Hypothetically, if a certain publisher bought GW2, how quickly would you leave?

[Danikat.8537]

I didn't know who NCSoft were until after I bought GW1 so the publisher had absolutely no influence on my decision, what persuaded me to get GW1 (and later GW2) was what I'd seen and heard about the game itself.

Whether they change publisher or not I'll continue to judge the game based on what's actually in it, not rumours about what might happen based on the companies involved. There are things they could do (hypothetically, I don't think any of them are likely) which would make me stop playing immediately, and many more things which might not put me off immediately but would make the game less fun for me, so I'd play it less and probably end up not playing it at all. (I don't conciously quit games, I don't plan my free time enough to do that. I just play whatever I feel like at the time, so if I'm consistently not enjoying a game I stop playing it without ever really making a decision.)

Finally I agree with the people who have said it's very unlikely NCSoft would sell Anet, and if they bought themselves out I doubt it would be just so they could immediately sell to another publisher, so I don't think it's something anyone needs to worry about.

[Cyninja.2954]

If GW2 were to change publisher, I'd be far more concerned in what state the game must be for NCSoft to sell them off to Gamingo to being with.

 

It's not like Gamingo enjoys buying close to death MMORPGs only to try changing the business model. Those games most often were not lucrative or self-sustaining any longer any way.

 

As such the question should rather be:"In how bad of a state do you think would GW2 need to be for NCSoft to sell them off to Gamingo to begin with?" At which point I believe the premise becomes clear that the game would have to be in such a bad state, that most players would have left far before the publisher change. 🤷‍♂️

Edited December 20, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Astralporing.1957]

6 hours ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

ArenaNet added ~150 people to work on the other projects; the same amount of people were let go.  Since NCSoft was and is the publisher, they were aware before and after.  We really don't know if it NCSoft's idea to branch out, and then change their mind.  🤷‍♂️

Regardless, the studio didn't lose the amount of people working on Guild Wars 2. 

Actually, most of the people that went to those other projects were first pulled off GW2. For example, why do you think we ended up without an expac after ls4? It's because at some time after PoF the whole expansion team just mysteriously disappeared to somewhere (that was not GW2).

[nosleepdemon.1368]

Exactly how nice are these new skins we're talking about here?

[Blude.6812]

You left out a forth choice to check

I would like  another option in the poll. Something like

• instantly!
• stick around until a specific line is crossed.
• Stay till the bitter end!
•  

This is just another bad poll just for the sake of making a poll.!!

[Nova.4608]

I mean, the few developers remaining are creatively bankrupt and/or obviously severely understaffed at this point. The latest expansion is evidence enough. A new publisher is the least of the game's concerns.

GW2 has been bleeding players for a very long time now. A miracle happened in the form of WoW having a stroke, then falling down the stairs just to end in a pit of boiling oil that is the lawsuit situation. That revitalized the game a bit, but even that breath of fresh air is on it's last legs and the new expansion isn't hyping basically absolutely anyone i know.

The game needs a breath of fresh air and if that means a new publisher then so be it. If the publisher then decides to ruin the game, it'll just hasten the slow bleeding the game has been suffering for so long. The end result is the same regardless of who's at the helm if things don't change

Edited December 20, 2021 by Nova.4608

[Dami.5046]

If you want a new publisher all i'm saying is be careful what you wish for.🤷‍♂️

[nosleepdemon.1368]

1 hour ago, Nova.4608 said:

I mean, the few developers remaining are creatively bankrupt and/or obviously severely understaffed at this point. The latest expansion is evidence enough. A new publisher is the least of the game's concerns.

GW2 has been bleeding players for a very long time now. A miracle happened in the form of WoW having a stroke, then falling down the stairs just to end in a pit of boiling oil that is the lawsuit situation. That revitalized the game a bit, but even that breath of fresh air is on it's last legs and the new expansion isn't hyping basically absolutely anyone i know.

The game needs a breath of fresh air and if that means a new publisher then so be it. If the publisher then decides to ruin the game, it'll just hasten the slow bleeding the game has been suffering for so long. The end result is the same regardless of who's at the helm if things don't change

 

I'm cautiously interested in the new expansion, even though I don't usually go for 'Asian themed' stuff because I find the heavy colour schemes to be insufferable. But I have faith in ANet's map design, they can probably pull it off. The Elite specs were improved in the last beta and the siege turtle was neat, so that's also good.

