announce it until it's about to come out (for the expansions it's when pre-purchase starts).

And I don't think single-player games are comparable, because they have a limited 'lifespan' for releases so it's pretty much until an expansion or DLC is announced it's reasonable to assume one isn't coming so it's less of a big deal if nothing is announced. Or maybe I just don't talk to the 'right' people about single-player games so I never see people freaking out because they don't know what's being worked on?

@Danikat.8537 said:Do other MMOs normally announce their schedule of releases months or years in advance?

My only other MMO is Elder Scrolls Online but they only ever announce the next release, and then only a month or so before it comes out (they only do 4 releases per year, so they have more time in between). Players can guess what's coming because it's fairly predictable (the next one will be a dungeon, then a paid expansion with 1 map and 1 new feature) but they don't actually announce it until it's about to come out (for the expansions it's when pre-purchase starts).

And I don't think single-player games are comparable, because they have a limited 'lifespan' for releases so it's pretty much until an expansion or DLC is announced it's reasonable to assume one isn't coming so it's less of a big deal if nothing is announced. Or maybe I just don't talk to the 'right' people about single-player games so I never see people freaking out because they don't know what's being worked on?

Lotro announces new maps, dlcs, raids and expansions a year in advance. It also provides a full calendar of festivals and festival encores by date with a subject to change. It also does regular blogs from the director. We always know what is being worked on and there is clear pride and enjoyment in the communication from the devs.

Funcom did similar prior to most games going into maintenance mode.

There is no set rule that mmos follow and not all are as dedicated, but GW2 is certainly one of the least communicative of all and the reason comes seems to stem from a missing level of leadership.

@DaniTheHero.6318 said:

@"Trise.2865" said:Guild Wars 2 is not going away any time soon. The worst-case scenario is it stops moving forward.

Tell that to Lineage 2.

@DaniTheHero.6318 said:Should i be worried? Play less? Or is there a bright future unannounced or that i'm not aware of?

Nah! Just look at Guild Wars 1.

1. GW3= I'ts never going to happen so don't worry about it. This was MO's dumb idea that NCSOFT put a stop to when they cancelled the side projects and one of them was him playing around with the idea of GW3.

I can see how stupid of an idea it is, when an MMO is not even 7 years old and they're about to ditch there player base AGAIN for another sequel. Especially after all the money people have invested in gw2 through the gem store and expansions.

MO has horribly mis managed the entire GW property since the beginning and NCSOFT put a stop to another stupid mistake by canning the GW3 idea and letting him go (he left on his own own accord but he was i'm sure also told where the door was)

GW3 was a good idea if only to break away from the engine limitations on GW2.

@wrathmagik.3518 said:

1. GW3= I'ts never going to happen so don't worry about it. This was MO's dumb idea that NCSOFT put a stop to when they cancelled the side projects and one of them was him playing around with the idea of GW3.

I can see how stupid of an idea it is, when an MMO is not even 7 years old and they're about to ditch there player base AGAIN for another sequel. Especially after all the money people have invested in gw2 through the gem store and expansions.

MO has horribly mis managed the entire GW property since the beginning and NCSOFT put a stop to another stupid mistake by canning the GW3 idea and letting him go (he left on his own own accord but he was i'm sure also told where the door was)

I'd be quite curious to see the statements that Mike O'Brien was working on GW3. Or that anyone was working on GW3.

Funny how he 'mismanaged' the franchise for almost 20 years; you'd think if NCSoft thought he was so bad, they'd have removed him 19 years ago.

Although PvE has its problems, its still in a good state compared to PvP/WvW. But I don't think LW is sustainable, its not an end-game. Plus its a poor system for new players, having to buy the previous seasons on top of expos, missing LS1 entirely, etc.

@wrathmagik.3518 said:

1. GW3= I'ts never going to happen so don't worry about it. This was MO's dumb idea that NCSOFT put a stop to when they cancelled the side projects and one of them was him playing around with the idea of GW3.

I can see how stupid of an idea it is, when an MMO is not even 7 years old and they're about to ditch there player base AGAIN for another sequel. Especially after all the money people have invested in gw2 through the gem store and expansions.

MO has horribly mis managed the entire GW property since the beginning and NCSOFT put a stop to another stupid mistake by canning the GW3 idea and letting him go (he left on his own own accord but he was i'm sure also told where the door was)You might want to read up a bit on NCSoft before making such claims, they are infamous for being horrible with their games. Pretty much every game that NCSoft has published in the last decade has completely failed, several of them blockbusters.

And then they go on to publish sequels and those fail too. Its like a black hole of money.

@"wrathmagik.3518" said:

1. GW3= I'ts never going to happen so don't worry about it. This was MO's dumb idea that NCSOFT put a stop to when they cancelled the side projects and one of them was him playing around with the idea of GW3.

I can see how stupid of an idea it is, when an MMO is not even 7 years old and they're about to ditch there player base AGAIN for another sequel. Especially after all the money people have invested in gw2 through the gem store and expansions.

MO has horribly mis managed the entire GW property since the beginning and NCSOFT put a stop to another stupid mistake by canning the GW3 idea and letting him go (he left on his own own accord but he was i'm sure also told where the door was)

I don't think MO and the teams were working on GW3. Taking into account that ANet was already owned by NC Soft at that time it is naive to think that MO wanted to make them a surprise showing them a product NC Soft never asked.

Most probably the "projects not related to GW2" were related with the new MO's company and game. That means MO worked on a potentially competitor for GW2 using NC Soft money and resources. This can explain the violent reaction from NC Soft. Because I cannot believe that working to projects ordered by NC Soft can lead to abruptly firing the developers working on them. Unless the developers were very unskilled and this was the sole reason the projects were abandoned. But I doubt this.

Well, these are only guesses. But this fits perfectly with the lack of communication from ANet part - the usual attitude.

@Cristalyan.5728 said:

@"wrathmagik.3518" said:

1. GW3= I'ts never going to happen so don't worry about it. This was MO's dumb idea that NCSOFT put a stop to when they cancelled the side projects and one of them was him playing around with the idea of GW3.

I can see how stupid of an idea it is, when an MMO is not even 7 years old and they're about to ditch there player base AGAIN for another sequel. Especially after all the money people have invested in gw2 through the gem store and expansions.

MO has horribly mis managed the entire GW property since the beginning and NCSOFT put a stop to another stupid mistake by canning the GW3 idea and letting him go (he left on his own own accord but he was i'm sure also told where the door was)

In fact the possibility of buying themselves came up repeatedly over the years, and was likely an "end goal" for the company.

This is all just conjecture, but keep in mind when talking about the events surrounding ArenaNet's relationship with NCSoft, you need to look not only at the recent events but also the events going all the way back to GW1. I'm happy that the developers have finally managed to move on and do what they wanted to do even if it meant leaving behind the Guild Wars franchise and IP /they created/, not NCSoft.

Take a look at NCSoft's other games, which are really products of their cash cow subsidaries, and you'll see what I mean. And this situation is not unique, the struggles of subsidaries with their parent companies, publishers and investors (sometimes these are all the same!) are well-known through the gaming world and the biggest cause of mismanagement, cancellation and/or failure.

It is rarely the developers theirselves, who are often pinned down from all sides, and above and below them.

(I can't give sources because most of this is lost in ancient Reddit threads, and the old forums.)

The game is dieing around the edges. PvP is a shell of its former self. WvW is deep in its golden years. Both are a ghost of what they were. PVE looks like its not bleeding players as fast as the others, but its still shrinking. The game as a whole isn't dead by any means, but parts of it are or nearly are.