What type of expansion would you prefer to see?

[Evil.1580]

[Infusion.7149]

Something "new" but actually only new to GW2 and not GW1:Competitive akin to GW Factions (original Cantha) , which had alliances up to 10 guilds.PvE had faction farms as the PvE counterpart to alliance battles (12v12), Fort Aspenwood & Jade Quarry (stronghold PvP mode is similar). Top alliances by faction hold a town , the guilds had town bonuses.

Just as we pick order of whispers/vigil/priory , it could be split 3 ways and the alliance is locked to a "team". In GW1 that's how it worked, you chose Luxon/Kurzick and the territory control shifted on the map.

WvW is similar to alliance battles in that you hold nodes (capture points) and kill players. Instead of servers if you have alliances then you could also have alliance chat for callouts as megaservers eliminated the ability to get defenders currently in PvE that aren't in your guild. Short of adding GvG to PvP (allow up to 25 maybe, realistically 15 per side is a lot for PvP already) there is no better way to add meaning to guilds.

Competitive would have major advantages in that it would provide player content that doesn't require massive dev investment every few months for voice actors, environment artists, + storyline. Could easily have a few maps in total and then reuse assets (copy-paste). Desert BL was reworked so many times because initially there was a laser PvE event in the middle, then hay bales were added to stop fall damage ,and ramps + mobility via clouds were added retroactively as well.

There's not much incentive to watch a person playing PvE content more than once (guide/overview/see something not available or accessible to you), viewership and overall coverage hinges on competitive. Replayability of PvE content is also far lower compared to competitive modes, because competitive modes are essentially player-made content.The return of tournament of legends , upcoming March 17th WvW+PvP legendary trinkets , along with this past Feb 25 shakeup (and subseuent readustment on necro, firebrand, revenant) already show steps are being taken for competitive modes.

[Wubbbi.8172]

I liked the HoT maps and meta-events waaaaay more than the PoF ones. Even today.Don't get me wrong, PoF has beautiful landscapes and places but gameplay and content wise they don't reach HoT ones (imo).I think maps with the scale of HoT and diffculty could really bring 100s of hours of gameplay and fun. I love HoT! <3

That doesn't mean that I am against a new way. I just hope they are as good as HoT which is why I picked it.

Edit: I also would love to see some maps like the silverwaste with big map wide meta-events and go in cycles. I really liked that even tho the silverwaste is now a place for farming. I remember back it in the days, when it came out, it was a blast to play and really overwhelming (in a good way!) :D

[hugo.4705]

I think between. I want easy hero points, closer to core, not hard champion like HoT. Through, I would like meta events like HoT, they are all wonderful and well designed: Octovines, Regent, Rata novus, very nice build up. I prefer a story like PoF, but an environment like HoT: Playing with layers, some hidden things..... For elite specs, I'm divided, both expacs brought good specs and bad specs. I preferred mount over glider. Finally +1 Bias point for HoT, because I like all the asuran ruins and rata novan remnants.

[Evil.1580]

While I understand why some people dislike HoT expansion, I find it beautiful and super interesting. It stimulates group play over solo and if you think about it - this is the point of an MMORPG. I have a hard time to like something in PoF. However, I believe there can be done some nice additions or reworks to the HoT style but keep its base idea.

[GutterRat.1269]

@"bOTEB.1573" said:While I understand why some people dislike HoT expansion, I find it beautiful and super interesting. It stimulates group play over solo and if you think about it - this is the point of an MMORPG. I have a hard time to like something in PoF. However, I believe there can be done some nice additions or reworks to the HoT style but keep its base idea.

I'm sort of with you there in that the HoT maps really had some cool designs. It's just a shame that trying to explore them was far from fun as a solo player due to the overwhelming infestations of condispam mobs. It wasn't unmanageable but not really fun either. It was difficult to stop even for a moment to observe the beautiful design of a map without getting aggro from another aids bot. However, the design was interesting enough that I even did the meta in the whatever dragon map several times despite not enjoying post-core PvE - although I mostly just needed the meta to get the leadership runes which were not available from WvW npc at the time.

I'd actually prefer something more like the core maps. I dislike the map-specific currencies and the mastery or hero point system.