Edited December 20, 2021 by nosleepdemon.1368

[Artemis.8034]

13 hours ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

Really!?  I've never heard that; only that ArenaNet is wholly-owned subsidiary of NCSoft.  Have you any citations?

Anet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft since 2002

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/NCSoft

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1039687744145999273

 

To explain what that means 

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/2-382-4239?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true

 

[Artemis.8034]

2 hours ago, Nova.4608 said:

I mean, the few developers remaining are creatively bankrupt and/or obviously severely understaffed at this point. The latest expansion is evidence enough. A new publisher is the least of the game's concerns.

GW2 has been bleeding players for a very long time now. A miracle happened in the form of WoW having a stroke, then falling down the stairs just to end in a pit of boiling oil that is the lawsuit situation. That revitalized the game a bit, but even that breath of fresh air is on it's last legs and the new expansion isn't hyping basically absolutely anyone i know.

The game needs a breath of fresh air and if that means a new publisher then so be it. If the publisher then decides to ruin the game, it'll just hasten the slow bleeding the game has been suffering for so long. The end result is the same regardless of who's at the helm if things don't change

I tend to agree , they can limp along with vet players and dwindle numbers but try to keep things going by releasing more store items to keep the vets interested, but that only turns the game into maintenance mode. They need to draw in new players and keep them with content that flows regularly, the shop will handle its self with more players added to the game. The time to strike is while blizzard is in a downturn, they could overtake the king if they do it right. And I think most want the game to flourish.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

58 minutes ago, Artemis.8034 said:

Anet is a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft since 2002

 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/NCSoft

https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1039687744145999273

 

To explain what that means 

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/2-382-4239?transitionType=Default&contextData=(sc.Default)&firstPage=true

 

I'm well aware of what a wholly-owned subsidiary is, which is why I posted that it was one.  I asked about the statement made about ArenaNet's contract having a clause allowing them to buy out. 

[DeanBB.4268]

What's the point of this? Hypothetically...

...Anet could close the game any time.

...the internet could go away

...Windows could no longer support games

...video cards could be near impossible to buy...oh, wait...

I mean, what is the point of this at all?

[Redfeather.6401]

20 hours ago, The Greyhawk.9107 said:

Always nice to meet a fellow Tenno out in the wild.

 

Last week's update blew my mind. I made a topic on the official forums about how amazed I was and how truly impressive it all was. How in the world did they do all that. And what is yet to come out of it. 😲

Edited December 20, 2021 by Redfeather.6401

[Krzysztof.5973]

5 hours ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

What's the point of this? Hypothetically...

...Anet could close the game any time.

...the internet could go away

...Windows could no longer support games

...video cards could be near impossible to buy...oh, wait...

I mean, what is the point of this at all?

It's a hypothetical. OP is curious what would community do in this hypothetical. No need for nihilistic takes.

[Ryou.2398]

As long as it its a good company, the issue I have is most do not even look at a companies history and blindly trust them.

[monpetit.9764]

There is no company like ANet, for all their quirky priorities on what they think GW2 should be updated with, I don't think I can trust a single developer in the MMO landscape to even remotely understand the game at all. GW2 is very unique and still standing for a good reason.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

21 minutes ago, monpetit.9764 said:

There is no company like ANet, for all their quirky priorities on what they think GW2 should be updated with, I don't think I can trust a single developer in the MMO landscape to even remotely understand the game at all. GW2 is very unique and still standing for a good reason.

OP said publisher, not developer.  As in if NCsoft sold Gw2 and Anet to a different publisher.

[Dami.5046]

11 hours ago, DeanBB.4268 said:

What's the point of this? Hypothetically...

...Anet could close the game any time.

...the internet could go away

...Windows could no longer support games

...video cards could be near impossible to buy...oh, wait...

I mean, what is the point of this at all?

I would miss the confused emote for one.😭

[Batel.9206]

If EA took over, I'd leave immediately. Nothing they did could get me to come back. Ever. They ran Dragon Age and Mass Effect into the ground, allowed SWTOR to eke out a pitiful existence as a shadow of what it could be, caused BioWare to crash and burn...among other things.

...if it was anyone else, I'd very cautiously stay until a line was crossed. Implementing P2W items in the gemstore (or just focusing so heavily on the gemstore to the exclusion of all else), introducing a gear grind with each new expansion, adding a subscription...things like that. I'd leave.

