Additions the game desperately needs

[Zetsuei.8942]

I've played since the beta weekends and been here through all the fun times and bumps Arena Net have had. Even now during these trying times I see so many issues with the game and so many easy fixes. I have a whole slew of suggestions and was surprised/not surprised to see the suggestion forums were archived and closed 3 years ago. So lets begin this journey, shall we?

Gem Shop

• There are two massive items missing from the gem shop that are expected norms in MMOs: Race Change, Class/Job Change. I've heard the argument that its impossible to add these cause of personal story/spaghetti code but I say that isn't good enough. These two items could easily be sold at $12-15 per and it would be a automated process. That is a obscene amount of money and for Anet to leave it on the floor I think its completely insane. If the code can't make it work then you create new code and transition your systems over to it so it can support it. I know a ton of players who would easily pay those prices(rather than pay 400-500g) to fix their past mistakes rather than start over. When you can sell gem shop items at 1/3 or 2/3 the price of a expansion and players think its fair I think its something you make work.

In-game Rewards

• This is a hot topic for every single player and to me its a pretty easy fix. A lot of players want content and Anet don't realize they have a ton of it just sitting there but don't utilize it. Glider/Mount/Town Clothes/Dyes/Etc. There are a ton of these items in the game and yet almost all of them are locked behind the gem store. I understand the game is free to play and they have to make money but take <1% of skins from the gem shop and let players earn them in-game and it would go a long way to player retention.

• Halloween and Wintersday both have themed mount skin packs. Imagine if they added all these skins to the festival vendors and you could purchase (1) mount skin of your choice per year and it would cost festival currency. They could price them around 50-100g in festival materials. Players who want the skins can either buy them from the gem shop as a pack or slowly earn them each year. Adding just a couple gem store items to each event will add so much good will toward players and make them feel like they're actually earning something worthwhile.

Content

• With each content patch we get a new map and a new LS and this formula has worked but I think its time to change it. Anet decided to cut dungeons because they deemed them too much work and that's how I view the LS. They spend months working on the story(which is amazing) but lets look at it. They create new zones, voice acting, animations specific to the LS, unique fights and we do them once, maybe twice and never go back. If they could turn most of these into dungeons with rewards that would be a crazy amount of content and not much work needed. I just think its a waste of time to spend so much work on areas we have no reason to ever go back to.

• The game needs more worthwhile repeatable content. I know Anet hates looking at other MMOs for inspiration but I think its time they do it more. They already added raids and mounts and I think they need to continue with that aspect. We have the Queens Gauntlet and I think the game could benefit from a permanent version of this(similar to WoWs Brawlers Guild). They could create new fights or add the old ones re-balance them to make them much more challenging and add unique skins/titles for players who devote the time to rise in the ranks.

• Raids pt 1. For ages players demand more raids and players demand less raids as they say the raiding population is tiny. To me its a easy fix: Have a 5 and 10 man version. Players have thrown out add a story mode and I think that is a waste of time. It would be another thing players do once and never do again. With a 5 man mode it would be challenging but its a lot more accessible for more players. I would increase the rewards for 10 man(getting 10 players is harder) and give 5 man the old 10 man rewards. Whether you think it or not, raids need to change. We need to open them up to more players and get them flourishing.

• Raids pt 2. When HoT announced raids I rejoiced as I figured Anet would innovate and continue their trend with challenging open world content(By this point we had Marionette, Scarlet Airship, Watchwork Knights, TT). When t hey announced they would be 10 man content I lost all excitement. Guild Wars 2 at its core is all about open world. Its about coming together with other players to overcome something. I think they should double down and add Open World Raid Bosses. They would be similar to the other bosses I listed but would require more coordination and execution. They would have unique loot once per week. They spawn every 8 hours a day to give most time zones a window to try the fight per day. I think the game needs more challenging content and forcing the community to together to tackle something challenging is something desperately needed. The only trick is the rewards have to be truly amazing so that players want to attempt it and do it for a long period.

