So what happened to Guild Wars 2? This SOTA seems very ominous...

[Einsof.1457]

Not a single official game criritc has reviewed SOTO, and the player average is 6.3/10 on metacritic. This doesn't bode well for the future of the game, does it? What is going on?

Edited October 20, 2023 by Einsof.1457

[Shuzuru.3651]

Well, it's seem to mean no one cares about Metacritic there as there is like 36 reviews. 

And for the bad, it seems to oscillate between straight up lies (Wizard vault Fomo!), people who are mad about rune change or wizard vault, and some who don't understand this isn't the full content. 

Well, there is a bit of legitimate critics about some map design and rift, though, but it's the minority... 

[DanAlcedo.3281]

1. New direction. We don't get the full story/content on launch but in quarterly updates. No more living world. 

2. No Elite Specs. 

3. Removal of tons of rune effects people loved. 

4. Relic system is by design good but the relics we got are... Meh at best. 

5. Huge balance problems thanks to the Weapon master Training. Which let to Sooooooo many nerfs. 

6. Wizard Vault. At launch and still to this day a huge talking point. Lots of people dislike it for one reason or another. 

7. Low amount of content. If you don't grind the legendary armor, you will be done real quick. I did basically everything the Expack had to offer at Lauch in 2 weeks while working a job and taking it slow. 

Meanwhile, I still are working at EoD, finishing content. 

 

Edited October 20, 2023 by DanAlcedo.3281

[ShadowKatt.6740]

The biggest problem with SotO is that it's not finished. They're trying something new this time and releasing it in installments because they don't want to do a mission or chapter every couple weeks like they did with the Living Worlds, and they don't want to do one big major release. THis has been met with a LOT of trepidation by players and critics alike since it strongly resembles a Battle Pass system and that puts a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. Add to that that they're releasing this in quarterly installments, we haven't even SEEN the next map and so many features, like Legendary Armor and New Weapons haven't even been more than teased, and what is anyone supposed to say about it? You can be optimistic, you can be pessimistic, you can be cautious, but the one thing you can't do is say anything about it because, well, there's nothing TO say yet.

Now that being said though, if you really want to know what people think, go hang around The Wizards Tower or Amnytas for a while. Just sit there and listen, watch the map chat. It's not good. Most players are already burned out on it. It's repetetive. It's dull. The thrill of rifts wore out fast and most people have done the meta so many times they're sleeping through it. That doesn't bode well. BUT it's not done yet. We still have three more releases coming, so everyone is hedging their bets that it's going to get better. And until we see that,e veryone is holding their breath.

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

EoD being rated higher than HoT or PoF should be an indication on what to expect from Metacritic.

[Quench.7091]

The general game sites like to cover the games that trend on search engines and social media. It's hard to get people talking about things like farming rifts. Even a small update can get noticed if it is interesting enough.

[Einsof.1457]

1 minute ago, Quench.7091 said:

The general game sites like to cover the games that trend on search engines and social media. It's hard to get people talking about things like farming rifts. Even a small update can get noticed if it is interesting enough.

Is calling it an expansion false advertising? Mmo expansions usually get reviews 

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

36 minutes ago, Einsof.1457 said:

Is calling it an expansion false advertising? Mmo expansions usually get reviews 

SoTO is sold separately of the core game and adds extra content, which.. is what expansions are.. so, no false advertising.

[Scar.1793]

1 hour ago, IAmNotMatthew.1058 said:

SoTO is sold separately of the core game and adds extra content, which.. is what expansions are.. so, no false advertising.

Expansions most of the time add whole new continents, brand new game features and complete storyline. Story that gets some follow up with patches.

Soto has nothing of an expansion. It’s just a season pass (you’ll have to wait for the content) or more accurately, just a small DLC that isn’t finished.

It’s hard to sell a half-baked DLC disguised as an expansion when it’s not finished and at the end doesn’t really add much to the table besides more class balance nightmares (as if Anet didn’t have troubles with balance patches and getting it right).

