Curse

Lord Feathers · Aug 05, 2007, 05:44 AM // 05:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by acidic

there is simply nothing to do in gw after you have finished the story. Titles? Grind. Items? All the same crap stats you get from merchants. Quests? Rewards are pitiful and xp is meaningless. This is why gw pve dies rapidly.

Actually I see more burn out with the P vs P crowd then I do with the P vs E crowd. But my two cents is the game is far from dead and How many posts do we see each week here in this community saying OMG GW is Dying ? So many doom threads, LOL

HKSdivision · Aug 05, 2007, 05:48 AM // 05:48

I've been bored of GW for quite a while now. After beating all 3 games on all your characters, completing quests that you need and want to, it repeats itself and is boring. I've already worked on the titles that I want so I'm done with those. Plus my guild is pretty much inactive and dead so there's really no one to chat with anymore but I'm sure once GW:EN is around the corner then they will come back because they will have stuff to do. I usually log on and I see only 1 or 2 people on and they don't even respond to a "hello" so I my as well kick them!

Bargamer · Aug 05, 2007, 05:48 AM // 05:48

Yeah, people are just playing something else. LOTR Online, WoW: Burning Crusade, C&C3, a new Magic: the Gathering set just came out, consoles are churning out titles, summer movies in full swing, then there's those wierdos who go outside... It's not likely to change anytime soon, either. WoW: Lich King is coming soon, Starcraft 2 coming soon, Fallout 3 coming soon, school starting again soon... But GW:EN is gonna make or break GW2 for me.

With so much fun stuff to do, it's hard to stay with just one activity, much less one game. It's a great time to be alive.

Alphabet · Aug 05, 2007, 05:52 AM // 05:52

Good luck finding parties off the beaten path in Prophecies. Thank goodness for heroes.

I can still find parties in Factions in the major areas. Minor areas, not so much, but people are there every now and then.

Nightfall is Nightfall... too easy to find a party.

hallomik · Aug 05, 2007, 05:52 AM // 05:52

I'll disagree with Malice slightly.

When Night Fall came out, none of the players knew about the planned transition to GW:EN and then GW2. That announcement was when a lot of players got upset about things. I think fewer players will purchase GW:EN than the previous expansions, and those who do buy it will tend to be those still having fun with the game. So, while there will surely be disappointed gamers complaining on day one of GW:EN's release, there will also certainly be fewer complainers in general.

I mean, if you are really unhappy with the game's direction and disillusioned with the franchise migrating to GW2, why would you purchase GW:EN? Unless you like complaining and wanted to get more ammunition for why you dislike Guild Wars, what would the motivation be?

I've already noticed a bit of a split in the community. Those who post on the GW:EN forum tend to be more optimistic. Those who post in Riverside tend to be more gloomy. I think that split will widen post-GW:EN as the pessimists who don't buy GW:EN will have less to directly complain about.

As to the question in the OP, my belief is that GW doesn't really have enough content to fully support 2 years of continuous gameplay. I started playing a year after the launch, so I am still enjoying it. Will I still be in another year? I love the game, but I really doubt it. I think a lot of the players who more keenly feel the decline have played for longer than I have. Most of their friends have moved on. Well, two plus years is a very long time to play any computer game, so it's natural. To a newer, old-timer like me, the game still has a lot to offer. I see new players all of the time come into my guild, get excited, and become devoted GW gamers. I also see players go inactive. That cycle will continue for some time to come.

I think the problem many players have who've been here from the beginning is that they blame their declining interest in the game on changes Anet has made. I tend to thing most of that is really unfair to Anet. I sincerely believe that the vast majority of Anet's changes have made the game better. A brand new player to GW today will find a much better game than the brand new player of 6 months ago. And that player was better off than the brand new player of a year ago. And so on. Yes, I realize this is a controversial view.

What I think is happening is that the players are naturally getting to the point where they've done most things in-game they've wanted to do. As GW is fairly addictive, they've probably overplayed a bit, too. Then, they hit a point where the game just becomes less fun. I always read the "I've had it with Guild Wars" threads with some curiosity. Normally, the reasons given are just hard to believe: "I quit because of synch farmers" "I quit because I can't farm Urgoz vampires." "I quit because Anet won't ban enough bots." "I quit because Jade Quarry isn't fair to Kurzicks." "I quit because some PVP build is ruining the game." They are legitimate things to complain about, but are they really good reasons to give up the game? I think the player had just played too much and was - maybe subconsciously - looking for a reason to stop playing.

I'm sure I'll hit that point myself. I can already feel my interest starting to wane. GW:EN will renew that passion; I am sure of that, but at some point, you just move on.

But just because it's ended for you, it hasn't ended for the new player who comes along. And given the links to GW2, GW will probably be around for many years to come - whether you're personally playing it or not.

Pae · Aug 05, 2007, 08:07 AM // 08:07

There are a few issues with GW dying, since the hours that you log into GW can affect it quite a bit (obviously :P). From what I remember of way too many runs of The Deep was that there'd be a huge amount of people in the Int'l D around 6 PM CST and next to none when it was 1 AM when I checked at random.

Most of the old players, as mentioned earlier, are already where they want to be, which is probably endgame, so there'll be fewer people in the in between missions (that don't lead to farming spots). There'll be even less in Prophecies and Factions, since there isn't that sense of "newness" and being unplayed. I have to admit that it's nice to not have to deal with the massive amount of lag from huge districts... .

