GW2 after the layoffs

The devs said that gw2 would not suffer under the recent layoff at Arenanet, because there would be even more focus on the game. To me that seems incorrect. Sagas seem even like a smaller thing then previous LW :(.My question: Is Arenanet again working on other projects?

I really want to support the game, and not some other project that might be canceled again. Because I really do not like that a lot of GW2 money went to a canceled mobile game. Anyone ideas on this?

No way of knowing really but the only evidence we have so far was that anet was looking for staff to join their team and preferred someone who worked on console games ... so maybe it's to do with a new project or they just needed someone with that experience (not sure why, I'm not a computer person)

They have told us though that there will be LW releases every second month but have something in between to fill the gaps

Yes it frustrates me too having spent idk a good 1k+ on this game between 2019 and 2020 but I guess if you enjoy the game and u want something worth your money then go for it

Like before they aren't giving roadmaps or any indicators of things increasing in-game, only decreasing in stature (Episodes > Sagas; Raids > Strikes; and likely Fractals > Visions) so take that as you will.

You can't control them, but you can decide where to place your money.

Yeah the quality has absolutely been affected since then.

Nobody really knows what they are working on, if anything. The only rumor is they might be working on some kind of console game, but there's no actual info on that. Anet was never good at being transparent, so if they are working on anything, we wont know until its almost done already, when its too late for us to give any real input or ideas.

I used to spend a lot of time and money into GW2, but I stopped that. I have standards as to what I will spend money on, and sadly this franchise that I have loved for almost 20 years has dropped below that standard.

@Sanity Obscure.6054 said:Like before they aren't giving roadmaps or any indicators of things increasing in-game, only decreasing in stature (Episodes > Sagas; Raids > Strikes; and likely Fractals > Visions) so take that as you will.

Omg, this is so true. And I kinda feel like they are attracting the same people and not many new ones. People who liked to raid do strikes, it seems to me. So the new version does nothing except giving the raiderrs what they want: raids XD. And the people that want an easy raid mode, still want an easy raid mode, so they can do the story of the raid XD. Because not raiders want to experience the raid story and not this new stuff, but sadly Anet does not get that.

I don't think you can count on anything but a pleasant, low pressure journey financed by gem store purchases. Maybe Anet has bigger plans, but assume its a cash stream now, the owners will do what they wish with the revenue. It is still a lot of fun, just don't hope for more until you see it.

I think this release is better than the last, but we got the same content last season and it wasn't split into two maps. It also feels a bit grindier this time around. Like their solution was just to put tiers upon tiers of mastery points for masteries that really aren't that fun to begin with, and extra tiers just for higher rewards from chests which just wind up being... map currency? Currency for the new weapon skins that you need to craft the previous tier of anyway? I know a lot of people were upset about that. I just never bothered to craft the other tier.

It also feels like the exp is wayyyyy slower. So now we have more masteries and less exp.

All in all, I don't hate this release, but it's definitely not thrilling. I've found myself repeating the same three events on the new map for like an hour just trying to level this raven portal mastery... it's taking forever. Go kill some random mobs around an ice pillar, then go collect fish, then go kill some champ. And the meta bugs seemingly most of the time.

I really want the exalted shoulders but I'm like 15 statuettes away and I just can't bring myself to spend money on gems knowing that it's just getting funneled into some other game.

In fairness, it has never made sense to spend on a game assuming they will use it on what you like, businesses just do not operate that way. Spend your money if you want what they are selling now, ignore any evangelism on their part.

@Hashberry.4510 said:In fairness, it has never made sense to spend on a game assuming they will use it on what you like, businesses just do not operate that way. Spend your money if you want what they are selling now, ignore any evangelism on their part.

True, but if people spend money on this game to support GW2, it seems like an unwise business idea to spend most of that money on other things, because at some point pll will notice it and will give you less.

@brenda.9723 said:

@Hashberry.4510 said:In fairness, it has never made sense to spend on a game assuming they will use it on what you like, businesses just do not operate that way. Spend your money if you want what they are selling now, ignore any evangelism on their part.

Sure. This game was always better than it should have been, given its business model. I just think the owners decided they were leaving money on the table, and decided to invest that elsewhere. Disappointing, maybe short sighted, but its up to them.