Edited October 20, 2023 by Scar.1793

[Ashantara.8731]

2 hours ago, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

They're trying something new this time and releasing it in installments because they don't want to do a mission or chapter every couple weeks like they did with the Living Worlds

Where did you get that from? Living World had the exact release cadence we are now seeing with SotO: a new installment every 3+ months.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

Maybe there is some rule that allows reviews only of full content. SotO is technically not completely launched yet.

[Teknomancer.4895]

2 hours ago, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

many features, like Legendary Armor and New Weapons haven't even been more than teased, and what is anyone supposed to say about it? You can be optimistic, you can be pessimistic, you can be cautious, but the one thing you can't do is say anything about it because, well, there's nothing TO say yet.

🤣 And since when has that ever stopped anyone from complaining on an Internet forum?

[DanAlcedo.3281]

31 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Where did you get that from? Living World had the exact release cadence we are now seeing with SotO: a new installment every 3+ months.

An expansion always had a full story at launch. SotO does not. 

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing but I can understand why people are not liking it. 

 

[Astralporing.1957]

32 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

Where did you get that from? Living World had the exact release cadence we are now seeing with SotO: a new installment every 3+ months.

The new thing is that they're calling what was LS up to now an expansion. And trying to pretend as if removing an actual expansion from the release cycle did not happen.

[IAmNotMatthew.1058]

45 minutes ago, Scar.1793 said:

Expansions most of the time add whole new continents, brand new game features and complete storyline. Story that gets some follow up with patches.

Soto has nothing of an expansion. It’s just a season pass (you’ll have to wait for the content) or more accurately, just a small DLC that isn’t finished.

It’s hard to sell a half-baked DLC disguised as an expansion when it’s not finished and at the end doesn’t really add much to the table besides more class balance nightmares (as if Anet didn’t have troubles with balance patches and getting it right).

In the story journal at the bottom you can see SoTO, with that you can visit the - so far - two new maps in the new region(Horn of Maguuma) and you'll be able to do the new story along with the new stuff in SoTO.

[Linken.6345]

21 minutes ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

An expansion always had a full story at launch. SotO does not. 

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing but I can understand why people are not liking it. 

 

well soto is a mini expansion at slightly reduced price so not under the same pressure as a full blown expansion mate.

[DanAlcedo.3281]

15 minutes ago, Linken.6345 said:

well soto is a mini expansion at slightly reduced price so not under the same pressure as a full blown expansion mate.

I know. 

The topic is about why people would rate SotO so low. And this is a reason why. 

 

[Ashantara.8731]

14 hours ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

An expansion always had a full story at launch. SotO does not.

Your response has zero context to what I said. I pointed out that we did not get new content every few weeks during Living World, that's all.

14 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

The new thing is that they're calling what was LS up to now an expansion.

There is no need to explain this to me, I know this. Also, zero context to what I responded to in my previous reply.
 

Edited October 21, 2023 by Ashantara.8731

[FalanuLachance.4576]

18 hours ago, ShadowKatt.6740 said:

The biggest problem with SotO is that it's not finished. They're trying something new this time and releasing it in installments because they don't want to do a mission or chapter every couple weeks like they did with the Living Worlds, and they don't want to do one big major release. THis has been met with a LOT of trepidation by players and critics alike since it strongly resembles a Battle Pass system and that puts a bad taste in a lot of peoples mouths. Add to that that they're releasing this in quarterly installments, we haven't even SEEN the next map and so many features, like Legendary Armor and New Weapons haven't even been more than teased, and what is anyone supposed to say about it? You can be optimistic, you can be pessimistic, you can be cautious, but the one thing you can't do is say anything about it because, well, there's nothing TO say yet.

Now that being said though, if you really want to know what people think, go hang around The Wizards Tower or Amnytas for a while. Just sit there and listen, watch the map chat. It's not good. Most players are already burned out on it. It's repetetive. It's dull. The thrill of rifts wore out fast and most people have done the meta so many times they're sleeping through it. That doesn't bode well. BUT it's not done yet. We still have three more releases coming, so everyone is hedging their bets that it's going to get better. And until we see that,e veryone is holding their breath.

