Concerned about long-term draw of the game

[Polarthief]

this entire thread is a troll thread

op simply leads people into thinking "Gw2 is all about appearance, there's no gear, nothing worth doing in the game"

which is 150,000% trollishly WRONG

I suggest you actually read the OP before accusing people and/or threads of being trolls/trollish.

[Fencers]

Very simply; what you are doing at level 10, 30 or 80 is all the same. If you didn't enjoy the experience of playing the game at those levels for it's own sake, then you will not enjoy the game long term whatsoever.

Anet makes games in which the entire point is a pick-up & play/casual experience. No, we aren't suppose to have the same psychological baggage of a sub based game we play for 6 years within the framework Anet creates for their games.

With respect to the OP, the question is approaching the absurd and ignorant at this point. As it is clear in every single core and supporting system of the Guild Wars franchise, from Precipices to GW2, supports this philosophy.

Yes, you can think of GW2 as a MMO variant of games like BF3 or Skyrim- the experience is not attached to compulsory content. It can not be said any simpler or be more implicit in the design of the game.

I'd roll my eyes but I am all out of visine for today.

[Roar-Powah]

One of the biggest things i had against RIFT, ToR and WoW was gear looking plain, boring and just very generic. Guild Wars 2 armors look pretty nice and that is just the low level items i saw, even the low level weapons looked decent. Will be nice to see what all the higher level items are going to look like.

I'm not trying to troll here but in Rift and ToR, the armor and weapon models are just so plain and boring. Look at Rifts 1 hand swords and how they look, they look like a thin long chuck of metal. ToR armor sets made me cringe, you could tell they put not one bit of effort in to them.

WoW armor / weapon models are a bit better then Rift and ToR, but Blizzard has been going downhill the last 2 years with it.

Guild Wars 2 will be awesome for me, since i will be able to look good and kick some ass at the same time!!!

[Cyclone Jack]

Very simply; what you are doing at level 10, 30 or 80 is all the same. If you didn't enjoy the experience of playing the game at those levels for it's own sake, then you will not enjoy the game long term whatsoever.

She speaks truth.

Also, even if you already have all the gear you need from a specific dungeon, what prevents you from running it again because it was fun? I would have loved to have been able to take my warrior back to BRD, Strat and Scholo and run through them scaled to the appropriate power level. Why would I want to run a years old dungeon that has no chance of dropping anything even close to usable? Because they were fun and challenging.

[Vexies]

The problem I ran into was the the visuals of your gear didnt change all that much at all at lower lvls. Maybe I was unlucky but it really didnt seem to matter a whole lot what I was wearing as each piece I put on simply blended into the starter set. Granted you look pretty awesome starting out but it does take the thrill somewhat out of gear at all. I know there are specific looks but honestly I think once you get the look you want.. I am skeptical as to what keeps ya going.

As to doing it for fun.. sure that will take you so far, but I can tell ya right now that I had enough time in the BWE to do some of the DE's enough to where I really had no desire to do em again.

[Jibjub]

Why are all the choices about getting gear? Can we please change the title of this thread to "Concerned about no superficial power progression at max level"?

[fizzbob]

nobody plays wow for the gear with +18 more STR

you keep playing so you don't fall behind. GW2 will be the same. it's MUCH HARDER to get everything done than wow is. more RNG, more grinding and lack of progressively better gear makes "old content" harder anyway. you think everyone would have their BC transmog sets if you needed 20 people to run through BT still?

[Delias]

The problem I ran into was the the visuals of your gear didnt change all that much at all at lower lvls.

Pretty sure the vendor bought gear only changed looks every 15 or so levels, if they did at all. Since vendor gear is just so that you don't fall behind on gear as oppose to actually looking cool. I wouldn't be surprised if the 80 vendor gear looked the exact same as the 10 vendor gear, to be honest, since it's just there so that you can be balanced with other 80s instead of actually look cool.

[Zeek Daniels]

I dont know about you guys but the way gear looks is important to players. Why do you think players even years before transmog came out still went back and ran level 60-70 raids as a level 85? They wanted to afk or run around in cities with cool looking gear because they thought that gear to them was better than anything ever released.
And when transmog was announce more and more players went hunting for different sets.

So here comes guild wars 2 that has transmog at release and lots of beautiful sets, and even more explorable mode sets that we have yet to see and you think players will only have one set? Anet is banking on players buying transmog stones and players hunting for the best looking sets.

Im just wondering are the stones in the gem store the only way to change an items look or will their be a gold equivalent?

/edit just read wiki seems you can buy them with karma =D
Karma farming here i come.

[Arewn]

Well there's a regular achievement system to give you something to log on for, of course this won't last forever but it will be updated as content is.
Then you have the "repeatable" achievements so to speak, the equivalent to daily/weekly/monthly quests in other games which will at least give you a reason to log on and complete something if that's your thing.
As far as something along the lines of a gear treadmill as an objective form of progression (that is to say, hard stat increases rather than upgrades based on preference), it wont be as stretched out as other MMOs, so you probably will have to change your mind set on "new gear tier, time to check the BIS list and grind out dungeons to max out available character stats, to more of a challenge/score based or exploratory motivation.