And yet, money from other games financed Guild Wars 2. And it wasn't Guild Wars revenue used those 5 years it took to make Guild Wars 2.
I think some forget that.

One never knows, perhaps the new projects might be something even more enjoyable. Or create much more revenue to be used for Guild Wars 2. /shrug

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I think this release is better than the last, but we got the same content last season and it wasn't split into two maps.

They just released one map half as frequently. It's roughly the same taking that into account.

Servers about to close down soon every one getting laid off.

Everyone should understand something: You already bought (and used) the product(s). It's not your money anymore. Let it go.You want a say in company finances? buy statistically significant shares in NCSoft.

This has nothing to do with this or any game. It's simply how sales transactions work.

@Trise.2865 said:Everyone should understand something: You already bought (and used) the product(s). It's not your money anymore. Let it go.You want a say in company finances? buy statistically significant shares in NCSoft.

This has nothing to do with this or any game. It's simply how sales transactions work.

I disagree. Anet wants a GW2 fan community. This means you cant ignore their voices. If Anet was smart, they will have an insentive to not be like this. Your argument works for quick money with no relationship between the consumers and the company.

@brenda.9723 said:

@Trise.2865 said:Everyone should understand something: You already bought (and used) the product(s). It's not your money anymore. Let it go.You want a say in company finances? buy statistically significant shares in NCSoft.

This has nothing to do with this or any game. It's simply how sales transactions work.

A fan community doesn't pay the rent. Forget the illusion that companies are your friends or are trying to be. It's a very important lesson to learn out there!

Omg, this is so true. And I kinda feel like they are attracting the same people and not many new ones. People who liked to raid do strikes, it seems to me. So the new version does nothing except giving the raiderrs what they want: raids XD. And the people that want an easy raid mode, still want an easy raid mode, so they can do the story of the raid XD. Because not raiders want to experience the raid story and not this new stuff, but sadly Anet does not get that.

Trust me, the least thing raiders want to have are more strikes. No, really...strikes are just a cheap excuse for shipping instanced content. You can't combine strikes to raids. They aren't aimed at the same target audience. For every serious raider strikes are a joke and definitely not of a challenge. If you want to strikes are easy mode raids but in case of Boneskinner again too hard for the casual crowd. Anet won't close the gap between those 2 groups. The game is too complex and the difference between a skilled player and a casual open world one is too big.

Depends on what you mean with quality. Before the layoffs they had lots of people working on other projects. Now people were laid off and the projects cancelled, so that means that they shouldn't have fewer people working on GW2. The problem lies more in the fact that they never really wanted to do certain things like expansions that players ask for because, well, they don't wanna basically. The Sagas are their attempt to show that expansions are not needed. But what if that fails? And so far I don't see it be successful at replacing what expansions do for a game.

In the end a game like this wants people to play over longer periods. For them people playing are people who can be exposed to sales opportunities (gem store) and this leads to more sales and revenue. So what an expansion does aside from adding a large chunk of content is a new paradigm to the game, a new way of looking at the same game. This can be achieved by major revamps of the combat system, new classes and new things to do like when masteries and mounts were introduced. That level of change I don't see them do with these Sagas.

"Support the game", just enjoy yourself. The game could close tomorrow, or it could keep going for years. It doesn't matter. You can only enjoy it right now, so don't think about the future. Treat it the same you treat every other indulgence. Want pizza tonight? You can afford it? It won't be around even a week from now, but sure, why not. Keep your relationship with the game healthy, positive. End up in an impasse? Consider contributing constructive criticism and then walk away. Don't linger where there's no joy for you. (And don't overthink yourself out of the joy just because other people are in different places. You come first.)

In regards to the LW size, so far it looks like they moved from LWS4's 3-4 month cycle to 2 month cycle. While I'm not personally ready to chisel anything into granite yet, smaller updates aren't exactly a surprise. These are turbulent times, more frequent updates deliver steady publicity, and expanding maps are a good solution to keeping the maps adequately inhabited, especially later on. Look how Skyscale ties the last season together, it brings people back to the maps without oversaturating the game with major metas. (Also space means nothing anymore, you'll zoom-zoom through the map with your mounts in a hurry anyway.) Call me crazy, but I think they have a plan, and they have a fair focus on sustainability.

