Where are all the players?

[THF.9672]

Just came back recently after hearing all the good EoD things, mainly about surging popularity and every zone I enter is completely empty, almost never any groups in LFG. Is NA still dead? I know EU has always had a healthy population but feels like not so much on NA server.

[Fueki.4753]

It's a really odd thing I noticed specifically about the EoD maps.

Outside of dedicated meta attempts, it feels like there always are only 5 players in one instance.

And with the maps being so big, it's not unusual to not meet any other player for hours.

[AliamRationem.5172]

If we're talking EoD the best I can tell is there's something wrong.  It seems to have lots of empty maps open all the time.   Possibly the player cap is too low? Whatever the reason it definitely feels empty a lot.

[kharmin.7683]

I think that a large portion of the player base burned through EoD maps and, after finding them not so rewarding, have moved back to previous maps.  /shrug

[Fueki.4753]

27 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

I think that a large portion of the player base burned through EoD maps and, after finding them not so rewarding, have moved back to previous maps.  /shrug

To me, the maps felt as empty at the beginning of the expansion as they do now.

That's why I don't think people being done with EoD is a big factor in this matter.

Edited May 2, 2022 by Fueki.4753

[Luthan.5236]

I am in EU. Mainly the living world season maps and the expansion maps are getting squads in lfg. Not the same for every stuff/meta - and mainly if a meta is up. (Some are more popular.)

The core tyria mainly has silverwastes. Drytop a bit more rare. (I think some guilds sometimes run events to make tier 6 in drytop.) As for map population in general:

We still have a lot here - seasonal stuff might take the veteran players away to other maps. (Now maybe some still in Diessa finishing events for that new achievement we got.)

The older maps  (core tyria) ... it depends I guess. Maps with more meta and awakened events and the anomaly - there might be more players. Especially if close to such an event. Other than that ... it will most likely be only newbies that play there. And I guess the startzer zones might have a higher player count - later  zones then only where players that didn't stop player (after trying it out in the starter zone) will got - unless they boost to level 80 and go to the latest content.

For the S3/S4 there always should be some people still going vor the legendary trinkets. When those maps are on daily there should be much more players though. (Some might wait for it to go on daily to also get the daily achievements.)

Can't say how this is for the US. If the playerbase there is smaller ... there will be less players of course. But how they are spread ... that should follow the same logics as in EU.

Edit: Somehow missted the part where it said "EoD" - only: Yeah I noticed that there are not many players. Maybe splitting more often. (More often generating a new map where players leave the old one and you might join in the older one that is almost empty?) Or people leave after doing the events.

The statuette for Kaineng is almost as expensive as the one for Dragon's End - those 2 metas do not seem to be that interesting. (Harder. Not too interesting rewards.) I guess players just move on to other maps where more fun stuff is happening?

Edited May 2, 2022 by Luthan.5236

[Thon.3780]

It empty because meta event has high difficulty… compare to H oT dragon strand. 
I also feel that activity period seem unmatched with people. May be only me. 
coz I stay in Asia zone so HoT or Echovald meta fit my time than EOD meta.

when it come to city and It is like maze . So people with PoF like me are ok while travel cross mountains with skyscale. Or roller beetle . But player who don’t have may tired to run from mountain to mountain.

merchant also hard to find. ( I feel like I am in Maze runner movie when I am in New kaineng city, Environment feel so dense)

and Drizzle wood coast is more good environment to player than EOD area ( easy move from point to point) so you will see more people there , same go for crrytal desert.

[Infusion.7149]

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/topic/109371-an-update-on-end-of-dragons-map-population/

Map cap was adjusted but may still be low outside of meta time.
For Dragon's End however, that ultimately comes to failure rate.

Edited May 3, 2022 by Infusion.7149

[SlipLihte.1307]

I can refer you to the video linked below that discussed the LFG, but the tl;dw version is that the in game LFG is being margianalised by better systems outside of the game, specifically Discord. My advice if look for a guild that is active in the type of content that you like (they advertise here on the forums) and join up with a few. This will help you get some people to do things with when you want.

 

 

[Randulf.7614]

EoD maps lack replayability so there isn’t much incentive to go there. Combined with low map caps (which might be fixed now), EoD feels empty.

