Any plans for vanilla servers?

[Godfather.9058]

Why? If you wanted to ask. I realised that I don't enjoy a lot of the changes.

Core Tyria maps are dead.

Dungeons are dead.

Skyscale.

Elite specs overly focused on melee combat. With much faster paced gameplay.

Seizure inducing particle effects for the elite specs.

The new map design focused on extreme verticality.

The new "christmas tree on fire" skins I see everywhere.

[kharmin.7683]

No, there is no plan for whatever it is you're asking.

Dungeons have been replaced by fractals, strikes and raids.  Development on dungeons stopped years ago.

Not sure what time(s) you're playing or which region (US/EU)?  I often see many people on core maps.  Population is lower now due to the Wintersday festival.

Don't understand the rest of your post.

[Randulf.7614]

What would be included though? No wardrobe? No champ loot? No masteries? The original trait system? 

All maps - core, LS and expac - are well populated on EU. Maybe this is just an NA issue?

[Godfather.9058]

54 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

No, there is no plan for whatever it is you're asking.

Dungeons have been replaced by fractals, strikes and raids.  Development on dungeons stopped years ago.

Not sure what time(s) you're playing or which region (US/EU)?  I often see many people on core maps.  Population is lower now due to the Wintersday festival.

Don't understand the rest of your post.

Which core maps exactly? I did a stroll through Metrica Province on a fresh character for example. Nobody. Other than 1 christmas tree on fire fishing. This isn't a wintersday thing. It's the norm.

You seriously don't understand the rest of my post or are you trolling me? You don't understand how a flying mount is bad for any MMORPG? You don't see the drastic change in combat from vanilla? The particle effects seem fine to you? The map design is similar to core Tyria? You like GW2 basically becoming a shop for christmas lights?

I guess you are trolling me.

[Omega.6801]

I doubt that there are plans for vanilla servers and I don't think there ever will be. On a personal note, I don't want vanilla servers to be a thing as it would divert resources away from the actual live game and its development.

Edited December 20, 2023 by Omega.6801

[Linken.6345]

3 minutes ago, Godfather.9058 said:

Which core maps exactly? I did a stroll through Metrica Province on a fresh character for example. Nobody. Other than 1 christmas tree on fire fishing. This isn't a wintersday thing. It's the norm.

You seriously don't understand the rest of my post or are you trolling me? You don't understand how a flying mount is bad for any MMORPG? You don't see the drastic change in combat from vanilla? The particle effects seem fine to you? The map design is similar to core Tyria? You like GW2 basically becoming a shop for christmas lights?

I guess you are trolling me.

Pretty sure you were on a overflow map then mate

[vares.8457]

No thanks, I don’t think vanilla servers are a good idea. They would split the player base

Edited December 20, 2023 by vares.8457

[DeanBB.4268]

I see other players everywhere, especially in the starter zones. NA player, in AZ. I recently took a character from ~80% world completion to finished, and encountered others on all those maps. Not necessarily crowded or anything, but certainly not barren.

Separating players to vanilla servers would just split the player base more, wouldn't it? You could play on vanilla or regular, so none of those players would see each other.

I doubt people really want GW2 the "way it was." There have been a great many QoL changes over the years, people forget what it used to be like.

[Parasite.5389]

As i've said in a former post on this topic:

We don't need GW2 Classic
infact, we already have GW2 Classic, since older content doesn't become irrelevant: WoW classic exists solely because Blizzard needs players to play their old content(and charge your for it) because their game design has left older zones a literal wastaland.

ArenaNet was founded by former Blizzard devs who didn't like that approach to MMO gaming, and while GW1 fell short of those ideals, GW2 embranced a new approach be removing static questing, vertical progression, and implementing dynamic level scaling so that max level players can still play in lower level zones.

[Kiki.9450]

I don't think the appeal is there for GW2 Core-only servers. The very, very few times I see it mentioned here or on Reddit is likely because "WoW does it, GW2 should do like WoW." 

But the thing is, GW2 already embraced something that makes WoW Classic successful, and has done so since launch -- old content is still doable, with others, without over-trivialising things (power creep is a thing and a budding problem, yes, but level 80 content hasn't been "replaced" by level 90 content). That was one of the big appeals to WoW Classic -- a return to an Azeroth that has been unplayable for about a decade prior and being able to play that content with an appropriately sized team. 40-man Molten Core in retail WoW isn't the same. :P

The only thing that is missing here in GW2 is a leveling game that feels more immersive and time-consuming... but does that really fit into GW2? I'd think most players looking to get more out of the leveling gameplay have considered things like "hard mode" using self-appointed rulesets, such as deleting the character after it dies, not using certain gear, items, builds, etc.

[Kiki.9450]

2 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

What would be included though? No wardrobe? No champ loot? No masteries? The original trait system? 

All maps - core, LS and expac - are well populated on EU. Maybe this is just an NA issue?

NA is pretty populated I find. And I usually play in the early morning on the east coast, before the west coast is out of bed, the central regions are still having breakfast, and the east coast is all at work.