• Playing Housing. To me this is something simple but has all the potential in the world. Create a new zone with different house types we can pick from and it becomes our home. The game already has a ton of decorations for guilds they could bring over to player housing and let us unlock by playing the game. Port over all our account unlocks from our Home Instance but take it a step further. To me if you create something brand new you need to think of how you can monetize it, as the name of the game is to make money but that doesn't mean its bad for players. They could create specific "themes" for houses they could sell in the gem shop. Want a Halloween themed house? Buy this Halloween decoration pack for 800 gems. Want it to snow nonstop at your house? Buy this Wintersday pack. The sky is literally the limit in terms of player choice and revenue for Anet They could event add unique decoration pieces to each festival we could earn from playing the event. Having more reasons to play longer is always a good thing and we need more of that.

• Bonus Events pt 1. I like the way bonus events have been shaping up(Killing multi map has mellowed out the community so much, thanks for that Anet) but I think they can be improved. I think the Meta Rush is in a great spot but both events have a few issues. The current World Boss Rush gives 1-2-3 bonus boxes depending on how many events need to be completed and I think these should be increased by 1. It doesn't seem big but I think it will go a long way so players think they're earning a good amount from the event. It also puts that event more in-line with the amount awarded from the Meta Rush which is 4-5-6.

• Bonus Events pt 2. My final idea is to completely change/revamp the Super Rare section of the Bonus Box. Currently the main prize of the boxes are the ultra rare infusions. I do think these should be the ultimate prize but I think they should be account bound. By making that change you can increase their drop rate and players gain a realistic shot at obtaining something ultra rare. It won't mess with the original versions and they will keep their value. You would see more players during these events that might not be playing as the event gives a decent shot at something amazing.

When I saw early footage of this game I knew it was something amazing. It pains me to see it fall so short of its potential in so many areas. A lot of these things are easy fixes and some are lofty goals. I just want to see the game I love reach its potential and become financially successful for years to come. It pains me to see them miss out on so much free money that could help the game grow.

[lezbefriends.7516]

“Free money” — Actually, it would cost them money to add some of these things that may or may not make them more money.

[Zohane.7208]

Most, if not all, of your suggestions have been discussed ad nauseam on these forums and on Reddit. Anet are, presumably, well aware of them, and have on some of them explained why it's not technically possible to implement without basically re-Writing the game engine.

The fact that they still aren't implemented is obviously not due to Anet not knowing of them, so it's likely either not possible, not deemed financially viable, or not high on their priority.

[zinkz.7045]

@Zetsuei.8942 said:

• There are two massive items missing from the gem shop that are expected norms in MMOs: Race Change, Class/Job Change.

Class change is not the norm, plenty of MMORPGs do not have it - ESO, LOTRO, Rift, GW2, etc.

[kharmin.7683]

There is a difference between want and need.

[Blude.6812]

You mentioned the game is free to play. There is restricted free to play but if you want it all you have to purchase. you mentioned player housing--No thanks! Raid-- seems to be for a minority of players only. Easy fixes??? not!

[Bloodstealer.5978]

Things always seem easy to fix, easy to develop and easy to implement when you have no idea what it actually entails.Just because A n Other MMO has something doesn't mean it's essential for every MMO to have it.GW2 is a B2P game so implementing everything under the sun, whilst a great idea, is nothing more than a pipedream unless -1... there is sufficient time and resources avaiable2... If it is financially viable to even consider let alone continue to support.

Don't get me wrong I would love thing like Player housing... SWTOR imo does it better than most I have played, but considering the mess ANET made of guild hall's and scribing decorations, I am not the slightest bit confident it would be thought through and implemented any better.I think after 7yrs the best we can hope for now is some chunky content cadence throughout the year that has some replay value, not just endless map farming, but time will tell.

[joneirikb.7506]

@Zetsuei.8942 said:

Gem Shop

• There are two massive items missing from the gem shop that are expected norms in MMOs: Race Change, Class/Job Change. I've heard the argument that its impossible to add these cause of personal story/spaghetti code but I say that isn't good enough. These two items could easily be sold at $12-15 per and it would be a automated process. That is a obscene amount of money and for Anet to leave it on the floor I think its completely insane. If the code can't make it work then you create new code and transition your systems over to it so it can support it. I know a ton of players who would easily pay those prices(rather than pay 400-500g) to fix their past mistakes rather than start over. When you can sell gem shop items at 1/3 or 2/3 the price of a expansion and players think its fair I think its something you make work.