Allow me to add one more thing: I'm trying to enjoy the quarterly release strategy. If I don't like it, I can pass the next time and wait until it's fully released. Thank god, the metas aren't overly complicated, otherwise I don't know how to keep all the maps busy (enough for casual players not to struggle to get things done in a timely manner).

Let's wait and see. 

[Zzik.5873]

20 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

The new thing is that they're calling what was LS up to now an expansion. And trying to pretend as if removing an actual expansion from the release cycle did not happen.

Tho the quality of Soto is way higher than any season they ever did... ok season 4 was pretty good not gonna lie tho.

[Eekasqueak.7850]

1 hour ago, Makuragee.3058 said:

Tho the quality of Soto is way higher than any season they ever did... ok season 4 was pretty good not gonna lie tho.

Kourna was pretty rough so even Season 4 had it's meh releases.

[starlinvf.1358]

22 hours ago, DanAlcedo.3281 said:

An expansion always had a full story at launch. SotO does not. 

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing but I can understand why people are not liking it. 

 

New paradigm for a new market environment. When the biggest game to date is still a BR game, where cosmetics are worth more then the base game, where char customization is your biggest money maker, and most games can launch in utter garbage state and still make money……. 

The expacs don’t need to have value. They just have to be shiny enough to get you to log in, see the ingame shop, want the ingame shop, and spend on the ingame shop.  If you are not that type of player, you are just the inherent cost of doing business. And costs need to be minimized. 

Welcome to the world we all have wrought. 

[aetemes.2603]

It's really simple to me...anet rehauled (wording it nicely) the staff that originated what is actually captivating about the game..they were probably mad of how the monetization of this game went and decided to "take matters into their own hands"...and started investing on different "cheap low budget" tactics that they see other games thriving by. 

This started before EoD..and EoD is like the beginning of "decline". They appear to have just rushed replacing the staff and "forced" an expansion by people who were just thrown into the mix with no thorough guidance..that's the vibe I am getting.

The gaming and entertainment industry in general feels like it has been taking this weird "bored, over it" turn of..."meh whatever anythings better than nothing...don't try that hard..just cash in..milk good original concepts to death"..since they crunched the numbers and know what is profitable for the least effort.

I guess we can just call the game "old" and put it to rest. 

But the consumers not only cosign all this..they act as brand ambassadors and pr agents in the name of "positivity"...so..I am personally not expecting changes for the better. Soto was my "glad I didn't get EoD" cause when I played EoD beta the difference in quality was really palpable.

There's a lot to enjoy about the the game..but I am personally over the model of "milking the good with bs" business frankly. That is not exclusive to GW2 in any way..but disappointed they followed suit.

Money...sigh.

[Cuks.8241]

If there is one thing that made or broke this expansion are the rifts. Maps, as always are great, story is fine, strikes are lackluster but generaly niche anyway, new systems are ok a bit lackluster but not really impactful (wv is good though). 

But rifts are repeatable content that we should grind for at least a year. And they are utter boring and actually stresfull - rush, rush, rush. Couple that with kriptis which are all rehashed mobs with very bland textures and 4-5 champ bosses you fight in all content. Story, ow events, meta events, rifts. All have the same 5 rehashed bland, undistinguishable champs. If they want to make this work, they need to step up with rifts big time. Big ow legendary events with big nasty demons.

There is only a sample of instanced content being developed, not enough to keep anyone interested. Pvp, wvw are basically forgotten by anet and only barely live because of great base systems. So all bets for repeatable content are now on ow. They either deliver on that big time or the game becomes 5 hours of content once per year. 

[Lucius.2140]

On 10/20/2023 at 8:52 AM, Shuzuru.3651 said:

Well, it's seem to mean no one cares about Metacritic there as there is like 36 reviews. 

And for the bad, it seems to oscillate between straight up lies (Wizard vault Fomo!), people who are mad about rune change or wizard vault, and some who don't understand this isn't the full content. 

Well, there is a bit of legitimate critics about some map design and rift, though, but it's the minority... 

Official critics are important.