Guild Wars 3 while keeping Guild Wars 2?

[jokke.6239]

So .. Path of Exile is getting a "sequel" .. It's not your traditional sequel though. They are overhauling the engine, creating a new big campaign, updated graphics/character models, changes to skill system etc WHILE keeping Path of Exile 1 (with graphical updates as well) with both games having shared endgame.What are the benefits of this?

When the "new" game is released the game will already have years of endgame content that a new game would take years to catch up to.All your progress from the previous game is saved.They can still market the game as Path of Exile 2 and grab the attention from news outlets and the gaming community

And I thought .. Wouldn't Guild Wars 2 be a perfect fit for this model?It might be pointless for other MMO's where all previous content/maps is irrelevant when you get to powerful, but that's not an issue for GW2.

So if it would be possible to completely overhaul the Guild Wars 2 engine I think it would probably be worth the effort/cost to do it and then ..

Create a new big open world (Core Tyria size) and story with 1-80 content with modern graphics.Update or completely recreate the character modelsIf possible update the graphics of older zones

• Whatever Arena Net would want for a sequel

This might not be likely or even possible.I don't know much about game development, but I personally think this is a great way that Path of Exile is creating a sequel that I wish more games would adapt to, so why not try and suggest it for my favorite game? hehe ..Would you prefer a traditional sequel?Thanks for reading ..

[castlemanic.3198]

Considering that Anet had to let go of 100 members of their team for focusing on things other than GW2, i really don't think the risk involved in this type of production would be worth it.

[jokke.6239]

@castlemanic.3198 said:Considering that Anet had to let go of 100 members of their team for focusing on things other than GW2, i really don't think the risk involved in this type of production would be worth it.

Maybe, maybe not. We don't know what they are planning. For all we know all those dropped projects could be unrelated to the Guild Wars franchise. They are still the same size of developers as they were when they created Guild Wars 2 I believe.I choose to stay hopeful for more to come, we are getting an expansion afterall, I don't think it's unrealistic to see Guidl Wars 3 sometime in the future.

[Super Hayes.6890]

It is an interesting concept. I wager that most gaming studios will sit back and wait to see what happens before risking thier own resources on such a venture.

[Ayrilana.1396]

A problem that I see is that due to the way GW2 is designed, it doesn’t appear to have an appeal to other MMO players. The game could be re-made but it’d primarily be for the benefit of existing players.

Besides, they’d be better off just making an entirely different game. This would also them to revisit areas from GW2 as players hop on the nostalgia train which is what we’ve been doing for the majority of GW2.

[sitarskee.5738]

I don't think there will ever be GW3. Maybe 1/2 more expansions besides EoD and that's it. If they were to create another MMORPG, I would rather prefer them making a new, original one.

MMORPGs are those games which get old very slow, so GW2 still has many years ahead of it.

[BlackLotus.8349]

You know PoE2 isn't a new concept, but actually inspired by GW1, since only EotN was a true expansion in the sense we're all familiar with; Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall are all complete games in their own right that can be played either separately or in combination with one another, which is what PoE2 is doing.

I do want to see a Guild Wars 3. Frankly I'm sick of this current era of games that want to remain relevant for decades, such as WoW. While expansions have always been nice, getting new games in a franchise has always been nice because each new game is built around new systems and you don't have to patch things in round about ways due to old coding or old designs. It gives developers a chance to go "Okay, what do we think worked really well in GW2 and what would we like to see done differently in hindsight?"

[DeanBB.4268]

If Anet ever is to create GW3, I hope they follow this model. I know if they came out in 2022 and said "for the next 4 years we'll be making GW3" I would be unlikely to dump any more money into the game. If I knew that existing assets were to carry forward - bank tabs, bag slots, all those QoL purchases, etc.

But one has to think an all new game would mean new revenue streams for Anet, as everyone is a new player and buying bank tabs, bag slots, all those QoL purchases, etc.

