Living World.....Gone?

[SAROMON.9158]

The Living world or DLCs are currently not needed. They should focus on expansion and not DLC, because expansions give much more extra, than DLCs. Of course all DLCs are good made, but I think they should focus on Expansions and bringing new features. New weapon/s would be a great think to do for the next expansion or use spear on ground? Why not? It would be a great new feature.

I rather prefer new weapons than new elite specializations. The possibilities would be so much more for the sake of gameplay!

[nthmetal.9652]

On 3/1/2023 at 5:01 PM, SAROMON.9158 said:

They should focus on expansion and not DLC, because expansions give much more extra, than DLCs.

Did you actually compare the content of the old LWS (2-4 especially) with EoD? I don't really agree. I think in terms of the amount of content, the LWS easily compare.

HoT however was on another level, IMO this is still the masterpiece of GW2.

The old LWS are very competitively priced, contain a lot of stuff (new maps, new story part, updated mechanics, hours and hours of content) - I'd be happy to pay for DLCs which contain that much content, however there's a big danger: Should this new DLC model contain less content than a LWS, or be more expensive I can see this easily backfire. On top of that, people will still expect updates / new content for fractals, raids, new specs or at least updated traits and skills to keep things fresh.

That's a lot of stuff. And keep in mind that LWS so far were free if you kept logging in. So you really need to offer something to the playerbase.

[SAROMON.9158]

 

On 3/2/2023 at 8:11 PM, nthmetal.9652 said:

Did you actually compare the content of the old LWS (2-4 especially) with EoD? I don't really agree. I think in terms of the amount of content, the LWS easily compare.

HoT however was on another level, IMO this is still the masterpiece of GW2.

The old LWS are very competitively priced, contain a lot of stuff (new maps, new story part, updated mechanics, hours and hours of content) - I'd be happy to pay for DLCs which contain that much content, however there's a big danger: Should this new DLC model contain less content than a LWS, or be more expensive I can see this easily backfire. On top of that, people will still expect updates / new content for fractals, raids, new specs or at least updated traits and skills to keep things fresh.

That's a lot of stuff. And keep in mind that LWS so far were free if you kept logging in. So you really need to offer something to the playerbase.

Actually the only Living world I really like is Season 4, because of the content actually: story, maps, mounts, events and etc.

Anet is with so much less staff now and they can't just throw away resources for both: DLCs and Expansions. It's about their staff numbers and quality.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

I see this statement, "so much less staff now" often, and I'm confused by it.  ArenaNet currently has almost 300 persons on staff.  ArenaNet has had that many employees for quite some time; at least a couple of years, if not more.

[Gibson.4036]

49 minutes ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

I see this statement, "so much less staff now" often, and I'm confused by it.  ArenaNet currently has almost 300 persons on staff.  ArenaNet has had that many employees for quite some time; at least a couple of years, if not more.

Many players will note that the last “couple of years” is when content started feeling thin or rushed.

Also, we do know ArenaNet is working on an “unannounced project.” How many of their staff are on that and how many remain on GW2 is unknown outside of the studio.

Finally, they keep talking about maintaining work/life balance and not crunching their staff. Which is laudable. But it does mean they are feeling a tension between staff numbers and what they want to produce.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

8 hours ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

I see this statement, "so much less staff now" often, and I'm confused by it.  ArenaNet currently has almost 300 persons on staff.  ArenaNet has had that many employees for quite some time; at least a couple of years, if not more.

We know from their job openings they might be working on another project that's Unreal engine based, either that or they need Unreal engine expertise for some other reason?

Edited March 6, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

They've had those 'Unreal Engine' job offerings up for years. 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

3 hours ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

They've had those 'Unreal Engine' job offerings up for years. 

I'm not sure what this is supposed to be mean considering that IceBrood Saga is well on its way to being four years old? End of Dragons was incomplete as well (one less map, no new runes, sigils, etc. and much more basic guild hall), so its clear they've been been having difficulty for quite some time.