[MithranArkanere.8957]

• Kaineng : Go full cyberpunk.
  • The medieval-like slums evolved over 200 years into a towering city full of skyscrappers with magical floating vehicles like chariots, carriages, carpets and litters, and where the rich live in the top layers and the poor in the lowest layers.
  • You'd be able to fly with your mounts among the buildings, or rent different flying vehicles at different layers of the city. At least one of the Kaineng maps would feature prominent verticality.
  • A new mastery would allow you to unlock a grappling hook that you can equip in a new 6th category of novelties: Tools. Unlike the vines in Draconis moons, the use of this one is unlimited and it won't take you out of gliding, allowing use of the hook and the glider together to regain height and gain speed in a similar way to the hook+cape combination in the Batman:Arkham series.
  • A new climber/crawler mount that can walk on walls and ceilings with special surfaces. This allows it to reach places not even skyscale can reach, like at the other side of an underground chasm with no walls on the sides but still a ceiling over it. It's also the mount with the smallest collision box, allowing it to climb into nooks and crannies no other mount can enter. It could be something like a gecko, a tree frog, or a spider. Animals that can walk on ceilings.
• Echovald: The trees that had turned into stone have begun to crumble from the pressure of new giant trees growing under them.
  • The warden, distant relatives of the original creatures that Mordremoth corrupted to create the sylvari, have been undergoing rituals to have the giant trees grow into full size in little time, resulting on a forest floor full of the remnants of felled stone trees littered with grass and life, and full size giant trees where Wardens and the surviving Kurzick live together in hiding from the Dragon Empire as one new group of people with a new name and a new way of life.
  • From the north, giant imperial machines are taking down the new trees to make more room for their expanding city and for wood to burn in their furnaces and engines, and we must come to help the people of Echovald destroy the forest mowers and help the wardens complete their rituals to regrow the felled trees.
• The Jade Sea: The ships of the nomadic Luxon are back to their upright positions after spending years upside-down. They were driven away from the Dragon Empire, but with the help of united naval forces from Lion's Arch in the North and Amnoon in the east they are driving them back and slowly moving their borders back to the imperial city. The entirety of the Jade Sea maps would feature almost entire masses of water and there would be new water features:
  • A new boating feature that allows summoning your very own boat to use as a mobile base your friends can also use. You can also unlock services usable from your boat, like bank and crafting stations. All boat abilities and some QoL features would be unlocked in-game, but a few QoL would be unlocked with gemstore upgrades, gotta pay those bills. Careful with enemy boats, you may get boarded, and if your boat is sunk or damaged severely you'll have to wait until it's repaired for free, or pay to get it back sooner.
  • Fishing. Instead having fishing nodes and afk fishing, players would start a fishing minigame with a novelty in the new Tools category, after equipping your a fishing rod and bait in the new Gathering panel where the other tools and info about map gathering and map rewards bonuses go. The novelty would not be the fishing rod itself it'll be the way to use your equipped fishing rod, so instead having a novelty for each fishing rod, it would be a single novelty Tool to use the rod you have equipped.Because fishing would be started with a novelty, it'll be usable anywhere. You could try to fish at rivers, sea shores, or even lava. If you don't get a red error message saying you can't fish there, than means you found a fishing spot! Each region of the core tyia maps and each expansion and living world season would have its own collection of fish that will keep record of your biggest catches and give you a reward when you complete it, like chairs, fishing rod skins, bait recipes, etc...And also because it'll be started with a novelty, just like you can use balloons while riding a munt, you'd be able to fish hovering over the middle of a water body riding your skimmer, sitting on a novelty chair on your boat, or even deep underwater.
  • A new underwater speedster mount that can dive as fast as a rollerbeetle can ride and a griffon can fly, but can't be used on land, dismounting after passing the shore threshold.
  • A new cross-expansion mastery for players who own both PoF and the new expansions that teaches the skimmer mount to dive underwater. It'll require 1 mastery point from each expansion, but it'll only take exp in Cantha content.
  • An ancient Largos underwater city in the process of recovery with the help of a 'treaty' with the Priory mediated by a certain water djinn who has gained the favor of the Largos leaders.

Things like those would be neat.

[Wubbbi.8172]

@"MithranArkanere.8957" I agree with you in most of the points. I would love to see Kaineng really tight and urban! I don't think that "Cyberpunk" is possible but a "Gw2 themed Cyberpunk" would be perfect! Very nice points you made there :)

[Dante.1763]

Well if its Cantha, thats already out the window as i didnt want to see that.

However.

I want a mob density and aggro range thats in between POF/HOT and CORE.

Everything else can be in between POF/HOT.

[Teratus.2859]

I'd like the larger amount of content and variety of locations that we got from PoF

But i'd also like the verticality and higher level of difficulty that came with HoT.