• Extra character slot 400 gems
• instant 80 level ticket 2000 gems

Would be closer to 30$ I guess, if you save up tomes it gets cheaper.

[Sleepwalker.1398]

Many of my friends are into Fashion Wars, their main complaint is outfits.They kinda want mix and match but Anet keeps releasing outfits.

[b k.1648]

There's a reason why ANet has been producing solo story instances as a main component of their ongoing content releases and not group content like dungeons. It's because the majority of players don't do group instances very much, if at all.

If they turned the story instances into dungeons, those players would not play them, just like they're already not playing fractals and raids. It wouldn't solve the problem.

[TheGrimm.5624]

When it comes to fractals versus dungeons I come down on the fractal side. But...the reason for that is the AI mechanics and the fights feel different each time where as the dungeons would feel the same if everyone just stopped and stacked in the same spot each time. Hence they grew old unless a group did not stack. That said dungeons had their re-playability because of the dungeon vendors and the assortment of things you could acquire. In that light they shined. I don't agree that a zone should be a dungeon but there is also no reason why dungeons couldn't be added to zones outside of the core story line. They could be used to further grow our relationship with a set of NPCs or used to layer in more background lore. Take an example, adding in a dungeon in HoT that gives use more insight into the Nuhock with potentially skins and armor to unlock over time. A dungeon giving us more insight into why even Mordermoth found the Chak challenging and maybe insight in the conflict between them with again dungeon rewards you work for over time. To the OPs point, why are so many people still in HoT areas, there is a lot to do and collect and work towards there. Dungeons are kind of the same way. More on the rest later, good post OP, subject lines a little challenging to the audience. ;)

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@Sleepwalker.1398 said:Many of my friends are into Fashion Wars, their main complaint is outfits.They kinda want mix and match but Anet keeps releasing outfits.

ANet does both. Based on a player vote early on (which itself was due to player feedback), the gem shop only does outfits and all full armor sets are added via the game. There have many such new armor sets. The fact is that it takes a long time to generate 180 pieces of armor (6 pieces x 5 races x 2 genders x 3 weights), that will mix & match with corresponding pieces. It's far, far easier to release Outfits, which only need 5 variations, since they do not mix with anything else.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@Zetsuei.8942 said:I ... was surprised/not surprised to see the suggestion forums were archived and closed 3 years ago.You are posting in the suggestion forum, so clearly it's not closed.What happened was the software for the old forums was dying and the software company that supported it ceased business.

[Dante.1763]

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@"Zetsuei.8942" said:I ... was surprised/not surprised to see the suggestion forums were archived and closed 3 years ago.You are posting in the suggestion forum, so clearly it's not closed.What happened was the software for the old forums was dying and the software company that supported it ceased business.

Ehhhhh..the actual "Suggestion" as a standalone topic was removed, it got merged with the "General Discussion" Topic, its understandable as to why they did it cause it brings more views to the suggestion threads.

[Trise.2865]

I respect your effort, but I don't think you fully understand the words "desperately" or "need". You want these things. That is all.

[Amaranthe.3578]

You expect too much from a mmo without a sub. No sub = slower stream of content

[Sleepwalker.1398]

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@Sleepwalker.1398 said:Many of my friends are into Fashion Wars, their main complaint is outfits.They kinda want mix and match but Anet keeps releasing outfits.

ANet does both. Based on a player vote early on (which itself was due to player feedback), the gem shop only does outfits and all full armor sets are added via the game. There have many such new armor sets. The fact is that it takes a long time to generate 180 pieces of armor (6 pieces x 5 races x 2 genders x 3 weights), that will mix & match with corresponding pieces. It's far, far easier to release Outfits, which only need 5 variations, since they do not mix with anything else.

Sure, but after creating the outfit, why do they look kind weird on Charr?

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

@Sleepwalker.1398 said:Sure, but after creating the outfit, why do they look kind weird on Charr?Probably because there aren't enough Charr on the design team. I know @Chelsea Mills.9260 is always looking for more cool cats.