[Stormcrow.7513]

I honestly find myself gravitating towards other games. GW2 is REALLY showing it's age. Between terrible textures, poor performance, an obsolete API, I just struggle to keep playing a game I love. I can't even play the game vanilla because the graphics are just antiquated. Thank goodness the art style pushes through the technical aspects.

Anet needs to get GW3 going asap or switch to a new IP.

[Astyrah.4015]

im all for a Guild Wars 3 -- one that doesn't invalidate any progress done in Guild Wars 2 -- all while having a new engine (with updated assets), new campaign ("full game" length and not "expansion"/"dlc" length), new game modes (or revamped WvW), new races and new professions

they can call it Guild Wars 3 or GW2: Remastered or whatever but i don't see it coming anytime soon (if at all -- or maybe some 5+ years later who knows)

[Taril.8619]

If they had the staff and funds to put towards making a GW3... They could simply use them to update GW2 instead of making GW3 that is GW2.1...

Personally, if they make a GW3, I'd rather it be set in a vastly different time period to GW2. So that the events of GW2 aren't particularly relevant to the story of the new GW3 and there can be new characters, a new plot (Or the same one revisited if they want to throw in some new Elder Dragons to deal with given Guild Wars' dragon theme)

With merely references to GW2 within the game. Such as memorials for notable characters, tales of valor about "Dragon's Watch" and the "Commander" and maybe even some references to the world state as it was in GW2 (Palawa Joko's reign, the Forged, White Mantle, Bandits etc).

As opposed to being a direct sequel, that merely continues the adventures of Dragon's Watch or just a graphical overhaul.

A benefit of this, is also that it means that GW2 need not actually end in order to have a GW3 exist as an additional game as the story progress in GW2 need not have an impact on GW3 (Which is a problem with some other games series that feature MMO's, such as Warcraft. Where Warcraft 4 cannot happen because of the continuing storyline from World of Warcraft unless they go full "Warcraft 40k" or something...)

[lare.5129]

GW3 is big riks. For example I, and many other don't see fun play gw3. But some ls or exp for current gw2 is ok.So on start ofc not all current players from gw2 comes, and I am not sure that new non -gw2 player count will be enought compared whit skippers.So on current economic world I can predict that nearest 20-30 yeas no gw3 come.

[Adry.7512]

Guys....I dont know how many times informed players have to say this. There will never be a GW3......Arenanet to exist for the sole purpose of only creating guild wars games that cancel out the prequel is not only unwise.....but frowned upon in a business perspective. For a company to thrive, it needs to expand....not be a 1 game franchise. Theyre going to not be able to expand on income.....and they will always be dependent on 1 single game to pay the bill? Guys, when analyzing this, the answer is clear. There can definitely be a different type of game within the GW universe, but there will never be a direct sequel like how GW1 is to GW2. Just some food for thought. Take care.

[firedragon.8953]

I would really like a "remastered" version of GW2. Honestly, there is a lot that the game gets right. I like the combat, heart system, map design, art direction (minus the over abundance of glowing things) and lore. However, I would mostly like a game engine optimized for newer hardware with higher resolution textures. A shortened yet playable fix for Living World S1 to actually introduce the main cast of characters after the Personal Story, reworked Dungeons (better rewards, solo story tracks, etc.), a more dynamic Zhaitan fight, better (or existent?) in game implementations for tutorials regarding mechanics such a CC, and of course some love for WvW (new battle toys, varied game types, alliances [actual guild wars...ya know?]) and PvP (stronger anti bot/hacking measures). Also I would love to see one or two Asia/Oceana dynamic server hubs (geographically centralized like Singapore-based server?) that would give priority and lower the ping of those regions' players closer to 100ms while on that server, but still being a part of the NA megaserver to not mess with NA populations, social connects, etc. (<- no idea if this is even a possible thing tbh)

I agree that there should not be a Guild Wars 3. It is hard to 'reset' an MMO since most players view their MMO as a type of 'dedicated relationship'. I think Arena Net would be better served making a single player next generation game called "Tyria" or something that utilizes fully flushed out story telling along the lines of the Witcher series with a multiplayer competitive PvP arena mode. It could be set long before the events of GW1, when humans were first brought to Tyria by the Six. Such a game would also likely also drive interest towards GW2 if people like the lore and universe, etc. without drawing current players away from the game.

