Thoughts on DRMs?

Farohna.6247 · January 13, 2021

Improve the rewards, something at least along the lines of the last fractal rush.

Possibly make them dynamic open world events where people can hop in and out, like a world boss or like the awakened invasions to give a more critical, urgent feel.

Overall, I don't mind them, but I think there needs to be more interesting incentives for a worthwhile grind, and speed up the story. Not feeling what should be true concern for Tyria. I do enjoy the enemy of my enemy is my friend aspect....or are they lol

Sobx.1758 · January 13, 2021

There were already popular threads about DRMs.

@Excursion.9752 said:For me DRM's are just not fun. Even if they added better rewards I probably would skip them as I have already.

Pretty much this^

LegendsOfTheWist.7591 · January 13, 2021

I value my naptime more.

Fueki.4753 · January 13, 2021

DRMs in Chapter 1 were mind-numbingly boring instances of recycled models, recycled mechanics and bloated HP bars.And with the unfunny joke the story became, I think not getting any content would have been far superior to Champions.

If the missions are going to be similar in chapter 2, with no significant improvements, then I won't play them outside of the story.

Nightcore.5621 · January 13, 2021

@"Hypnowulf.7403" said:The thing to consider... is that this isn't the only content that ArenaNet is working on right now. Indeed, they're also chipping away at the Canthan expansion. This was—quite unfortunate as it is—an executive mandate from NCSoft. ArenaNet wanted to continue with sagas from this point onward, which I believe might have been the right choice, but the bigwigs at NCSoft are all about their bottom-line as a publically traded corporation so an expansion was foisted upon ArenaNet without aught in the way of warning.
Thus, they have limited resources at hand. It isn't their fault that they find themselves in this position. Just as it isn't their fault Apple made continuing development on Mac platforms impossible. There are just a number of undesirable factors in confluence right now and they've no power to decide elsewise.
I'm not pleased about what's happened as I believe that the Cantha expansion could've happened at a much later date, I worry about crunch. I don't blame ArenaNet, though. I mean, this is what capitalism does for better and worse.
I am impressed, however, by what they've managed to achieve as I quite enjoyed the DRMs. Then again, my drive is for story, I don't find ephemeral numericals or "cheevos" as compelling as I reailse many do, so perhaps the ward system requires tweaking as they say. I wouldn't know. I do, however, agree that the bosses are a touch spongy. As a narrative experience to be taken as part of the greater whole of this Saga? I enjoy them. It was nice to see Taimi again and—shameless Icebrood cheerleader and Jormie proselytiser that I am—I was very excited to romp around alongside Ry-Ry. I might just be easy to please, especially where this storyline is concerned.
This, of course, brings us to the pricklier part of this assembly's proceedings: The obvious disenfranchisement of the hardcore.
I have discussed this topic at length. Raiding is a dopamine addiction, there's no end-point. I mean, it isn't just the drive for more difficult content because if it were, then one would chase the inverse-meta. One could equip sub-par items and utilise a strange, suboptimal build. This is about rewards and how they must be earned—if a reward is earned, it results in the dopamine hit that raiders simply need. However, this increases their power potential which means that future content must be more difficult. It's a never-ending cycle of difficulty vs. reward, and the further you strive down that sordid path, the less accessible to casual players your product becomes.
So here's the problem: Casuals are money, hardcore players are not. In the hardcore mindset, the need for reward dictates that ArenaNet should be doing all they can to sate that desire for the raider's "hard work." There is little concept of recompense that I have borne witness to in raid culture. What this means is that any product that isn't that one (World of Warcraft, yes) is doomed to bankruptcy. See: WildStar.
It's a matter of logistics. You have to consider the number of hardcore players (very few compared to other demographics), the cost of producing content entirely for them, and the profitability of that demographic. Unlike casuals, hardcore players are not money.