 

I think the overall quality of the game has gone way up but the span and scope  has gone down.

Edited March 6, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

One less map than Heart of Thorns? 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

10 hours ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

One less map than Heart of Thorns? 

Heart of Thorns had two massive guild halls with an extremely complex design, and since guild content was front and center at the time and was the focus of many players for several years, this counted as having an extra map in the game I think.

 

One could ague that with the recent trend to mount races and tournaments, its still the case.

Edited March 6, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Shadowmoon.7986]

I hope yall liked them redoing ls1, because that appears to have killed ls6. Personally what make me sad is they spent so much time changing the watchwork artwork when they could have made new artwork for kanaxai and the demon horde in the new map. Instead we have 1 new model, the oni and they could not even the terrifying sound effects they had in gw1.

Edited March 11, 2023 by Shadowmoon.7986

[Sime.3681]

2 hours ago, Shadowmoon.7986 said:

I hope yall liked them redoing ls1, because that appears to have killed ls6. Personally what make me sad is they spent so much time changing the watchwork artwork when they could have made new artwork for kanaxai and the demon horde in the new map. Instead we have 1 new model, the oni and they could not even the terrifying sound effects they had in gw1.

They started working on post-EoD content very early after the expansion launched (they announced it in March 2022), so S1 definitely did not kill S6, lol.

Also source for the "spent so much time changing the watchwork artwork?" I do not remember the devs giving any number.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Sime.3681

[Linken.6345]

49 minutes ago, Sime.3681 said:

They started working on post-EoD content very early after the expansion launched (they announced it in March 2022), so S1 definitely did not kill S6, lol.

Also source for the "spent so much time changing the watchwork artwork?" I do not remember the devs giving any number.

Nope they started working on the next expansion early after Eod launched something they have now scrapped for mini expansions.

[Konig Des Todes.2086]

3 hours ago, Shadowmoon.7986 said:

I hope yall liked them redoing ls1, because that appears to have killed ls6. Personally what make me sad is they spent so much time changing the watchwork artwork when they could have made new artwork for kanaxai and the demon horde in the new map. Instead we have 1 new model, the oni and they could not even the terrifying sound effects they had in gw1.

Sorry to say, but you got this wrong. They had different teams working on different things. The current story - which was never called "season six" btw - began development immediately after EoD. It was in development independently from lws1's return, which was mostly done by the Festival team and Indigo. This had nothing to do with the amount of new (or not) art assets in What Lies Beneath, and making five new models is hardly an entire episode's worth of content.

Which is to say: if there is something draining resources from What Lies Beneath content... it sure as hell wasn't lws1. If I had to guess, it'd either be expansion 4 which is also already in development and has been alongside both What Lies Beneath and lws1 return, as well as the Unreal Engine 5 project that we know nothing about other than it existing based on job hirings.

18 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

Nope they started working on the next expansion early after Eod launched something they have now scrapped for mini expansions.

They began working on lws1, expansion 4, and What Lies Beneath in March 2022. As denoted in this blog post: https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/arenanet-studio-update-the-future-of-guild-wars-2/

Finally, we’re happy to confirm that we’re working on the next story update for Guild Wars 2, including a new map set in the Cantha region. The story (and how we tell it) can go in so many interesting directions now that the Elder Dragon threat is addressed!
[...]
One last update before we go: we’re happy to confirm that there will be a fourth expansion for Guild Wars 2! We mean it when we say we’re focused on the long-term. This is a very early confirmation (the earliest we’ve ever done this, in fact), so don’t expect news anytime soon. Expansions take a very long time to develop. Plus, there’s plenty of cool things to look forward to between now and then.

Please note, since the last person I replied this to replied idiotically with "that just means they began brainstorming not physically working" - pre-production is still working on.

And it should be noted that nothing was scrapped since that blog post - not once did they ever say "season six", and from that post there, they said a new map in Cantha with story. Which is exactly what we got - their "mini-expansion" set up was there, just not publicized, since March 2022.

