Dont forget about us!

I have to say that guild wars rocks. I will continue to play even after the release of guild wars 2.

How ever I have noticed that there is a lot of negative feed back on proposed improvements for guild wars most saying "there will be no new additions because of guild wars 2" (that is a general observation, not a factual quote) and even now I notice the rate of in game updates slowing in the last year, from once a week to once ever to 2 to 3 weeks sometimes more.

I am aware that it has been stated that guild wars will still be supported after the release of guild wars 2, But it hasn't been stated the game will improve. I'm not running around screaming the sky is falling, for all I know its isn't. I'm asking (you might could say begging) please don't forget about the 5,000,000+ users already playing and the same users that you are are so proud of.

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5mill is just a number of accounts sold, and that's not ammount of different accounts(right?), as most of ppl have "4 accounts" in one when they just add new campaigns to existing account. There are aswell many ppl with multiple accounts and many ppl who quited GW already. It's nowhere near 5mill GW players and there will be less and less of them imo. Most will just move on to GW2.

And let's not forget that from those 5kk there are tons of banned gold sellers, bots and so on.

Once GW2 comes out, GW will no longer be the focus of attention. This is only logical since GW will not be their chief money maker. Updates will occur as such.

This is only logical.

when anet say they won't forget GW they really mean 'we'll give you a buff to battle rage every few months and maybe some new (old) skins'

the sky is falling btw

I wouldn't really say GW is Anet's focus of attention even now. They don't have time to release big updates any more.

Compare these updates, in early 2006:
http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Game_updates/2006_March

to this:

http://guildwars.wikia.com/wiki/Game_updates/2008_April

There's a lot less new stuff, just changes to old things now.

Well IMO what we have now will be it in GW and as they claim they are working hard on GW2 it would be nice iff they make little updates like sorrows furnace every 3 a 4 months (not gonna happen)
But still and if money can't convince they to make more for the original GW what can im willing to pay 40 50 bucks for a nice expansion.

I have to agree with some of whats said. I do not see GW being thrown away but it will see more of a lack of attention. Just like others games that evolve the company has to focus on their current and future products, older ones get less love.

Hopefully GW will continue on and will see occassional updates & add-ons.

Well, its not like there are any more drastic changes on the horizon, like when Factions or Nightfall got ready to launch. Of course game updates are a bit minor now.

I think what will happen is that there will be changes to GW in help ArenaNet in the design of GW2. The recent skill split between PVE and PVP skills is a good example. ArenaNet has said that they are going to re-vamp the skill system for GW2, so why not "test" it in GW. See how the community responds.

Obviously there wont be any major changes, otherwise they could lose their potential playerbase. But I can see them make an "adjustment" in GW. See how it works out, and decide if they would expand on it in GW2. They can always go back to a previous build, if it doesn't work out.

I do think you could be right at least to some things.

No, it actually is a fact. Anet made a statement when announcing GW2 that the GW1 chapter model isn't working for them and they are abandoning it.

Servers will be kept online after GW2 launches.

How many will be playing then (probably some 2 years from now) however is a different question.

Just chill out and play. The rest will take care of itself, like always.

GW is a game that offers "unlimited on-line play". This doesn't suggest that you will get "unlimited" new content. In fact, given GW's financial model, it is counter productive for them to supply you with more content then you initially paid for when you bought the game - except, of course, when such content (SF comes to mind) will bring more new players (new purchases).
I would assume that, when GW2 comes out (if not already), the GW1 servers will continue to run to continue ANet's pledge for "unlimited" on-line play, but this doesn't imply the introduction of any new content for GW1.
At this time they seem to be just adding dribs and drabs of new stuff, just to keep people interested until GW2 comes out, so they don't abandon ship and go to WoW or AoC or w/e.

Think of GW as being like any other game, for example Half-Life 2 or any console game, where you pay for and get a fixed amount of "content" and then your done - except that GW adds and/or expands on the on-line aspect.

I think the best way to look at it is that GW2 is the new content.

Guildwars will end up just like d2lod. With once a year attention. Updates will fade into memory and only pvp/gvg tournies will be the most updated aspect of the game. We won't be getting any new expansions or stand-alones. Only minor skills fixes and nerfs, and minor tinkering with game mechanics. The game is already basically dead when dealing with new content, Thats one of the reasons for the Ztitle and the skill seperation. I only hope that Special Event Weekends don't get completely canceled too soon. But we can look forward to them happening less and less until we only see one a month if that.

When less people play I can see events happening a lot less often, but lasting longer periods of time, instead of 3 days, they would last a full 7 days, giving the remaining players ample time to accomplish whatever their goals are before the events finally fade away completely.

As for players, I'd say GW will have 25,000-50,000 regular players even after gw2 release. Then we should add in about 10,000-50,000 now and then players who come back for a few months, then leave for a time, then return and keep at this cycle til gw is complete borning to them and they no longer play at all.

If you look at diablo2 lod's current amount of players, starcrafts current amount of players you can get a rough idea on what the player base will look like after gw2. You can use almost any online game thats outdated to draw an idea from, That asuming GW doesnt go the way of something like Auto assault being shut down, or matrix online with very few players. Or dragonshard with zero online player support (due to being completely broken)

I think GW will survive better than people expect. And as it has been said before, people will keep and maintain their accounts/characters to complete their HoM to gain minor benefits/boons on gw2.

there will still be quite a few of us playing the old guildwars when the new one comes out for various reasons....and I also feel that after the new one is released and people are disillusioned by it they may return to the original 'cause it was better'.....we'll see---its still quite a long ways off.. (especially since they have yet to release word one about it---and you'd think that the birthday party would have been a good time to do that)

You're comparing updates from when Faction came out to April '08 when... nothing came out? Of course March '06 will have a ton more updates! Most of them are preperations or fixes for Factions. You're giving a comparison that doesn't really prove anything, except that Anet isn't releasing expansions for GW any more (which they explicitly told us anyway).

Most likely a large mass exodus will happen to GW1 and it will just be like an old Diablo origional some will still play it, but, the popularity it has had will of course dwindle to only a handful of players. Most people like NEW things and NEW adventures and NEW toys to play with. The toys in GW1 are old and stale and pretty boring now and I believe it to be this way because Anet/NCsoft want you all to buy GW2 and leave GW1 behind so they can eventually shutdown the servers and save that much more money.

I wouldn't be surprised if the AT system was turned off when GW2 launches.

Well there is a very good chance of that, depending on the amount of pvpers who still participate in tournies. It might stay active for a year after release, but I doubt it will survive longer than that.