This is especially true in Guild Wars 2 where you know as well as I do that you can convert gold to gems—and who has the most gold? Raiders, the hardcore players. If you can convert gold to gems, you have no need to buy gems, and in conversing with any of the raiders I've met? They don't buy gems! Why would they? They can convert their excess masses of gold so why bother? ArenaNet has actually created a scenario in which hardcore players are even less profitable than they would be in other scenarios.
On the flipside? Casual players are money, as stated. We spend a lot of actual money on gems. ArenaNet needs actual money, not gold. I don't mean to be especially sardonic and patronising here (only a little) but NCSoft isn't interested in an ephemeral numerical. They care naught for however much gold you might have, their concern is only for filthy lucre, real world money to sate the ravenous hunger of their shareholders. If you've chosen to not be a source of this lucre, your words have no weight.
So this is a two-pronged issue: It's expensive to develop content for only one audience at the expense of all others, and that audience is the least profitable audience of all. That's why they've been throwing bones at best, it's why they're reusing content. You simply aren't profitable. You don't buy gems and what you want is unattainable.
Look at it this way: When you get to the point where ArenaNet can no longer deliver unto you that juicy, delectable, cajunga dopamine hit that you so desperately need, you'll all leave Guild Wars 2 in droves. This is what raiders do. They'll turn up at some game's doorstep as a minuscule yet ceaselessly chirruping mob, and they'll have unreasonable demands. I've seen it before so many times. Yes, trying to force any developer down this path—a path to bankruptcy—is unreasonable.
So you're not profitable and eventually you'll all leave anyway. NCSoft is a corporation interested in their bottom-line. Where's the profit to be made from appealing to you as a potential audience? Where's the money? The not-gold money?
Raid culture is its own self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. The problem is is that like gambling, operant conditioning chambers are addictions. If you really want an MMO to appeal to you above all else? Here's what you have to do: First of all, learn to temper yourself so that your addiction doesn't rule and ruin you. In order for this to be in any way sustainable, you have to be willing to accept a decreased dopamine flow. Next, remind yourselves that you're customers partaking of a product. You have to be profitable. If you're not? You won't get anywhere.
This is something I've explained countless times. The most profitable group is casual players who play in groups of 1-3, 3 as the upper-limit. 1-2 will be even more common an amount. This is why the content is focused around appealing to them, whereas other demographics get table scraps. Blame capitalism if you want, I mean that is fair. That's a good start as you could try to fashion your own product. If you do, though, be sure to teach these lessons to your customers or you'll end up just as bankrupt.
You have to meter yourselves and you have to be profitable. It might make you angry but that's the reality we live in. This is why MMOs have failed so often. Only the original—World of Warcraft—stands as an appeal to the hardcore raider. Every other MMO that has managed to survive caters to a more casual audience.
I mean, it makes sense. It's why outfits and mounts are sold rather than gated behind content one has to grind for—it's also why they're the best looking in the game. Casuals are money. If they weren't, content for other demographics would be the focus.
@Tazer.2157 said:DRMs can be designed to be group content [...]

This is a very bad idea. The core profitable demographic doesn't enjoy forced grouping, that's a raid thing. In doing this, ArenaNet would alienate their paying customers. I mean, you have to realise that. This is why they

don't

do it.

You could say that they could develop a system where players could replace NPCs, and certainly, they could do that! However, that costs development time and money (and time is also money!). The truth of the matter is, as I explained above, the raider demo isn't really a profitable one. In order for them to take their

very limited

resources away from developing other content, it would have to be towards a profitable goal.

They might do this in Cantha as it would be a less expensive way to keep their raider audience around. They can develop single-player content where AI characters hold the other roles, and then multiplayer content where players step into the bodies of other characters. That's something they might do, but you can't count on it.

You always have to consider the looming monolith of NCSoft. If ArenaNet does anything that really displeases them, it could mean a reshuffle and lost jobs or even the closure of their studio and the sunsetting of Guild Wars 2.