[Astralporing.1957]

I'm afraid it wouldn't be as good as you think. Too great graphical engine upgrades, and the new game would become incompatible with the old areas. Too many of the much needed changes to the skill/combat engine (which was brilliant in theory and good for a niche consisting of highly dedicated and skilled players, but turned out to be a very bad choice in a game for a much wider audience), and it would be incompatible with any old game encounter.

Basically, the "compatibility" requirement would shackle the new game, restricting it to so few changes that the name of "gw3" would be a pure fiction. It would be something similar to GW1 Campaigns, and, as thus, something that would be in reality no different from an expansion (except for the ability to be played separately).

That's, of course, unless all that old stuff gets redone as well to make it compatible with the new one, but that would make it an engine upgrade/overhaul masqueraded as a new game. And if Anet could do such massive engine changes, they would have done them long ago. Before they had to lay off a lot of their employees.

Basically, all the stuff Anet can do that would retain compatibility with GW2 can be done under GW2 name. All the stuff that would make the new project a true GW3 title would by necessity make it incompatible with GW2.

Edit: One thing i should add is that creating/revamping the graphics engine is a massive undertaking. That's why currently only few developers have their own, developed in-house engines (and notice, how even then some were obtained by the convenience of buying out the original engine maker, which was considered to be much cheaper than making own stuff). Anet likely doesn't have the resources to do that and still continue working on GW2 at a level sufficient to keep players engaged. If they were doing gw3, they would likely be better off just doing what many other software developers now do - licensing some already existing engine from someone else. Unfortunately, this would cause all the old assets to become completely incompatible with the new engine to a much, much greater degree than, say, jumping from gw1 to gw2 (and we already know that the engine changes between those two games were already too big for any kind of compatibility).

They already tried to aim at some kind of transfer between gw1 and gw2 once, and we all know how it ended - not so well, and considerably underwhelming compared to their original plans. That was because at some point they realized that what they hoped they'd be able to do required way too much work to be a practical solution.

[anduriell.6280]

@"jokke.6239" said:So .. Path of Exile is getting a "sequel" .. It's not your traditional sequel though. They are overhauling the engine, creating a new big campaign, updated graphics/character models, changes to skill system etc WHILE keeping Path of Exile 1 (with graphical updates as well) with both games having shared endgame.What are the benefits of this?This is smart business. In a Game As a Service business model it is implied the company will not reset your characters, as such the player when buying gems feel confident is an investment.If Gw3 would happen and Anet wouldn't migrate characters and skins and gadgets (most importantly Black Lion skins and gadgets) players would not trust the company anymore and the Game as a Service model would not be sustainable. I would be very wary of buying any ingame currency if i knew it is only valid for X years (whatever that is).

That's why Blizzard instead selling WoW2 they reworked the game engine with new content and called it "Expansion".

[Ledi.9742]

while i am not a game developer yet, i have been studying video game development for several years, and large port of our teachers work in video game industry. and i can say pretty certainly that while this is nice idea, its not realistically possible.

anet is not a huge company with tons of resources and staff to spare, especially not after having to boot out large portion of their staff. they really do not have the manpower to focus on yet another large project without the quality and staff suffering, or having to put current projects in ice. they have already enough to do with icebrood saga and end of dragons.

stuff like this would be good idea only after current big projects are complete, and they do not have any other upcoming big projects scheduled. in other words any massive projects like this are unlikely until gw2 is "complete". only think i could realistically see them doing is updating the graphics of older maps to match newer ones, as long as they do it slowly over time.

[Vavume.8065]

@Astyrah.4015 said:

GW2: Remastered

This is all that needs to happen.

