This is why Guild Wars 2 needs an ad campaign and needed one since the beginning.

[Veprovina.4876]

https://www.pcgamer.com/destiny-2s-seasonal-storytelling-is-now-so-good-that-other-live-games-should-be-taking-notes/?utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR3A7DhoF-jAOO_-HBVYO_CsKrATUAlu3oh-kzDaGyAuEZO9lkcWsZGCync

 

Destiny 2 now apparently invented seasonal story telling. 🤦‍♂️

Never mind that Guild Wars 2 has been doing it for years.

 

But due to the prmotion and what's probably a paid article, Destiny 2 now takes the credit.

And sure, there's enough people that know better, even in the comments, but with the attention span of .01 seconds everyone has, the clickbaity title will always be the "default" most read. And thus, Destiny 2 did it first. 🙄

 

I would kind of be pissed if somone else took the credit for my innovations...

(And yes, GW2 didn't probably do it first either, but they kind of did in the MMO space, or at least did it uniquely)

 

A paid article or two would have made all the difference i think in how many people know and play this game.

 

But... On the bright side, since Blizzard is now close to dying because of their *cough* "questionable workplace behaviour" *cough*, a lot of YouTubers are actually kind of promoting Guild Wars 2 as a great "main MMO" for those who want to go away from Blizzard.

 

 

(at the start of the video, there's talk about Blizzard, and that's not even the only video i've seen do that when it comes to reviewing GW2)

 

So, it, if nothing else, stands to testament the sheer quality of the game, that it stood the test of time and actually people are recommending it without too much incentive from the developers directly.

 

I only wonder, is that enough?

[Randulf.7614]

Given that Anet are swamped with new and returning players right now and its caused support times to rocket, I don't think continued advertising is something high up the list to do esp given the high costs involved.

 

I don't think most players think Destiny 2 invented the season storytelling. Even taking out the fact gw2 didnt invent the living world idea either, its been a fairly well used concept for years now across all sorts of games. 

 

Its more about who does it better. GW2 - regardless as to whether it is quality or not (and I think the content is even if the storytellng isnt) - presents it in a messy and confusing way for new players who dont always understand where it fits and the payment model for it. How does D2 compare in those regards?

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

Its pointless to talk about either because Blizzard is dead, and Destiny is a failure too. Its written badly, runs even worse on most computers than Guild Wars 2 does, is loaded down with DRM and relies on exploitative mechanics just like most games have since WoW because everyone wants that million billion zillion dollar income.

 

Maybe if Blizzard had treated their workers with respect like ArenaNet does, instead of as playthings, they could've put out good games besides Overwatch. Soon the former giant will be forgotten entirely.

Edited August 12, 2021 by Hannelore.8153

[Mungrul.9358]

D2 makes a paid for "major" new release every year, then also charges for individual season passes. I think you can choose to pay for a deluxe version that entitles you to all season passes over the next year. At least, that's how it worked before I stopped playing.

 

While GW2's Living World release method and pricing structure is more confusing, it doesn't feel as compulsory as D2's season pass, thanks to the lack of vertical progression.

 

Every new season of Destiny 2 raises the "Light Level" (read: power level), resulting in you having to get new gear every season. It's really chuffing irritating, and is what finally drove me away from the game and stops me going back.

You finally get comfortable with your character and build , only for the release of the next season to effectively reset your progress.

 

It's a prime example of pushing numbers higher for no good reason.

 

Edit: Also, I notice a lot of people don't seem to be aware of this, but Bungie and Destiny are no longer owned by Activision Blizzard.

They parted ways a few years ago now, and Bungie are now entirely independent. And while you may like to believe it, the game certainly isn't dead (despite boneheaded decisions such as "sunsetting" old content and weapons).

Edited August 12, 2021 by Mungrul.9358

[Danikat.8537]

The same website has done articles on GW2's Living World before. Here's the most recent one I found, announcing the start of the Icebrood Saga: https://www.pcgamer.com/guild-wars-2s-next-living-world-saga-is-headed-to-my-favorite-region-from-the-original/

 

This one praises the story telling in Season 4 and mentions the episodic format as one reason it's effective: https://www.pcgamer.com/arenanet-talks-about-the-dramatic-ending-of-guild-wars-2s-latest-episode/

 

And they acknowledged GW2 as one of the innovators of 'live service' story telling in this article about the Marionette coming back: https://www.pcgamer.com/guild-wars-2s-best-boss-battle-returns-next-week-after-a-7-year-absence/

 

They've also covered everything from End of Dragons being announced to last year's April Fools joke and the addition of underwater skimmers. So it doesn't seem like a lack of reporting on GW2 is an issue.

 

I think partially it's a problem with how articles like this tend to work (especially paid advertising dressed up to look like news), they have to act like whatever they're reporting on is innovative and exciting and you should be as interested as they claim they are, even if it's not actually a new idea.

 

But I think it's also partially to do with expectations. GW2 is called an MMORPG and people expect RPGs to have big, overarching storylines and smaller side-stories within that. It would be more surprising if there was an RPG where that didn't happen. Whereas people don't expect that from shooters. Many are still seen as using 'excuse plots' (a short cut scene to set up that these are the bad guys for whatever reason, so you don't have to worry about killing them), accurately or otherwise. So when someone can say "actually this shooter has interesting story telling as well" it's more surprising and more likely to stand out.