If you want that to change—as I've said—be profitable and be patient! If the data shows that your demographic is profitable, that's something ArenaNet can show. As it stands, there are only table scraps because there are voices at ArenaNet that do enjoy more hardcore content—just as you do—but it's a bad idea to make too much of it when it doesn't increase the value of ArenaNet or Guild Wars 2.

Eveything you said is so true.

Linken.6345 · January 14, 2021

@Nightcore.5621 said:
@"Hypnowulf.7403" said:The thing to consider... is that this isn't the only content that ArenaNet is working on right now. Indeed, they're also chipping away at the Canthan expansion. This was—quite unfortunate as it is—an executive mandate from NCSoft. ArenaNet wanted to continue with sagas from this point onward, which I believe might have been the right choice, but the bigwigs at NCSoft are all about their bottom-line as a publically traded corporation so an expansion was foisted upon ArenaNet without aught in the way of warning.
Thus, they have limited resources at hand. It isn't their fault that they find themselves in this position. Just as it isn't their fault Apple made continuing development on Mac platforms impossible. There are just a number of undesirable factors in confluence right now and they've no power to decide elsewise.
I'm not pleased about what's happened as I believe that the Cantha expansion could've happened at a much later date, I worry about crunch. I don't blame ArenaNet, though. I mean, this is what capitalism does for better and worse.
I am impressed, however, by what they've managed to achieve as I quite enjoyed the DRMs. Then again, my drive is for story, I don't find ephemeral numericals or "cheevos" as compelling as I reailse many do, so perhaps the ward system requires tweaking as they say. I wouldn't know. I do, however, agree that the bosses are a touch spongy. As a narrative experience to be taken as part of the greater whole of this Saga? I enjoy them. It was nice to see Taimi again and—shameless Icebrood cheerleader and Jormie proselytiser that I am—I was very excited to romp around alongside Ry-Ry. I might just be easy to please, especially where this storyline is concerned.
This, of course, brings us to the pricklier part of this assembly's proceedings: The obvious disenfranchisement of the hardcore.
I have discussed this topic at length. Raiding is a dopamine addiction, there's no end-point. I mean, it isn't just the drive for more difficult content because if it were, then one would chase the inverse-meta. One could equip sub-par items and utilise a strange, suboptimal build. This is about rewards and how they must be earned—if a reward is earned, it results in the dopamine hit that raiders simply
need
. However, this increases their power potential which means that future content must be more difficult. It's a never-ending cycle of difficulty vs. reward, and the further you strive down that sordid path, the less accessible to casual players your product becomes.
So here's the problem: Casuals are money, hardcore players are not. In the hardcore mindset, the need for reward dictates that ArenaNet should be doing all they can to sate that desire for the raider's "hard work." There is little concept of recompense that I have borne witness to in raid culture. What this means is that any product that isn't
that one
(World of Warcraft, yes) is doomed to bankruptcy. See: WildStar.
It's a matter of logistics. You have to consider the number of hardcore players (very few compared to other demographics), the cost of producing content entirely for them, and the profitability of that demographic. Unlike casuals, hardcore players are not money.
This is especially true in Guild Wars 2 where you know as well as I do that you can convert gold to gems—and who has the most gold? Raiders, the hardcore players. If you can convert gold to gems, you have no need to buy gems, and in conversing with any of the raiders I've met? They don't buy gems! Why would they? They can convert their excess masses of gold so why bother? ArenaNet has actually created a scenario in which hardcore players are even less profitable than they would be in other scenarios.
On the flipside? Casual players are money, as stated. We spend a lot of actual money on gems. ArenaNet needs
actual
money, not gold. I don't mean to be especially sardonic and patronising here (only a little) but NCSoft isn't interested in an ephemeral numerical. They care naught for however much gold you might have, their concern is only for filthy lucre, real world money to sate the ravenous hunger of their shareholders. If you've chosen to not be a source of this lucre, your words have no weight.
So this is a two-pronged issue: It's expensive to develop content for only one audience at the expense of all others, and that audience is the least profitable audience of all. That's why they've been throwing bones at best, it's why they're reusing content. You simply aren't profitable. You don't buy gems and what you want is unattainable.
Look at it this way: When you get to the point where ArenaNet can no longer deliver unto you that juicy, delectable, cajunga dopamine hit that you so desperately need, you'll all leave Guild Wars 2 in droves. This is what raiders do. They'll turn up at some game's doorstep as a minuscule yet ceaselessly chirruping mob, and they'll have unreasonable demands. I've seen it before so many times. Yes, trying to force any developer down this path—a path to bankruptcy—is unreasonable.
So you're not profitable and eventually you'll all leave anyway. NCSoft is a corporation interested in their bottom-line. Where's the profit to be made from appealing to you as a potential audience? Where's the money? The not-gold money?
Raid culture is its own self-fulfilling prophecy of doom. The problem is is that like gambling, operant conditioning chambers are addictions. If you really want an MMO to appeal to you above all else? Here's what you have to do: First of all, learn to temper yourself so that your addiction doesn't rule and ruin you. In order for this to be in any way sustainable, you have to be willing to accept a decreased dopamine flow. Next, remind yourselves that you're customers partaking of a product. You have to be profitable. If you're not? You won't get anywhere.
This is something I've explained countless times. The most profitable group is casual players who play in groups of 1-3, 3 as the upper-limit. 1-2 will be even more common an amount. This is why the content is focused around appealing to them, whereas other demographics get table scraps. Blame capitalism if you want, I mean that is fair. That's a good start as you could try to fashion your own product. If you do, though, be sure to teach these lessons to your customers or you'll end up just as bankrupt.
You have to meter yourselves and you have to be profitable. It might make you angry but that's the reality we live in. This is why MMOs have failed so often. Only the original—World of Warcraft—stands as an appeal to the hardcore raider. Every other MMO that has managed to survive caters to a more casual audience.
I mean, it makes sense. It's why outfits and mounts are sold rather than gated behind content one has to grind for—it's also why they're the best looking in the game. Casuals are money. If they weren't, content for other demographics would be the focus.
@Tazer.2157 said:DRMs can be designed to be group content [...]

