Curse

Crim The Elder · Jan 13, 2009, 03:36 PM // 15:36

Well, I have been around for a long time. This old man remembers the days when there was only one Guild Wars and that was the original. To me those were the good old days. Since then we have had three expansion packs. I havent played them all yet because of my lack of money but I have been around to nearly all of the world. Well recently after my three month leave from guild wars I came back and decided to do a few missions and help out some new players for free. But when I got to these mission areas I saw that they were practically empty. I started to wonder why because back in the day you could hardly see the merchant through the large crowds players in these mission areas. So I decided to investigate the reason behind the small attendance of players. I went to these beginner cities like Ascalon and I just sat and listened to the newer players. I cant recall all of the conversations I had but most were deterred by the immaturity that goes on. I have always noticed there were a few players that just hanged around the beginner cities and just talked complete immature nonsense. So most of the newer player just quit after a few days because no one will help them and that they are just sick of the nonsense being spilled in these cities.

My question is has anyone else been noticing a decrease in the population of new players and what do you think is the cause?

bungusmaximus · Jan 13, 2009, 03:41 PM // 15:41

-Very many towns and outpost to spread the same player base over.
-Heroes allowing ppl to PUG less
-Normal mode nurfs to game difficulty allowing people to PUG less
-People seen and done it all now, so they can either do it on their own, or not at all

slowerpoke · Jan 13, 2009, 04:13 PM // 16:13

the game is pretty stale, only the diehards remain
no amount of summoning stones is gonna change that

Daesu · Jan 13, 2009, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Heroes or no heroes, nerf or no nerf, the game is almost four years old. It is inevitable that there is a decrease in population, especially in the newbie areas.

To keep a game fresh you have to have new content, new quests/missions, new rewards, new areas, new challenges, ...

Lycan Nibbler · Jan 13, 2009, 04:45 PM // 16:45

There have been plenty of threads about this before.

Not many people look to buy a 4 year old game unless theres a great deal on it or repackaged in some way. More leavers than new players = smaller player base QED.

As far as the immaturity, thats always been there... maybe you noticed it because you actually went and stayed there to see it rather than passing through.

the_jos · Jan 13, 2009, 04:52 PM // 16:52

Decrease in new players?
It's been a while since I've been actively playing in the starter areas besides starting a new character a couple of weeks ago so I wouldnt really know.
But pre-sear seemed to have activity and not only from experienced player.

I can think of three reasons.
First of all, prophecies is old. Factions is old. Nightfall is kinda old. EotN is also getting old. From gamer's perspective where a game is old in 6 months (or even before that) so starting to play a +3yr old game isn't very appealing.
Even though the game got cheap it's not going to attract a lot of new players.

Second, people can start in 3 continents now.
Even if the flow of new players would still be the same you would only meet 1/3 of the original population in any starter area (given equal distribution).

Third, the 24/7 players got aboard ages ago.
So now the active players are the ones who play in short bursts.
And waiting for someone for 30 mins when you are only playing 2 hours is a complete waste of time. So people solo or play in smaller teams with heroes. Result of that is empty outposts.

Elusive of SoLD · Jan 13, 2009, 05:08 PM // 17:08

A stranglehold addiction to this game disappeared when I reached my goals. I went from playing 3-4 hours a day workdays and all day weekends to.. nothing.

total I racked up was 3,840 hours, now i find it hard to sustain a single dungeon or uw run before I get bored.

It still goes down as the best game i ever played, just waiting for gw2 which will come out sooner or later.

Star Gazer · Jan 13, 2009, 05:21 PM // 17:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowerpoke

no amount of summoning stones is gonna change that

/sarcasm

I disagree!

/endsarcasm

i have played this game since the beginning. took a break a week before factions until nightfall came out. i RARELY play. ive done what ive wanted to do, and its just not fun anymore. Excellent guild activity (atleast in mine) is good, but the game is stale. Its bound to happen.

I pwnd U · Jan 13, 2009, 05:36 PM // 17:36

PvE has become really dull. JQ has become very popular lately and it seems like a small amount of the population has moved there. That is what I have currently started doing is PvPing in JQ/FA/AB instead of the PvE.

Eddie Frenzy Spam · Jan 13, 2009, 05:41 PM // 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elusive of SoLD

A stranglehold addiction to this game disappeared when I reached my goals. I went from playing 3-4 hours a day workdays and all day weekends to.. nothing.

total I racked up was 3,840 hours, now i find it hard to sustain a single dungeon or uw run before I get bored.

It still goes down as the best game i ever played, just waiting for gw2 which will come out sooner or later.

A) God knows why you're proud of playing that much
B) Frenzy OWNZ?

On topic:
Yeah there's less players but there is still a pretty big population. It's just because there are more areas so the population is thinned out between them and also because a lot of people prefer to take H/H now and so spend less time idl'ing in the towns looking for groups.

Crim The Elder · Jan 13, 2009, 05:57 PM // 17:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by eddie the reaper

A) God knows why you're proud of playing that much
B) Frenzy OWNZ?