The game is well populated, just not in Cantha

[Cuks.8241]

I think they missed the mark somehow on EOD maps with size vs population cap ratio. 

It seems the cap numbers are barely above 50. Its a challenge getting a full squad on the map. Im guessing it has something to do with meta events balance and scaling. But the maps are huge, on par with maps that have like 150+ caps. 

[Zok.4956]

On 5/1/2022 at 7:34 AM, THF.9672 said:

Just came back recently after hearing all the good EoD things, mainly about surging popularity and every zone I enter is completely empty,

EoD maps felt somehow empty from the beginning. Maybe the map cap was set too low for the map sizes. But when events happened more players could be seen.

A few days ago a revisited the EoD maps with another character for map completion and the maps and events were even more empty than in the first weeks, EoD maps feel more like a single player game.

I guess most players are done with EoD.

 

4 hours ago, SlipLihte.1307 said:

I can refer you to the video linked below that discussed the LFG, but the tl;dw version is that the in game LFG is being margianalised by better systems outside of the game, specifically Discord.

That is not really healthy for the game. 

 

[voltaicbore.8012]

37 minutes ago, Zok.4956 said:

That is not really healthy for the game. 

I agree that in-game LFG losing out to third-party tools is not a good thing.

It is, however, the inevitable consequence of the game giving us as much build freedom as it does. I made the same comment on that exact Teapot video, but I'll repeat it here: most other games tell you how to play your spec, while GW2 allows bad players to come up with really, really, awfully ineffective builds.

As an example, I saw in the warrior forums someone was upset that their warrior wasn't performing well. Turns out, they were trying some Viper stats... on a greatsword... with torment sigils on it. I'm sure there's some way to get that to "work", but the utter lack of synergy in that set of choices is astounding.

How can an LFG system actually match a player like that to a group? They certainly aren't tanking anything, and according to their  own tests, doesn't seem to be killing much of anything either. Would the game classify them as a support if they slot a banner? Even worse, a player that puts together such an un-synergetic build probably has little idea of how to compose a proper group for content where that sort of thing matters - which means the old "make your own group listing on LFG" won't help much either.

This is where all the external communication comes in. If you're the type of person who's going outside the game to find ways to participate in stuff, there's a self-selection thing going on; all the people in those channels are generally there because they are seeking out the know-how and the community required to get such things done. As Teapot mentions in that video, the in-game LFG is a huge gamble because it's literally for everyone. "Everyone" includes a lot of dead weight (and even worse, people who aren't interested in improving).

Edited May 3, 2022 by voltaicbore.8012

[Ashantara.8731]

On 5/1/2022 at 8:23 PM, AliamRationem.5172 said:

If we're talking EoD the best I can tell is there's something wrong.

I believe its quicker generation of new map instances (i.e., fewer players per instance) was deliberately designed that way to reduce lag.

[Lord of the Fire.6870]

On 5/1/2022 at 7:34 AM, THF.9672 said:

Just came back recently after hearing all the good EoD things, mainly about surging popularity and every zone I enter is completely empty, almost never any groups in LFG. Is NA still dead? I know EU has always had a healthy population but feels like not so much on NA server.

Well as predicated a lot of played did hold on to Gw 2 to play through EoD after it the player numbers seem as predicted plumed.

1. Problem is the multiply shifts in end content in the PVE part which made the players who do it really upset.

2. Absolute wild balancing decision the last 3 years across all content modes

3. So far I understand it EoD map are even worse then HoT when the last big exodus of players started. Players who do open world content are usually casuals if you made it a region full of elite enemies it will become dead content.

 

In general you could go into the details in all of this I don't like it I don't wanted it but Gw2 is clearly in a dead spiral similar to WoW in many parts.

 

There was a train of thought I had yesterday about games in general:

 

A. I Have no problem to read up on stuff in the internet when I want find something or know how something works for some people this is already asked too much. ( if you play sandbox game this is a must do)

 

B. Meta Build I have little problem with them when I look up them up in what game ever to 98% it was I already my built . Only slight changes are needed and some are really tied to your play style. Again some people are completely against even the idea of Meta Builds.