Edited March 12, 2023 by Konig Des Todes.2086

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

On 3/12/2023 at 12:05 AM, Shadowmoon.7986 said:

 Instead we have 1 new model, the oni and they could not even the terrifying sound effects they had in gw1.

I wouldn't call too far gone lung kitten a terrifying sound for Onis in GW1.

[Ashantara.8731]

On 3/5/2023 at 6:41 PM, Gibson.4036 said:

Many players will note that the last “couple of years” is when content started feeling thin or rushed.

Also, we do know ArenaNet is working on an “unannounced project.” How many of their staff are on that and how many remain on GW2 is unknown outside of the studio.

This.

Nine more weeks of waiting until we can play the rest of the current episode. What a bummer. "Thin" nails it.

I also would like to know what that project is that they needed UE5 experienced devs for and whether we can expect this thin or rushed content cadence as the status quo of GW2's future quality until they finally announce that GW3 (or whatever that project is) will be released. Current contents feel like fillers.

[Zalthor.6825]

It's weird that so many people here got caught up with "20 dollars every 6 months" when the post does not say that? It specifies quarterly updates, so multiple updates, per expansion, every 3 months. I think it's way more realistic that these expansions will be happening every 1-2 years. It's just a better, and more straight forward model going forward. The Living World stories were always very underhanded, and made it really hard for a new player to get into the game as the amount of money needed to get all the content was really high, but also not immediately obvious. I know so many people who in the past bought the "complete" pack only to realize huge chunks of the map and story are not accessible to them. This also removes the FOMO design of the old monetisation, which makes the game a lot more welcoming to returning players. And I don't think reducing the amount of content produced is bad as long as it means they can output more consistently good content. I personally think this is a very good change.

[Ashantara.8731]

3 hours ago, Zalthor.6825 said:

And I don't think reducing the amount of content produced is bad as long as it means they can output more consistently good content.

If that content is going to be like Gyala Delve Part 1, then it's going to be the opposite of "good content."

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

10 hours ago, Zalthor.6825 said:

It's weird that so many people here got caught up with "20 dollars every 6 months" when the post does not say that? It specifies quarterly updates, so multiple updates, per expansion, every 3 months. I think it's way more realistic that these expansions will be happening every 1-2 years. It's just a better, and more straight forward model going forward. The Living World stories were always very underhanded, and made it really hard for a new player to get into the game as the amount of money needed to get all the content was really high, but also not immediately obvious. I know so many people who in the past bought the "complete" pack only to realize huge chunks of the map and story are not accessible to them. This also removes the FOMO design of the old monetisation, which makes the game a lot more welcoming to returning players. And I don't think reducing the amount of content produced is bad as long as it means they can output more consistently good content. I personally think this is a very good change.

You may have missed the latest update:  https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/studio-update-spring-2023/

For instance:  Yearly expansions - Updates every 3 or 4 months.  May mean only 3 releases, including the year's expansion (not counting Festivals) per year.  Sigh. 

Edited May 22, 2023 by Inculpatus cedo.9234

[Poormany.4507]

10 hours ago, Zalthor.6825 said:

It's weird that so many people here got caught up with "20 dollars every 6 months" when the post does not say that? It specifies quarterly updates, so multiple updates, per expansion, every 3 months. I think it's way more realistic that these expansions will be happening every 1-2 years.

The most recent Spring Update says they will be released ~once a year:

Quote

Once that expansion’s year-long cycle is complete, the next expansion will be just around the corner.

so ~$25 per year. Still higher price for less than paying $30 every 3-4 years for a full expac for pretty much 3 Living World episodes, the third of which is likely to consistently be lower quality (Similar to Gyala) since most of the time/resources will go into the next paid expac content rather than the free quarterly updates.

It's the same pricewise for new/returning players who would have to buy LW anyways (unless they logged in at the right times), but it is definitely higher for regular players who pretty much got LW for free before.

Edited May 22, 2023 by Poormany.4507