This is a very bad idea. The core profitable demographic doesn't enjoy forced grouping, that's a raid thing. In doing this, ArenaNet would alienate their paying customers. I mean, you have to realise that. This is why they

don't

do it.

You could say that they could develop a system where players could replace NPCs, and certainly, they could do that! However, that costs development time and money (and time is also money!). The truth of the matter is, as I explained above, the raider demo isn't really a profitable one. In order for them to take their

very limited

resources away from developing other content, it would have to be towards a profitable goal.

They might do this in Cantha as it would be a less expensive way to keep their raider audience around. They can develop single-player content where AI characters hold the other roles, and then multiplayer content where players step into the bodies of other characters. That's something they might do, but you can't count on it.

You always have to consider the looming monolith of NCSoft. If ArenaNet does anything that really displeases them, it could mean a reshuffle and lost jobs or even the closure of their studio and the sunsetting of Guild Wars 2.

If you want that to change—as I've said—be profitable and be patient! If the data shows that your demographic is profitable, that's something ArenaNet can show. As it stands, there are only table scraps because there are voices at ArenaNet that do enjoy more hardcore content—just as you do—but it's a bad idea to make too much of it when it doesn't increase the value of ArenaNet or Guild Wars 2.

Eveything you said is so true.

Yea if you totaly dissregard that without people turning gold into gems, there is no incentive for casuals to buy gems and turn to gold.

LucianTheAngelic.7054 · January 14, 2021

DRMs are less mechanically interesting than dozens upon dozens of other story missions in the game. In LS3 we fought Balthazar in Draconis Mons and Lazarus in Siren’s Landing. LS4 had the robot thing from Sandswept, Joko, Thunderhead Kralk, and Dragon Fall Kralk. There are tons more instances of interesting bosses and missions in previous LS that are just leaps and bounds better than anything any of the current DRMs have to offer.