The other thing is that if you have a group of friends who you can goof off in the game with, there's not much of a need for serious stuff or goals. It's pretty amusing to see what you can do and come up with random challenges. One guildmate decided to run through Tombs with henchman a while ago (yay flags) and was talking about it in Guild chat, so I ended up giving him pointers :P. A solo player is pretty much stuck with what the game offers. The community can really keep people around, though I guess that for some, it's more just forums/chat instead of the actual game.

zwei2stein · Aug 05, 2007, 08:12 AM // 08:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by acidic

there is simply nothing to do in gw after you have finished the story. Titles? Grind. Items? All the same crap stats you get from merchants. Quests? Rewards are pitiful and xp is meaningless. This is why gw pve dies rapidly.

Yes, because obviously quest itself can never be fun and everything you do in game must give you advantage.

gasmaskman · Aug 05, 2007, 08:19 AM // 08:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Herc

GW is dying, PC gaming is dying, Freedom is dying, I am dying because I smoke, I am dying because the hormones in the beef...

Bah.. Naysayers.. People aleays say games are dying. And in all cases they have gone on for years.

PC games especially. Though remember 25 years ago games almost did die

the_jos · Aug 05, 2007, 08:56 AM // 08:56

The OP is about Factions. There are some outposts there that seem abbandoned since a long time, even before NF was out.
Specially the missions behind HzH and Cavalon (10K faction requirement).

More general, there is an other problem:
People are on 3 games, with two of them having 'split storyline', meaning less people for each mission.
With the split storyline, people won't play the other mission(s) except for titles.

Then there is the problem of game-fun.
I know several members from my guild will come back after GW:EN is out, play for a short period and disappear again to their other games, in which they have more fun.

Then there is the guild/community.
If you are in an inactive guild and have a small friends list, the game will become boring faster then without.
A lot of people I know stick to the game because it kills time and they have a good time with the people around.

Heroes added to the 'solo-game' problem, where people prefer heroes over human players.
This has to do with trust, timing and player availability.
Even in our mid-sized guild, it's hard to get a full guild-team together for 8-person missions.
The only way is to schedule something in advance or being lucky.
Now try scheduling something in advance in GW without a guild ....

Gun Pierson · Aug 05, 2007, 11:13 AM // 11:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bryant Again

I wouldn't say dying, just more spread out.

I think you're right.

symbiote · Aug 05, 2007, 11:26 AM // 11:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miral

yeah pretty much. which basically means it is dying, but GWEN will revive it for a couple months. after that..... well, lets just say GW2 better have one hell of an advertising campaign. An early alpha event for GW players would be a huge plus in terms of keeping people interested long enough for GW2 to come out.

GW2 Beta tests start early 2008

Pwny Ride · Aug 05, 2007, 11:46 AM // 11:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by lyra_song

Its summer! its themepark season!

*reinstalls rollercoaster tycoon*

ACE post of the thread.

Expect things to heat up with the release of GW:EN. thats the key reason im looking forward to release

Molock · Aug 05, 2007, 05:34 PM // 17:34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Metal Herc

GW is dying, PC gaming is dying, Freedom is dying, I am dying because I smoke, I am dying because the hormones in the beef...

Bah.. Naysayers.. People aleays say games are dying. And in all cases they have gone on for years.

Haha! You're so right... people are saying GW is dying, people say WoW is dying, etc etc...

GW isn't dying, its changing...

Kinky Bear · Aug 05, 2007, 05:38 PM // 17:38

Pull up groups suck anyway...find yourself a nice guild that does PvE and you'll fly through any campaign...I've done NF 4 times this past week and factions 3 times...you just need a guild and good friends

. Theres more runners now, more experienced players...and less new players going through aswell as the population is spread out into three areas, soon to be 4 in a sense(though GW:EN is attached to Tyria). I doubt the game is dying...but I don't see much cooperation in PvE anymore. NF is filled quite a bit, so it could just be that people are more interested in playing the newer one.

Zappa · Aug 05, 2007, 07:11 PM // 19:11

It died and it's starting to smell.

Darksun · Aug 05, 2007, 08:18 PM // 20:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zinger314

PR spin. It's likely that there are more players overall, but who cares if there is a sharp player increase in Pre-Searing/Shing Jea/Istan when every other important area is barren?

That's dumb. As long as NEW content is added, there will be a tendancy for people to go to the NEW PLACE.

When I played WoW there were deserted places.. big deal?

BohemianKeith · Aug 05, 2007, 08:20 PM // 20:20

Factions put a really bad taste in alot of people's mouths, especially mine. Right off the back it split the population in half for most of the mission and then well it just generally sucked going through this repetitive mass of bland crappy looking areas. Errr sorry what this about again lol, oh yeah. I'm confident that the population is as strong as ever it's just now everyone is so spread out over the 3 campaigns. When GWEN comes out i'm sure everything will go back to normal. Praise heroes!

Omniclasm · Aug 05, 2007, 08:30 PM // 20:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Malice Black

BTW GW isn't dying. If Gaile is correct the numer of players is at it's highest EVER.

They have sold more copies of GW now than they had 2 weeks ago. This number is probably 4,000,100 compared to 4,000,000. So technically, the number is higher than it ever has been, and tomorrow it will be even higher than it ever has been, because the number cannot go down, only up.

jrk247 · Aug 05, 2007, 09:04 PM // 21:04

Well there is Prophecies, Faction's, Nightfall, and all sorts of PvP (RA, TA, HB, HA, AB, FA, GvG) and then there are people that actually go on vacation or take a break from GW. So that's a lot of spread out players. And the last part of Faction's has always been pretty barren.

Athrun Feya · Aug 05, 2007, 10:52 PM // 22:52

GW isn't dying itself, but the "community" + "teamwork" aspect has been since NF was released, groups have become seperated.

I think "spread out" is an accurate description, and even within outposts you have more of a seperation now; HMers, guild/alliance teams, those who go H/H, and your average (lost, scared and slightly confused) PuG.

It goes without saying really that more people will play again once new content is added (ie, GWEN). Mind you,
everything goes up and down - remember when NF was released and AB was empty?