On topic:
Yeah there's less players but there is still a pretty big population. It's just because there are more areas so the population is thinned out between them and also because a lot of people prefer to take H/H now and so spend less time idl'ing in the towns looking for groups.

It maybe that the population thinned out but I still remember over the summer of 2008 where Factions was very crowded

Lest121 · Jan 13, 2009, 06:11 PM // 18:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by slowerpoke

the game is pretty stale, only the diehards remain
no amount of summoning stones is gonna change that

Bingo I left in august, the game is just a grind, the lack of new content makes GW a boring game.

Wubbies · Jan 13, 2009, 06:20 PM // 18:20

try going to Kamadan D1 on a friday or saturday night.. the districst is full. also TOA says hi

as stated.. alot of people still.. just spread out over 3 continents not to mention with heros coming into play that people dont look for pve groups standing around a mission anymore. with heros u just add ..go in mish.. and try not to fail. yes i know alot of people left gw as well but i still see alot of people just in different areas now.. and yes the game gets boring.

Crim The Elder · Jan 13, 2009, 06:50 PM // 18:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wubbies

try going to Kamadan D1 on a friday or saturday night.. the districst is full. also TOA says hi

as stated.. alot of people still.. just spread out over 3 continents not to mention with heros coming into play that people dont look for pve groups standing around a mission anymore. with heros u just add ..go in mish.. and try not to fail. yes i know alot of people left gw as well but i still see alot of people just in different areas now.. and yes the game gets boring.

So it seems to me that Heroes, although a great concept has in a way destroyed some of the fun out of creating a party and reacting with other people. And what is TOA? Temple of Ages.

Lycan Nibbler · Jan 13, 2009, 07:14 PM // 19:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crim The Elder

So it seems to me that Heroes, although a great concept has in a way destroyed some of the fun out of creating a party and reacting with other people. And what is TOA? Temple of Ages.

Depends on if you count as fun, finding that halfway through a mission the War in your pug thinks he can solo everything or a monk has to sign off coz his mom says he has to go and eat.

Spaced Invader · Jan 13, 2009, 07:30 PM // 19:30

For a game almost 4 years old, GW is doing exceptionally well. At least population-wise.
It is in fact still one of the most populated online games I know. Probably the highest populated game I've ever played myself (since I passed on WoW).

Anyway, I remember the time around Summer 2005 when there wasn't really anything left to do for PvE players. No titles, no Hard Mode, no HoM.
Everyone was waiting for the big "Summer Update" (Sorrow's Furnace) which seemed to drag on forever. Most of the Prophecies outposts were almost empty, with 2-3 lonely souls in many of them - and that at a time when there were no other chapters.
Heck, I used up my 5 region switches to jump between US and EU districts - which both were kinda abandoned in most areas of the game.

Compared to that, GW is thriving nowadays.
At christmas you still see 60+ districts in LA. There's still players everywhere.
They just prefer to play with H/H (which also results in less people hanging around lfg in outposts) and are spread out on 4 chapters - counting EotN as a chapter when it comes to population spread.

While of course declining (this game IS 4 years old after all), the overall population is still kinda massive.
At least in the PvE-part of the game. PvP might be another story; especially HA has been dead for quite a while now.

Daesu · Jan 13, 2009, 08:05 PM // 20:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crim The Elder

So it seems to me that Heroes, although a great concept has in a way destroyed some of the fun out of creating a party and reacting with other people. And what is TOA? Temple of Ages.

I dont think it is that simple. Without heroes, many of us wont even bother to login now because it is that difficult to find a good PUG nowadays that wouldn't leave in middle of an elite mission.

Try finding a PUG to do DoA, and if you managed to complete it consider yourself lucky. Most PUGs do not know what they are doing, have low LB ranks, or leave in middle since the missions take too long. Players, unlike heroes, do not have the patience or time to see things through or plan out their builds.

I would agree that heroes be "filler"s. Allow teams to bring heroes if nobody joins the party, otherwise players should have the priority for specific quest/mission join-ups. Also if players leave in the middle of a quest/mission, allow heroes to replace them. But that would take a redesign of the game.

Mr.Kotte · Jan 13, 2009, 08:45 PM // 20:45

wtb moar instances like doa...
PVEEE

Daesu · Jan 13, 2009, 08:56 PM // 20:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr.Kotte

wtb moar instances like doa...
PVEEE

The elite missions design could have been better. You have to reserve X hours of time to go through them and worst of all they do a bad job saving your progress. If you make a mistake and caused a party wipe, you have to start from the beginning again.

That is why I avoided them like a plague for years but I ran out of new content since I have finished all 3 continents a long time ago. Too bad, it is either I quit or play these areas and most PUGs just suck in these areas and I could complete them with the proper hero builds myself.

I have tried PUGGing many times and they just fail, finding a group also takes a very long time, not to mention a good group.

SerenitySilverstar · Jan 13, 2009, 09:02 PM // 21:02

Take one "Sky is Falling" thread.

Add the posters who don't play and have too much time on their hands, and their gripes.

Get no balance from the people who are out there enjoying the game, and don't have the time or inclination to troll boards.

Find a skewed view, which reinforces the Chicken Littles of the board.

Rinse. Repeat.