The only good thing that DRMs does is start to move story content into scalable content with different levels of mode difficulty. This is literally what Raids and Dungeons should have been since their inception. Everything that is good about Raids/Dungeons/Previous Story Missions should have been combined with DRM’s “difficulty levels” and “soloable or group content” design. This solves the “we can’t design raids/dungeons for people anymore because they’re not profitable” issue, as it streamlines all of the content into an easily re-usable design. All other major MMOs combine their story with their Raids & Dungeons and offer different difficulties, precisely for this and other reasons. Instead GW2 forces you to play through one-or-two-time story content to fight Elder Dragons and Gods in fairly unchallenging encounters and then relegates raids/dungeons/fractals/strikes to “other” content that is readily abandoned because “it takes too much money and effort to produce both story content and raids/dungeons/etc.”

The thing is this should’ve been a 2012 launch feature, or a HoT feature (when raids were added). Instead they went about rolling out dungeons/fractals/raids/strikes in completely incorrect ways that unnecessarily attempt to innovate on industry standards and then are surprised when their version doesn’t work out and costs too much to maintain content for.

DRMs in their current form are too little, too late, and not up to the quality expectations that the rest of the game since Living World Season 1 set.

Westenev.5289 · January 14, 2021

I think DRM's are an interesting concept, but I vastly preferred the DRM pre-events over the actual DRM. The starting event feels like I can play with or around less than capable players and have fun, but the actual DRM just feels like story mode. The boss is a health sponge, and the other players bring terrible open world builds which make them about as useful as the NPC allies...

sorudo.9054 · January 14, 2021

please don't use DRM, there is a reason why i don't like to use steam.

Danikat.8537 · January 14, 2021

@sorudo.9054 said:please don't use DRM, there is a reason why i don't like to use steam.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of that every time I see the acronym.

Tuna Bandit.3786 · January 14, 2021

Same here, grind them for the masteries and achievements, then turn around and never look back at these.Poorly implemented, predictable, copy/paste work.Not a single real developer was involved the 3 missions so far were 3 times same thing.Professional studios should NEVER resort to copy/paste, yet here we are.

sorudo.9054 · January 14, 2021

@Danikat.8537 said:
@sorudo.9054 said:please don't use DRM, there is a reason why i don't like to use steam.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks of that every time I see the acronym.

DRM for what it really means has existed for quite some time, just calling it something like DM would already lower the confusion.

Pifil.5193 · January 15, 2021

@AliamRationem.5172 said:
@sniperman.1738 said:
@Konrad Curze.5130 said:
@"Mortifera.6138" said:So DRMs are continuing in the new Champions episode

of course they are. we'r in the age of absolutly minimum effort on ANet's part

I wouldn't say Minimum effort, remember they are trying to finish up a living story while working on an expansion.

I love GW2, but the decision not to invest in its future by working on an expansion to follow PoF was disastrous. They've since corrected course, but all that time was wasted and now they are playing catch up, causing current content releases to suffer. I'm glad they're working on EoD, but DRMs as a means of advancing the story are indeed low-effort and not at all satisfying.

This is true. They should have carried on with the basic model of expansions followed by LS seasons but they decided to deviate from that saying they could deliver expansion level content in the LS. I suspect it was more because they hoped one of their side projects would pan out and they could switch their focus off GW2 to that but they didn't pan out.

So they decided or were told to switch back to an expansion model. Now they are playing catch up and these terrible quarter episode DRM chapters are the result of that. I am looking forward to the expansion but I'd much rather that they took time to finish the saga properly while working on a polished expansion. Instead I fear they will rush the expansion while at the same time pushing out a terrible finale to the saga.

If they somehow remove or defeat Primordus and Jormag in one of these DRMs then that will be a real shame and a terrible injustice to the Elder Dragon story-line.