Basically I want the next expansion to be harder that PoF and around a similar level of difficulty to HoT but not harder than HoT

I want to explore a bunch of different and unique regions to which we know from GW1 Cantha absolutely possesses.

I want a balance of new maps, some being very vertical based while others being rather flat.

I want new elite specs that feel very fresh and almost alien in some ways to fit in with the feeling that we are exploring a very different and foreign land.. I want them to give me the feeling that i'm still playing Gw2 but we are a long ways away from Tyria now.

I want to feel like an outsider and an outcast in some parts of this region, I want Anet to really hold no punches when it comes to the more xenophobic Canthans.I especially want to feel this on a human character as well, like we are just as hated as the non humans because we befriend and ally with them.I want this expansion to really go to dark places with the story and give us something truly epic.

[Random Wax Orc.7695]

I would like to see a new kind of map, Guild Territories. In a Guild Territory, players in that guild can stake a claim and build a homestead. Lots of ways to monetize this, both in guild upgrades, territory claiming missions, and also individual player claiming & upgrades for homesteads.

I would like to see a new kind of dynamic event, player and guild spawned dynamic events. Anyone on a map can participate in these events, but they are triggered as part of some guild or personal story activity, like guild missions... like guild missions, but they enhance the play for everyone, and perhaps help recruit new members for guilds or new friends for players. Map events are great but if players/guilds bring more events with them, then a whole new dimension of map activity is possible. (edit: example a player gets a weekly treasure hunt mission, and can trigger it when they want... and the more people participating scales up nature of the event from something small soloed, or something huge with a zerg.)

I would like to see not only underwater mounts, but vehicles added to the game... specifically, player ships (both airborne and waterborne ships, maybe even submarines).

As for new maps, I am concerned that I almost never visit HoT or PoF maps... there are in fact very few maps I go to regularly. There is so much to do in GW2 that having a reason to go to a map is not enough, players need to want to go to that map. What makes a map attractive to visit besides some task to complete or some loot to acquire? I am puzzling over this. There are some maps I just want to be in and some maps, that are just as beautiful that seem like a chore. I don't know the answer to this but I think it needs to be researched with respect to the player base.

[robertthebard.8150]

An expanded expansion... /hide

I don't really have a preference, other than "something new".

[Wubbbi.8172]

@Random Wax Orc.7695 said:I would like to see a new kind of map, Guild Territories. In a Guild Territory, players in that guild can stake a claim and build a homestead. Lots of ways to monetize this, both in guild upgrades, territory claiming missions, and also individual player claiming & upgrades for homesteads.

I would love to see that! This reminds we very much of the Faction expansion for Gw1 where you had to fight for either one of the factions (Luxon, Kurzick) and claim land on a dynamic map. I really loved that system and I would to see such a system in the open world. Maybe even for guilds. It opens 1000 new ways of playing the game and making pregression. But something makes me feel that we WILL see something like that coming. I think they are going the way they did with factions(gw1) and I am ready for it :D

[hugo.4705]

Would like having a boat, personnal or guild hall whatever.

[zallesz.1650]

I liked the aesthetic of POF better but the map and event structure of HOT more. I feel like I could get lost in POF maps for how gorgeous they are, and how well made they are. However, HOT maps can keep you there for hours, as there is always something going on.

[Tyncale.1629]

@zallesz.1650 said:I liked the aesthetic of POF better but the map and event structure of HOT more. I feel like I could get lost in POF maps for how gorgeous they are, and how well made they are. However, HOT maps can keep you there for hours, as there is always something going on.

I agree with this. If they could combine those qualities then the Expac would already be a success for me. Well, unless they mess up the new game changing feature that every Expac should have. :)

[Schnuschnu.9857]

Something story focused. I don't think the expansion has to deal with the commander and driving our plot forward. This could actually be a really good opportunity to do so many different exciting things. Playable mission lines to get other perspectives: Nightmare court, the other pale tree, norn spirit stories like ensuring the retreat of the norn, zojja update, inquest storyline, tengu (what happend in the domain of the wind) or even exploring some parts of the novels (I mean the characters exist in the universe, so why not). If we can make the whole world more whole storywise that could really add something. I don't think another commander story with even more e-specs to balance is what is really healthy for the game.

[kharmin.7683]

Pretty sure ANet learned a lesson on the release of HoT. I don't expect to see anything with that level of difficulty since it was nerfed. PoF is more of what I believe we can expect.