[Farohna.6247]

NA is populated, I have no issues finding groups and see other players on every map.  This time of year, there is Wintersday pulling players to DR more and also it's IRL vacation time for many people who may not be playing and doing things with family this week and next.  Also what time of day is OP playing?  

Just had a dungeon rush, but yes they're old content and fractals replaced them.  

Did a skyscale lob a fireball at you or cough confetti?  They hardly ruin the game.  Do you have one? 

I prefer ranged combat too so I can pay less attention to what I'm doing.  GW2 favors melee, and it's actually surprisingly fun! 

Adjust your settings and limit character models *shrug*...or go to the "empty" core Tyria maps 😉

The new maps have a mixture and since a different way to obtain a skyscale is featured, it makes sense to have it as such.  I like them.   They're also fun with a griffon.  

Haven't noticed any new outfits that are any more garish than usual.  It's all about styling and dye.  

Not interested in a vanilla server personally.  After all you can just play core Tyria, and not buy living world seasons or expansions, and voila you have it.  It would pull resources from the game, a handful of players, and screams desperation for a game aka we screwed up.  

[Ashen.2907]

I think that people tend to view the past through rose colored lenses. Some of GW2 at launch, and right after, was absolutely awful...which is why, in response to player feedback in many cases, it was changed.

That said, I am by no means attempting to claim that GW2 today is perfect, or even in a very good state, but much of it is better off than in the past.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Ashen.2907

[KindredPhoenyx.8976]

8 hours ago, Godfather.9058 said:

You don't understand how a flying mount is bad for any MMORPG

I get vanilla WoW andy whiplash every time I read this sentence right here. Hells these people are obnoxious.

Nostalgia needs to stay in the past. It's why it's a formula for fond memories in the first place.

Edited December 21, 2023 by KindredPhoenyx.8976

[Godfather.9058]

4 hours ago, KindredPhoenyx.8976 said:

I get vanilla WoW andy whiplash every time I read this sentence right here. Hells these people are obnoxious.

Nostalgia needs to stay in the past. It's why it's a formula for fond memories in the first place.

If it's just nostalgia, why am I currently also playing WoW vanilla on a private server and enjoying it?

I lied. Let me rephrase it. It is NOT WoW vanilla. It is "vanilla plus" as they have decided to call it. In translation, it is the content from WoW vanilla with some tweaks, some small bits of content added while levelling and a LOT of the quality of life features from modern WoW. Basically, over 90% of the game is exactly like WoW vanilla.

I hate it when people throw that "it's just nostalgia" card.

They also seem to believe the person asking for vanilla also wants the removal of minor tweaks and QoL features such as the build storage. Did I mention in my OP that I want the removal of any QoL features? No. I only touched on major changes.

[Krajtin.8956]

You are asking for a vanilla in a game with horizontal progression. Dude, this is not WoW. I played in 2019 and I always found people on the core maps. And now more people with rifts even more

Edited December 21, 2023 by Krajtin.8956

[Godfather.9058]

33 minutes ago, Krajtin.8956 said:

You are asking for a vanilla in a game with horizontal progression. Dude, this is not WoW. I played in 2019 and I always found people on the core maps. And now more people with rifts even more

It is horizontal in name only. Look at me with a straight face and tell me this: "The maximum DPS you can achieve right now is the same or roughly the same as it was in vanilla." If you can do that, then your statement that progression is horizontal is true. Tell me that a condi mirage does the same DPS as a core mesmer 10 years ago for example.

It's the same "horizontal progression" from World of Tanks. Newer premium tanks are objectively better than regular tanks of equal tiers. Just as newer lines are better than the equivalents from other lines.

Edited December 21, 2023 by Godfather.9058

[Krajtin.8956]

40 minutes ago, Godfather.9058 said:

It is horizontal in name only. Look at me with a straight face and tell me this: "The maximum DPS you can achieve right now is the same or roughly the same as it was in vanilla." If you can do that, then your statement that progression is horizontal is true. Tell me that a condi mirage does the same DPS as a core mesmer 10 years ago for example.

It's the same "horizontal progression" from World of Tanks. Newer premium tanks are objectively better than regular tanks of equal tiers. Just as newer lines are better than the equivalents from other lines.

It's true. DPS has increased in recent years. I think they did it for the more casual people. But it's still horizontal content.

[Danikat.8537]

21 minutes ago, Godfather.9058 said:

It is horizontal in name only. Look at me with a straight face and tell me this: "The maximum DPS you can achieve right now is the same or roughly the same as it was in vanilla." If you can do that, then your statement that progression is horizontal is true. Tell me that a condi mirage does the same DPS as a core mesmer 10 years ago for example.

It's the same "horizontal progression" from World of Tanks. Newer premium tanks are objectively better than regular tanks of equal tiers. Just as newer lines are better than the equivalents from other lines.

It would be more relevant to compare the DPS of a condi mirage to a core mesmer now, because while you're right there's been some power creep a lot of it is due to Anet changing how combat mechanics work in ways that affect everyone - like re-working the cap on conditions. Players with only the core game are still using the current versions of skills, conditions etc. so that's not going to put them at a disadvantage.