Heck, it'll be an injustice to the word "saga."

Ashen.2907 · January 15, 2021

How are DRM mini-games but Strikes are not?

lezbefriends.7516 · January 15, 2021

@Ashen.2907 said:How are DRM mini-games but Strikes are not?

Your rotation/skills matter in a Strike. In DRMs, you have other objectives. GW2 likes to turn into a platformer sometimes.

Ashen.2907 · January 15, 2021

@Mortifera.6138 said:
@Ashen.2907 said:How are DRM mini-games but Strikes are not?

Your rotation/skills matter in a Strike. In DRMs, you have other objectives. GW2 likes to turn into a platformer sometimes.

I haven't played the DRM that is a platformer (which is not a bad thing as I do not care for platformer games).

Nilkemia.8507 · January 16, 2021

More forced grouping, which I don't like. Bosses aren't hard, just HP sponges that take longer than they need to (coupled with phases where the bosses are invulnerable or can't be hit just making this worse), and little if any story bits inside of them, which could've been handled in their own story instances, instead of trying to put this in the way for me to complete.

And what little story there is isn't really interesting.

I'm not sure what purpose this content serves again.

The Volcanic Stormcaller weapons might be neat...if the smoke effects didn't cover 75% or more of the weapons themselves. So thankfully I don't feel the need to grind for them.

Linken.6345 · January 16, 2021

@Nilkemia.8507 said:More forced grouping, which I don't like. Bosses aren't hard, just HP sponges that take longer than they need to (coupled with phases where the bosses are invulnerable or can't be hit just making this worse), and little if any story bits inside of them, which could've been handled in their own story instances, instead of trying to put this in the way for me to complete.
And what little story there is isn't really interesting.
I'm not sure what purpose this content serves again.
The Volcanic Stormcaller weapons might be neat...if the smoke effects didn't cover 75% or more of the weapons themselves. So thankfully I don't feel the need to grind for them.

Again you can play them solo if you enter alone in private.

Nilkemia.8507 · January 16, 2021

@Linken.6345 said:>Again you can play them solo if you enter alone in private.

I can, but it would take even longer, with all the other problems still remaining. It's not as blatant as Zhaitan pre-rework, or, alchemy forbid, mapping Dragon's Stand, but it's clearly designed in a way to make one choose grouping over not, if just to get it over with faster, since it doesn't seem to scale down for one person. Or at least it didn't, back when I did it.

Linken.6345 · January 16, 2021

@Nilkemia.8507 said:
@Linken.6345 said:>Again you can play them solo if you enter alone in private.

I can, but it would take even longer, with all the other problems still remaining. It's not as blatant as Zhaitan pre-rework, or, alchemy forbid, mapping Dragon's Stand, but it's clearly designed in a way to make one choose grouping over not, if just to get it over with faster, since it doesn't seem to scale down for one person. Or at least it didn't, back when I did it.

It do you probabely just have a low damage high survive build maybe?

Raizel Silverius.6430 · January 22, 2021

I find the Thunderhead one on CM is kinda annoying since the boss just dash all day long (then do some annoying 2 chain knockdowns wherein the 2nd hit is actually 2 hit - lifting wing/arm then shockwave). The lifting wing/arm one is hard to time since the moment it gets lifted, anything within melee range is instantly knock downed. If u do dodge it, u get hit by the shockwave next unless double dodge. The Block is a bit tricky too since the adds can remove it. I'm guessing stab is the way to go but the damage hurts too.

Another thing to point out in Thunderhead is the color of the environment + the AOE circles and fire. If the boss manage to stay in the middle near the forge, you need very very GOOD EYES to differentiate between where is the fire and which is the ORANGE AMBIANCE COLOR. Same goes with the small little destroyer crabs in the sea of adds if it goes hectic.

On a different note for the Thunderhead, anyone manage to understood how the dash targetting on the boss work? or is it fully random? My last attempt on running it solo, i manage to make it ping pong on the side pillars. But I kinda can't replicate it anymore since it always charges to anywhere it wants.