 

It reminds me of when the first Bioshock game came out and some people I knew were making a big fuss over how amazing it was that you get to choose how to solve problems or who to side with and that changed what happened in the game! I was confused because to me this had become a fairly common mechanic in games several years before, sure it didn't happen all the time but it wasn't new. Then I realised it was new to them because they didn't normally play that type of game and hadn't encountered it before.

[Gorem.8104]

I played Destiny 2 awhile back and it was fun, Tried going back recently only to find out the planets I enjoyed roaming on have been removed from the games files as well as the entire first story as well as multiple paid for expansion stories. 

 

Entirely removed from the game, you can't play them or visit the maps anymore. 2! Paid for expansions entire content removed. 

 

So like, I quit for a second time then and there. I never bought the passes cause they were always 100% a ripoff. The games pvp is unbalanced, story is written badly to compensate for their bad design choices. 

 

It will never take GW2's crown. GW2 is a game you can come back AT ANY POINT in your life or game life, and you still have access to all content both old and new. With characters that don't change power levels for you suddenly with gear that is suddenly decided by the devs to be terrible even if you spent hours farming it but for some reason login to a character that has different gear power then you last used. 

 

GW2 already right now is getting lots of new and returning players, I still see it all the time ever since I came back a few months ago, lots of people are returning, lots of people that have quit for 5-6 years are returning. 

 

It really doesn't need more advertising then it currently has. Word of Mouth, plus Blizzards death, is already enough.

[Danikat.8537]

15 minutes ago, Gorem.8104 said:

GW2 is a game you can come back AT ANY POINT in your life or game life, and you still have access to all content both old and new.

Except Season 1, where they made the same mistake, but at least we weren't paying for it. Removing free updates we were told in advance would be temporary was annoying enough, removing paid expansions is shocking. I'm surprised anyone put up with that.

 

Other than that I agree with your post, especially the bit about returning players. The Players Helping Players section of this forum seems to be a regular stream of people saying they're either new or returning to the game after years. That's one of the things which makes me think the apparent lack of advertising isn't as bad as some people say. The other is that I rarely meet an MMO fan who doesn't already know about GW2. They might have chosen not to play it, but that's fine, I probably wouldn't want to play whichever game they prefer. The important thing is they are aware it exists, so they don't need an advert to tell them that.

[Omega.6801]

We had great ads in the past, don't know what you're about...
 

 

[Mungrul.9358]

14 minutes ago, Danikat.8537 said:

Removing free updates we were told in advance would be temporary was annoying enough, removing paid expansions is shocking. I'm surprised anyone put up with that.

It is indeed a horrible decision, but I can kind of understand it from Bungie's point of view.

One, while some of your players are on PC with essentially limitless storage capacity, most of your players are on consoles with limited storage (I know Xbox and Playstation can both use external disks to store games, but the percentage of users taking advantage of that fact is minimal, and Bungie have to cater to the lowest common denominator).

Two, "sunsetting" old content probably saves them quite a bit in cloud computing fees. While smaller, I suspect the average Destiny 2 map takes up a lot more space than a GW2 map thanks to increased polycount and texture resolution.

 

Such a shame though. This, combined with the ever-increasing power level stops me from ever going back. If I felt I could just drop in and play whenever I liked, like with GW2, it would be a welcome alternative when I'm feeling burned out with GW2.

 

Not that any MMO or "Games As A Service" company is interested in their userbase dividing their time between more than one game; not even GW2!

They want ALL your time ALL the time. I do wish they'd let up on the FOMO tactics every once in a while.

It's somewhat telling that GW2 never implemented the first game's reminders to take a break.

[yann.1946]

26 minutes ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

Not that any MMO or "Games As A Service" company is interested in their userbase dividing their time between more than one game; not even GW2!

They want ALL your time ALL the time. I do wish they'd let up on the FOMO tactics every once in a while.

It's somewhat telling that GW2 never implemented the first game's reminders to take a break.

A big complained against anet has always been the opposite of this.

Namely that they make a game where you just drop in ones every three months.

[Danikat.8537]

I think GW2 does better than most MMOs and 'live service' games at not demanding your time, at least since season 1 ended. The lack of vertical progression beyond level 80 helps, as do things like being able to play new releases in any order - if someone came back recently and especially wanted to see Grothmar Valley for example they don't have to play all the previous releases first (but can if they want to because they haven't been deleted!). Very few goals are limited-time and most of the time consuming 'end game' things are optional so if you don't have time for it you can just skip it and you'll still be able to play new content.

 

If this was like some other MMOs I've played right now the forum would be full of discussions about how to "get ready" for EoD - which masteries will need to be finished, what equipment you'll need to be able to play it and how to balance that with saving up sources of XP and gold to minimise the grind once new content is released so you're not stuck going round and round the first map until you're allowed into the next one. Fortunately we don't have to deal with any of that and as a result can just focus on the things we want to do, even if that's taking a break from GW2 to do something else.

 

19 minutes ago, Mungrul.9358 said:

It's somewhat telling that GW2 never implemented the first game's reminders to take a break.

There is an option to get a big yellow notification in the middle of the screen (and in the chat box in case you miss the first one) every hour, telling you how long you've been playing that day. I'm not sure if it directly tells you to take a break at some point, I don't remember seeing it but it's rare that I'm on for more than 2 hours so I may have just not triggered it.