Fortunately, this is all hypothetical, and we're in no danger of it happening. 😄 

[Lord of the Fire.6870]

if you mean with 'cutthroat publisher' gamigo or gameforge my answer can only be only instantly. Both keeping their MMOs in an undead state until they got really shut down while milking them as much as they can.

 

On the other side there a plenty of games I wished were buy to play like gw2 a lot of MMOs went down on the business side while the game itself was good. In general this is a problem for MMOs you need reinvest a lot and keep a healthy population in the game while you need to keep the investors happy.

 

Those cutthroat publisher decided aiming for max profit and p2w(or even p2progess behind lootboxes) which results in squeezing the whole population out.

[Ashen.2907]

On 12/20/2021 at 3:53 AM, Cyninja.2954 said:

If GW2 were to change publisher, I'd be far more concerned in what state the game must be for NCSoft to sell them off to Gamingo to being with.

 

It's not like Gamingo enjoys buying close to death MMORPGs only to try changing the business model. Those games most often were not lucrative or self-sustaining any longer any way.

 

As such the question should rather be:"In how bad of a state do you think would GW2 need to be for NCSoft to sell them off to Gamingo to begin with?" At which point I believe the premise becomes clear that the game would have to be in such a bad state, that most players would have left far before the publisher change. 🤷‍♂️

To be fair, I doubt any company who buys failing businesses in order to get cheap access to their resources so that they can milk the business for a few bucks more than they put in before chopping it up, selling off the component parts, and then shutting it down do so because they enjoy it. They do it because they can make money in the process.

 

I am not inherently against this because the business was failing anyway, but all too often these buyouts (not referreing specifically to MMOs here) are pursued in a manner that impairs the business from pursuing means to avoid collapse.

[Teratus.2859]

On 12/19/2021 at 8:45 PM, EpicName.4523 said:

I have invested a lot of time in this game to simply leave. However, you know that S is hitting the fan if the buyer is:

 

-EA - Nothing bad said about this company will be untrue. Literally nothing.

-ActiBlizz - The real talent left and the only thing pushing these guys forward is corporate greed creating wealth on the backs of overworked and underpaid staff. Complete lack of passion or vision.

-Epic - Well-known sleazebags with connections to Tencent and capable of extracting personal information without you even being aware.

Amazon - Company owned by one of the richest, most well connected men of earth, throwing its tentacles at everything and polluting it with its filth.

 

Any of the above can make me quit if it comes to it.

Pretty much my thoughts as well.

Though I'll add that the actions of the publisher on Gw2 will also play a part for a lot of other companies as well.

Like if Square bought GW2 and implemented a Subfee, I would walk away in a heartbeat.. even if the sub would only apply to new players joining after the buyout, i'd still quit on principle.
I will never support a game that enforces mandatory subs, never! 

[Danikat.8537]

A mandatory subscription fee is one of the things which would make me quit.

If it was priced comparably to other games I could afford it (at the moment, there have been times in the past 9 years I couldn't) but subscription fees just don't work for me. My free time is very unpredictable, I never know how much time I'll have for a game over the next 30 days so I can easily end up paying for time I never get to use. Some people compare the price of a subscription fee to a (IMO over priced) coffee from a shop, and for me it would be like buying that coffee, taking a couple of sips and then having to throw it away because I need to go somewhere I'm not allowed to bring it.

But also when I'm paying for something I then feel like I need to use it to make sure I get my money's worth (and that pressure is even worse given the above problem) but then I end up feeling like I'm forcing myself to play because I've paid for it and I don't enjoy it as much.

I think the only way it could work for me is if there was some sort of 'pay as you go' subscription where you buy a number of hours and the time only runs down while you're logged in. But as far as I'm aware that's never been done.

[kharmin.7683]

3 hours ago, Danikat.8537 said:

I think the only way it could work for me is if there was some sort of 'pay as you go' subscription where you buy a number of hours and the time only runs down while you're logged in. But as far as I'm aware that's never been done.

I wouldn't think that this would be a profitable business model, which is probably why it hasn't been done.  Or, at least, not as profitable as the other, current options in the industry.

[The Greyhawk.9107]

52 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

I wouldn't think that this would be a profitable business model, which is probably why it hasn't been done.  Or, at least, not as profitable as the other, current options in the industry.

Not viewed as profitable to Arenanet and NCsoft, other companies might make different decisions even using the same info that the current Anet uses.