Curse

a-kyle · Feb 01, 2012, 05:39 PM // 17:39

I was in LA last ngiht and there were maybe 20 people compared to the hundreds that use to be there. I find that a lot of places now that had 10-100+ people at any given time now have 1-20+ people. I know the holiday is coming up and there will be like 700+ people on at any one time.

Is GW Dying - dead?

spacedkadet · Feb 01, 2012, 05:47 PM // 17:47

Winding down is probably the right choice, a lot less folk about but enough still that you can find a group relativly quickly. I would imagine most people have played enough now and are just popping on now and then whilst waiting on gw2,, there are still some new people coming that haveheard about gw2 and decided to buy gw1 for hom but they do not make up for the people who have stopped.

Iuris · Feb 01, 2012, 05:47 PM // 17:47

Everything alive is technically dieing, all the time.

GW1 is a 6 year old game, what do people expect? Of course the playerbase is shrinking, especially in times when there is no new content.

Amazingly, this is working as intended - the game's business model is based upon a one time payment, so it's expected that people will play it and then stop when it stops being fun. This isn't a game that wants to keep you wasting your time on empty pursuits just to get a monthly out of you.

Kamara · Feb 01, 2012, 05:50 PM // 17:50

* People are still playing, working on HoMs, getting ready for festivals.
* There may be less grouping going on in towns, but a lot of activity is in guilds or 7 heroes.
* People playing are generally.... playing. So you wont see those.

A lot of people are in a sort of lull, waiting either for GW2 or waiting for a date. I know a lot of my guildies are gonna come back to finish their HoMs once GW2's got a release date or open beta date. I'm sure they're not alone.

It's declining, but it's almost a 7 year old game. There's still life in it if you know where to look!

vader · Feb 01, 2012, 05:55 PM // 17:55

I haven't played since SWTOR came out. I logged on to get the Wintersday hats and that was it. I'll probably log on to get this weekend's mask and mini but then it will be right back to SWTOR for me.

Yol · Feb 01, 2012, 06:02 PM // 18:02

What district of LA were you in? I suspect it wasn't the American district.

a-kyle · Feb 01, 2012, 06:03 PM // 18:03

You would think with some of the latest updates, like the dervish, the canthian story and the elementalist that the player base would come back...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yol

What district of LA were you in? I suspect it wasn't the American district.

Actually it was...i was on at about 9pm mountian time if that helps

MithranArkanere · Feb 01, 2012, 06:16 PM // 18:16

Nope. It's not done yet, they are still doing it. Quite literally.

Of course there's less people, but GW is far from done.

Before, those 100 people were sitting there idling. They had already finished the game, they were not in the mood for PvP, some were trading, other just socializing, others AFK...

Now, the traders are went to Kamadan, those 'socializing' went to Shing Jea, those AFK are often in their guild halls, and those tired of PvP are playing other games.
The rest is filling their HoM in explorable areas and missions, where you can't see them.

If people used the Embark Beach as intended and everyone that is idling for whatever reason went there, then you'll see it more clearly.

**cosyfiep** · Feb 01, 2012, 06:30 PM // 18:30

LA??? kamadan is where people hang out (usually when I hit LA I wind up in dist 2--so there are at least enough people to warrant 2 districts).
also yesterday was...tuesday??? more people play on the weekends (kids have school, adults work)....not to mention people are farming for nic gifts--factions this week.

yeah, the game is almost 7 years old, there are not as many people playing now, but with 7 heroes etc...people tend to NOT hang around unless they are trading.

enter_the_zone · Feb 01, 2012, 06:56 PM // 18:56

Yeah, Kamadan is where it's at. Also, alot of the active players don't hang out in town much because we have heroes so no longer have to stand around for ages going LFG.............. LFG.................LFG.

That said, it's clear the population is falling. I've got 100 people on my friends list and in the last year I'd say that at no point have more than 10 people been online at one time, and overall I'd guess at least 60 to 70 of those people haven't been online at all in over a year.

a-kyle · Feb 01, 2012, 07:11 PM // 19:11

thats another thing - I thought the popular thing was do everything solo....WITHOUT heros, henchies or other people cause then you get all the golds.....have times changed? can you do UW, FOW and other places with heros instead of people now?

worstnameevar · Feb 01, 2012, 07:35 PM // 19:35

The solo meta has changed into a solo +7 meta, 7 heroes that is. Hard mode introduction also changed the drop occurrences of gold, making scalability the modus operandi for all farmers. Recent de-buffs of popular solo/two man farming has also hastened the onset of the +7 meta. That, and it just makes sense to use them since all your friends haven't logged on in 6 months :\

You can do any high end area with 7 heroes. Last I checked, the real hero wranglers were doing UW HM and DoA NM, but that was over 6 months ago

a-kyle · Feb 01, 2012, 07:44 PM // 19:44

so essentially heros are the new people and instead of seeing that sweet rq9 chaos axe that dropped we no longer see it.....angry face. I liked going with people cause what they didnt pick up eventually became fair game and I became rich off that >_<.

But i guess 7 heros would be good for doing UW and what not...Love to see a video of some one doing Dhuum with 7 heros LOL

Belzebu · Feb 01, 2012, 08:01 PM // 20:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-kyle

.Love to see a video of some one doing Dhuum with 7 heros LOL

As you wish: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jd6r-vTf8J0
He also soloed (that means no hero or hench) the whole prophecies campaign.

StormDragonZ · Feb 01, 2012, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-kyle

thats another thing - I thought the popular thing was do everything solo....WITHOUT heros, henchies or other people cause then you get all the golds.....have times changed? can you do UW, FOW and other places with heros instead of people now?

I've beaten FoW with heroes, every part but Foundry of DoA with heroes, but I'm still one of the few, possibly THE ONLY, people who has never completed UW, even to say I've never fought Dhuum. The best I've done is 6 quests done with heroes only.

EPO Bot · Feb 01, 2012, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Yeah, i think it's done. But i played this game longer then any other title ever, so it's about time.

Martin Alvito · Feb 01, 2012, 09:12 PM // 21:12

What do you mean by dead or dying?

The competitive zenith of the game passed sometime in 2006; the cooperative zenith (PvE) passed somewhere in 2008-2009. But the game need not be at its zenith to avoid being dead or dying, so we need to narrow down the definition a bit.

If you define "dying" by activity, then the game is dying regardless of the game mode we're talking about. Both PvP and PvE are populated by far fewer people, and are played at a level much lower than the highest level of play that both once enjoyed.

If you define "dying" as a threshold condition where a minimum level of activity means the game is not "dying", then PvE certainly is not dying and several PvP formats are not either.

Fluffy Kittens · Feb 01, 2012, 09:20 PM // 21:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by enter_the_zone

That said, it's clear the population is falling. I've got 100 people on my friends list and in the last year I'd say that at no point have more than 10 people been online at one time, and overall I'd guess at least 60 to 70 of those people haven't been online at all in over a year.

50 is the max number of people you can add to flist.
On topic: pve farms and speed clears are still alive, kamadan is still alive but pvp is dead for quite a while already.

FalconDance · Feb 01, 2012, 09:39 PM // 21:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by a-kyle

...i was on at about 9pm mountian time if that helps

You do realize that would be nearing midnight on the east coast - and a WORK/school night for many/most in the US? We're in CST and it's pretty rare for any of us to be ingame around then (or later) on a week night simply because, well, we have real lives!

*lemming* · Feb 02, 2012, 12:20 AM // 00:20

People have been complaining about the game being "dead" since 2006.

Just sayin.