 

C. What I really don't like I come into the game want to do my endcontent can't find a group at all because some new stuff came out while I still need stuff out of it or alternative I log in my build doesn't work any more as it was or was replaced by a 1 button rotation build.

 

Essentially while I just playing the game your are forced to read the patch notes or even social media in fear that your gameplay will be destroyed and when you can't do any thing except leaving at some point when this happens to often.

 

Arena.NET was with Gw1  a leader in the industry to avoid those problems. I think with the start of Gw2 they were also still good in it but with time went on things became more and more like in WoW while not having an item spiral  .

Edited May 4, 2022 by Lord of the Fire.6870

[Lord of the Fire.6870]

10 hours ago, SlipLihte.1307 said:

I can refer you to the video linked below that discussed the LFG, but the tl;dw version is that the in game LFG is being margianalised by better systems outside of the game, specifically Discord. My advice if look for a guild that is active in the type of content that you like (they advertise here on the forums) and join up with a few. This will help you get some people to do things with when you want.

 

 

Again I'm not on the same side as teapot while what he is saying is true . The main reason are

1.) no new people

2.) no new legendary you need to farm in there

3.) no new raids

 

Using 3th party software to basically making an LFG out side of Gw2 is more something people done in Everquest 1 is not moving forwards. Autoqueuing like in other games for most of  the content okay but for cms and raids? I think the game need a lot of rework for this .

[AliamRationem.5172]

2 hours ago, Lord of the Fire.6870 said:

Well as predicated a lot of played did hold on to Gw 2 to play through EoD after it the player numbers seem as predicted plumed.

1. Problem is the multiply shifts in end content in the PVE part which made the players who do it really upset.

2. Absolute wild balancing decision the last 3 years across all content modes

3. So far I understand it EoD map are even worse then HoT when the last big exodus of players started. Players who do open world content are usually casuals if you made it a region full of elite enemies it will become dead content.

 

In general you could go into the details in all of this I don't like it I don't wanted it but Gw2 is clearly in a dead spiral similar to WoW in many parts.

 

There was a train of thought I had yesterday about games in general:

 

A. Have no problem to read up on stuff in the internet when I want find something or know how something works for some people this is already asked too much. ( if you play sandbox game this is a must do)

 

B. Meta Build I have little problem with them when I look up them in what game every to 98% it was I already built . Only slight changes are needed and some are really tied to your play style. Again some people are completely against even the idea of Meta Builds.

 

C. What I really don't like I come into the game want to do my endcontent can't find a group at all because some new stuff came out while I still need stuff out of it or alternative I log in my build doesn't work any more as it was or was replaced by a 1 button rotation build.

 

Essentially while I just playing the game your are forced to read the patch notes or even social media in fear that your gameplay will be destroyed and when you can't do any thing except leaving at some point when this happens to often.

 

Arena.NET was with Gw1  a leader in the industry to avoid those problems. I think with the start of Gw2 they were also still good in it but with time went on things became more and more like in WoW while not having an item spiral  .

I know this is a fantasy game, but...that's some fantasy you got going!  Where do you get such creative ideas?

[Patsoor.6425]

<-- EU player
Day 1 of EOD launch,
why does this map feel empty... you could hear your echo in echovalds (and other maps).
I think they mainly did that so maps won't get bugged to quick.

 

When the mapmeta is going on, you can get on maps +50ppl (but not a lot more than 50).

But yes, the new maps feel empty.

About LFG  being dead/not usefull(and or the use of discord)
Personally, I don't know why gaming ppl are not already on some discord servers.
How else do you communicate in online gaming? some games have ingame voice, but still prefer a program that is made for it.
+all the other info that can be shared over a discord.
gw2 is a game where at some point, you need to communicate and you simply can not do everything over ingame chat.
I have a shitload of respect for those commanders providing a lot of info over chat while the fight is going on. (while not everybode reads chat in mid fight)
That not everybody wants to install 3th party software like discord, I can understand that.
Thats why LFG needs a big rework, but discord will always be there (and better than LFG).
 

[Oriens.5630]

I'm looking to return, but one of the big draws of the game was the open world events with other players.

 

Is this no longer the case?