Also it's interesting that you picked mirage for your example, if the game works as you say the virtuoso should have the same advantage over mirage as mirage does over core mesmers (or chronomancers) and mirage should be similarly limited to only people who haven't bought EoD.

I doubt many people actually want to go back to balance as it was at launch, especially not anyone who likes condition or support builds. Conditions from different players used to over-write each other so you basically had to make sure there was only 1 person in each group applying each condition, and they needed to be able to cap all the conditions they were applying for it to be worthwhile. That was hard to coordinate outside of static groups so the general advice was for everyone to use pure power builds, and support was pretty much limited to stacking might. Alacrity didn't exist and Quickness was much rarer (I think the only skill which could give it to other players was the mesmers Time Warp).

(I do wonder if some of the 'power creep' is down to players learning to make better use of the game mechanics, because other options did exist but I don't remember them being used much, but that's another conversation.)

[Ishmael.6740]

15 hours ago, vares.8457 said:

No thanks, I don’t think vanilla servers are a good idea. They would split the player base

I don't really think so, because there's not really a reason to play vanilla GW2. It's not like wow, where there was massively different gameplay or there's content that is not accessible anymore.

That said, for above reason I don't really see the need for a vanilla GW2. I played before HoT, it wasn't fundamentally different, just... less?

[KindredPhoenyx.8976]

3 hours ago, Godfather.9058 said:

It is NOT WoW vanilla.

 

3 hours ago, Godfather.9058 said:

Basically, over 90% of the game is exactly like WoW vanilla.

You contradict yourself so hard here.

It's not the same experience.

It's a completely different version of wow with classic skinned over it to which: you're right, it's not even WoW vanilla at that point.

People need to knock off waving the cane while shouting "BACK IN MY DAY" like the boomers they are because they can't stand change (especially when it's good change). I'm a vet both here and WoW, I still play retail and will never trade out major features that are QoL today for nuisances back then, I echo this statement for GW2.

I don't miss walking everywhere. It was horrible for the whole purpose of missing events, map completion taking a bajillion hours (complete exaggeration mind you) and JPs outright killing you (while this still happens, its to a far lesser degree compared to back then), etc.

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by KindredPhoenyx.8976

[Ashantara.8731]

16 hours ago, Randulf.7614 said:

The original trait system?

Now, that would be a good reason to go vanilla! 😁

[KindredPhoenyx.8976]

3 hours ago, Godfather.9058 said:

I hate it when people throw that "it's just nostalgia" card.

Cope more.

[Biziut.3594]

No thanks. We get very little new content as it is. No need to make it even less becouse of nostalgia and dwelling in the past.

Mine view on things on EU. 

Core maps are not dead. Especially starting zones. I like unwinding on them and there is always planty of peoples running around. Especially at Queensdale where each time I get there, there is always some big gathering of peoples joking with each other.

Dungeons are wierd, but I wouldn't call them dead eighter. Like I can almost never see LFG for them, but when I open one, it always fills in a couple minutes.

Skyscale is awesome, there is nothing better for me than soaring throu map, far above everything. Really feels like after 11 years, You are a true champion od Tyria. Others don't bother me at all, becouse why would they. How someone flying on skyscale takes from your expirience?

Rifle Deadeye? Scepter Specter? I main thief so don't know about other specs, but both of this are ranged and are even recomennded by Snow Crows. As much as DE might be fast paced, Specter is not. And thats only PvE. On competitive, many ranged classes rocks.

You can turn off particle effects, skill effects, infusions and even character models in options silly. If someone is devoided of any fashion sense and decides to wear all infusions at once and dump their armor in Permafrost than it is their fault, not games.

Vertical maps? Cool. What we are supposed to get. Another flat one. We already got deserts, jungles, corruptions of many sorts, snowy bioms, mix of all the above. Now it's floating islands. Variety is good and healthy for the game, if this one don't get to Your taste, too bad. Maybe next one will, peoples have diffrent tastes and you can't make everyone happy.

Skins are not up for Your taste? Wierd, becouse imo, recently the only thing that glows throu gemstore skins are parts of Your revealed flesh... and some latex, but it's not really an eyesore kind of glow, if You know what I mean. Other skins not from gemstore, demon lady set, wizard set, and wizard hunter set do not have ANY glowing parts. So sorry but this part is complete bs on Your side. Watch the newest skin from this tuesday, hood with a mask, Mortal Kombat style, not an ounce of glow.

...

So Yeah...

No.

 

 

 

Edited December 21, 2023 by Biziut.3594

[willow.8209]

17 hours ago, Godfather.9058 said:

Core Tyria maps are dead.

I wonder if you're playing during the time your server group is less populated. Because players come from all around the world, and some time zones have particularly populated regions compared to others, and probably some time zones are split between NA and EU servers (as there isn't an oceanic server).

In a way it might be nice to move both server groups to EU (you can't move the EU ones to NA because GDPR) and stop having the NA vs EU distinction, and that might bring more some balance to the server population time flux. This could be a lot of work tho.

Edited December 21, 2023 by willow.8209