I don't play the other modes so I'm not really entitled to an opinion there, but not having anything specific I want to hear, I have instead focused on the communication itself. It's there, they're working on stuff. After the way build templates went down, they're probably (and justifiably) pretty careful too. It's not quite up there with HL3, but what the players expect and what the bookkeeper tells them they need to do can still be really, really far apart.

@"cptaylor.2670" said:I think this release is better than the last, but we got the same content last season and it wasn't split into two maps. It also feels a bit grindier this time around. Like their solution was just to put tiers upon tiers of mastery points for masteries that really aren't that fun to begin with, and extra tiers just for higher rewards from chests which just wind up being... map currency? Currency for the new weapon skins that you need to craft the previous tier of anyway? I know a lot of people were upset about that. I just never bothered to craft the other tier.

It also feels like the exp is wayyyyy slower. So now we have more masteries and less exp.

All in all, I don't hate this release, but it's definitely not thrilling. I've found myself repeating the same three events on the new map for like an hour just trying to level this raven portal mastery... it's taking forever. Go kill some random mobs around an ice pillar, then go collect fish, then go kill some champ. And the meta bugs seemingly most of the time.

I really want the exalted shoulders but I'm like 15 statuettes away and I just can't bring myself to spend money on gems knowing that it's just getting funneled into some other game.

It's true that two updates now are about the same as one update before...but we are getting them more frequently.

@brenda.9723 said:

@Sanity Obscure.6054 said:Like before they aren't giving roadmaps or any indicators of things increasing in-game, only decreasing in stature (Episodes > Sagas; Raids > Strikes; and likely Fractals > Visions) so take that as you will.

Strikes are not filling the role of raids.

@DoRi Silvia.4159 said:No way of knowing really but the only evidence we have so far was that anet was looking for staff to join their team and preferred someone who worked on console games ... so maybe it's to do with a new project or they just needed someone with that experience (not sure why, I'm not a computer person)

They have told us though that there will be LW releases every second month but have something in between to fill the gaps

Yes it frustrates me too having spent idk a good 1k+ on this game between 2019 and 2020 but I guess if you enjoy the game and u want something worth your money then go for it

Every second month? It was November the last one Its February next few days thats 3- 4 months...

@finkle.9513 said:

@DoRi Silvia.4159 said:No way of knowing really but the only evidence we have so far was that anet was looking for staff to join their team and preferred someone who worked on console games ... so maybe it's to do with a new project or they just needed someone with that experience (not sure why, I'm not a computer person)

They have told us though that there will be LW releases every second month but have something in between to fill the gaps

Yes it frustrates me too having spent idk a good 1k+ on this game between 2019 and 2020 but I guess if you enjoy the game and u want something worth your money then go for it

Well they do have winter break so lets see when episode 3 is released.

@Linken.6345 said:

@finkle.9513 said:

@DoRi Silvia.4159 said:No way of knowing really but the only evidence we have so far was that anet was looking for staff to join their team and preferred someone who worked on console games ... so maybe it's to do with a new project or they just needed someone with that experience (not sure why, I'm not a computer person)

They have told us though that there will be LW releases every second month but have something in between to fill the gaps

Yes it frustrates me too having spent idk a good 1k+ on this game between 2019 and 2020 but I guess if you enjoy the game and u want something worth your money then go for it

Oh well then, they do need a break as they have working endlessly on fixing WvW, PvP, .... On no sorry I meant designing shinny things for the gem store!

@"brenda.9723" said:My question: Is Arenanet again working on other projects?Yes. We don't know on what, but it is confirmed that there are indeed Anet devs working not on GW2 but on some "unnamed project", so there's at least one of them in the works at the moment.

@"finkle.9513" said:Every second month? It was November the last one Its February next few days thats 3- 4 months...

17.9.2019, 19.11.2019, 28.1.2020. Consistent enough for me, and even if it's maybe a week behind, it definitely still qualifies as "every second month". Something something about licking.

LWS4 dates for reference: 28.11.2017, 6.3.2018, 26.6.2018, 18.9.2018, 8.1.2019, 14.5.2019. There's a Finnish idiom about how the time is slow (long) for someone who waits. Give them some slack, I'm sure they have already approached Thanos with a job opportunity.