[coso.9173]

personally i'd love the idea. ad any idea that lets us keep the game while improving the graphics and engine.

[Solanum.6983]

I don't think GW2 is going anywhere anytime soon but If it ever came to it, Yes this is the approach I'd like to see rather than making a completely new game in the same world. They've built an incredible world over the years.The only problem is, this would be an insane task. They'd have to remake new assets and animations for 8+ years of content. They'd have a slight bit of less work when it comes to voice acting, stories, mount mechanics and other things but rebuilding the world alone would be a massive amount of work.If the day ever came where there was a GW3 I just wish they'd have something like maybe the ability to transfer legendaries so you could at least "Cash out" of GW2 if you wanted to move over to the newer game.

[jokke.6239]

@"BlackLotus.8349" said:You know PoE2 isn't a new concept, but actually inspired by GW1, since only EotN was a true expansion in the sense we're all familiar with; Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall are all complete games in their own right that can be played either separately or in combination with one another, which is what PoE2 is doing.

I do want to see a Guild Wars 3. Frankly I'm sick of this current era of games that want to remain relevant for decades, such as WoW. While expansions have always been nice, getting new games in a franchise has always been nice because each new game is built around new systems and you don't have to patch things in round about ways due to old coding or old designs. It gives developers a chance to go "Okay, what do we think worked really well in GW2 and what would we like to see done differently in hindsight?"

It's similar, but not the exact same concept.I haven't played Guild Wars 1, so maybe i'm wrong, but I don't think those "expansions" are anywhere near the same scale as Path of Exile 2.Path of Exile 2 feels like a regular sequel in scale, and it takes the game into a modern state. If you removed PoE 1 from the game and redesigned the UI, no one would suggest it wasn't a new game worthy of being a sequel.And then just the fact that it's marketed as Path of Exile 2 already makes it an entirely different concept.And sequels (even if not in a traditional way) brings much more attention than an expansion would.

[Astyrah.4015]

@"jokke.6239" said:I haven't played Guild Wars 1, so maybe i'm wrong,

this should give you an idea: https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Timeline

Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall happened nearly simultaneously see year 1072 and year 1075

so your story if you started at Cantha (Factions) what you're doing is happening at the same time as players who started their story in Ascalon (Prophecies) and all 3 campaigns connected to Eye of the North expansion which happened in 1078, hence BlackLotus calling EotN a "true expansion" the first three GW1 games were basically 3 stories happening at nearly the same time

[Ashantara.8731]

@"Astyrah.4015" said:im all for a Guild Wars 3 -- one that doesn't invalidate any progress done in Guild Wars 2 -- all while having a new engine (with updated assets), new campaign ("full game" length and not "expansion"/"dlc" length), new game modes (or revamped WvW), new races and new professions

That was the hope we GW1 players had when GW2 was announced. Tough luck, we got a completely different game instead.

So, do I want a GW3? - Not as as long as the suggested and welcome changes can instead be implemented into GW2.

[Astyrah.4015]

@Ashantara.8731 said:

@"Astyrah.4015" said:im all for a Guild Wars 3 -- one that doesn't invalidate any progress done in Guild Wars 2 -- all while having a new engine (with updated assets), new campaign ("full game" length and not "expansion"/"dlc" length), new game modes (or revamped WvW), new races and new professions

That was the hope we GW1 players had when GW2 was announced. Tough luck, we got a completely different game instead.

So, do I want a GW3? - Not as as long as the suggested and welcome changes can instead be implemented into GW2.

tbh im fine with just keeping GW2 and not having a GW3 at all. i only said that if a GW3 is announced/likely but as it is right now it's too early to tell and may not even happen at all (as i mentioned in my original comment). MMORPGs, assuming they don't run out of money, tend to have a long service life, so GW2 can keep on going with just updates to content/expansions and maybe better rendering/optimisation.

[Tere.4759]

Every day I go out and say Gosh, this world is beautiful, my characters are beautiful, the mounts are works of art. I don't think they need a GW3.