Haven't tried CM on Snowden so can't really give a thought about it,

Senteliks.2360 · January 22, 2021

@Zaraki.5784 said:
@sniperman.1738 said:
@Konrad Curze.5130 said:
@"Mortifera.6138" said:So DRMs are continuing in the new Champions episode

of course they are. we'r in the age of absolutly minimum effort on ANet's part

I wouldn't say Minimum effort, remember they are trying to finish up a living story while working on an expansion.

So are you implying "minimum effort" could have been getting nothing from here to new expansion?

Because nothing is the only worse thing than these pseudo-episodes.

Why are you still playing? I think it's rather ignorant to give statements like this, without directly having had a bitter taste of being sucked in position like this.

You literally nothing have to do to keep this game in library (expect optional purchase you may make from time to time, likely not) and login in from time to time to get the latest LS chapter, I mean I would understand this attitude if this game has model like ESO and I personally would find in unacceptable but you are literally awarded with whatever content (at least it's some content) by just playing. The most complaints come from people who invested not time, but their life in this game, over couple thousand hours, so perhaps a little stop to catch a breath won't hurt

Keidnard.9170 · January 22, 2021

The DRM concept is alright gameplay wise. They should be implemented as an alternative (group) content for all players, ideally scaling from lvl 20 on (scaling) for leveling new players (so there are more gameplay experiences possible for new (steam) players than just doing map hearts).

DRMs should not be hidden in a late game only hub. Bring them accessible from the main capitals somehow (Lion's Arch comes too late for new f2p/tryout players)

But as a story chapter, hidden deep in the late game, they are just underwhelming and disappointing if they are the only thing we get.

AliamRationem.5172 · January 22, 2021

@Senteliks.2360 said:
@Zaraki.5784 said:
@sniperman.1738 said:
@Konrad Curze.5130 said:
@"Mortifera.6138" said:So DRMs are continuing in the new Champions episode

of course they are. we'r in the age of absolutly minimum effort on ANet's part

I wouldn't say Minimum effort, remember they are trying to finish up a living story while working on an expansion.

So are you implying "minimum effort" could have been getting nothing from here to new expansion?

Because nothing is the only worse thing than these pseudo-episodes.

Why are you still playing? I think it's rather ignorant to give statements like this, without directly having had a bitter taste of being sucked in position like this.

You literally nothing have to do to keep this game in library (expect optional purchase you may make from time to time, likely not) and login in from time to time to get the latest LS chapter, I mean I would understand this attitude if this game has model like ESO and I personally would find in unacceptable but you are literally awarded with whatever content (at least it's some content) by just playing. The most complaints come from people who invested not time, but their life in this game, over couple thousand hours, so perhaps a little stop to catch a breath won't hurt

It's a good thing they did invest that time! The more time you spend, the more value you see in putting money into the endeavor. That's what the game ultimately needs to survive. Free content is a double-edged sword. It is free, so what do you have to complain about? But that won't pay the bills when players shift from putting in thousands of hours to maybe showing up 3 or 4 times a year to play some patch content. If you're a 2k+ hours kind of player, what are the chances you don't just seek the next big thing at that point?

Edit: Also wanted to note I have pre-ordered Amazon's MMO. I don't like the look of it, but you know what? GW2 is getting boring and the direction of this game is going down the tubes. I await EoD with every hope that it will revive this game for me and there is no question I will purchase it, but this current method of content delivery will kill the game for me if it continues and I am definitely keeping an eye out for that next big thing. Yeah, it's free content. It's also not holding my interest at all.

Senteliks.2360 · January 22, 2021

@AliamRationem.5172 said:
@Senteliks.2360 said:
@Zaraki.5784 said:
@sniperman.1738 said:
@Konrad Curze.5130 said:
@"Mortifera.6138" said:So DRMs are continuing in the new Champions episode