I'm personally really hoping they add a PVE challenge mode with a score board of some sort, something like monster wave survival. Of course what I've said up to now doesn't include that possibility.

Edit:
I should add that I don't particularly think the primary motive for doing things will be "need that new helm model" in the first place, that is to say, while there will be cosmetic rewards, I don't think the only motive you'll get to do something will be the reward.

[Deleted]

Well, when I played WoW it got to the point were I'd done everything I wanted but I enjoyed the PvP (when it was good) - so I'd log on and pretty much just use it as a PvP game. That sounds quite similar to the OPs experiences with Battlefield 3.

At the very least I'll continue to do that with GW2 when/if I've exhausted everything else I'm interested in - but I won't be having to pay subscription.

Are aesthetic items enough of a progression for me - well, I like my character to look good...but I'm not really a completionist...I don't envisage setting myself the goal of collecting a specific outfit, if that's all I'm logging on for. I'm more likely to just play something else until there's an expansion or ever or whatever. I *am* looking for an MMO to spend a lot of time with - but I'm cool with seeing the game as something that I can always pick up if I'm in the mood, or leave for a while.

[Deleted]

I must point out that the long-term probably won't be too much over a year a year and half. There will be patches and expansions for this game which should extend the long-term draw of the game.
Another point is that I'm not particularly sure it's a problem if you find yourself 'completing' it. There's no subscription. You can just stop for a while, wait for a patch or until you have an interest in something else, and continue with it.

In the end, the long term attraction of this game will be different between people. I'm sure there are people who did 'everything' there is to do in GW1 and also continue playing it. Just like I'm sure there's WoW players that did all content that is available - and enjoyable for them - and are still playing. (While others might not find any point in continuing until new content comes out)

[Deleted]

Im planing on having as much fun as i can for as long as the content allows me to.

[Deleted]

Well... I dont buy it as entire progress of the game.

To us pvp:ers, and some of us will do quite some structured pvp as well. So.. you get different looking outfits, and that's fine. But having them stuck being either red or blue... well it's just taking away the whole purpose of having cosmetic progression. Especially with tons of dyes in game.
What noob told ANet that enemies had to gear the same so you could seperate them from your friends? Noob of the year I must say. I thought most people thought that it worked a ok with just having the enemies names in red. Cant have anything to do with colourblindness either because red in name or red in clothes would still count as red and still cause difficulties.
Anyone know the reasoning behind this? Why they chose to take away cosmetic feature for structured pvp and not for anything else? What noob had problems finding their enemies? I mean, people can even try kill their friends but won't have much luck with that and learn that way as well.
I don't get it, really I don't. Explain people, who are having problems and why?

[Luko]

Very simply; what you are doing at level 10, 30 or 80 is all the same. If you didn't enjoy the experience of playing the game at those levels for it's own sake, then you will not enjoy the game long term whatsoever.

I don't think this is about enjoying the content so much, as that's pretty much implied here. What the OP is getting at is the longevity of that enjoyment,

Did I love my beta weekend? God, so much more than I could have imagined, however I'll admit with shamelessness that if I didn't have to work and be out most of the weekend, I would have hit 25+ easily. In one weekend. Since the XP doesn't scale, that means if I find myself caught up in the grind some more, I'd be 50 the following weekend, and so on so on.

I totally understand that the levels directly mean very little, especially with area scaling, but I can be pretty dedicated when I find something I want. I'd go to very great lengths to hunt down that one piece of armor or that one dye that I want, which will be fun as hell. But then when I have it, that's it, I have it. What next? Sure there's dungeons and PVP, but there's only so many times you can do the same 2-5 areas before it's completely memorized and systematic.

Love the game, definitely getting it the moment that it's released, fully paid for. My point is that the OP has a valid concern here. Something to think about, rather than getting overly defensive and up-in-arms about.

[Fencers]

I don't think this is about enjoying the content so much, as that's pretty much implied here. What the OP is getting at is the longevity of that enjoyment,

That is the longevity of the PVE content. Do you like mob/DE grinding? Do you like dungeon runs primarily for the fun of mechanics? If not then there isn't much other than PVP.

Just as it was with the first Guild Wars.

[Hungrydingo]

For me game play is everything. If the game play is fun the game will do well for itself. The pros of not having heavily itemized stats will outweight the cons as far as the community goes I think. The game won't be nearly as punishing to take breaks from, a lot of people try getting back into an MMO they have put on hold for a while and have fallen so far behind gear wise it will take them forever to catch up, specifically WoW PVP.

[Tashabunny]

I look forward to hunting down the different "looks" that I want GREATLY. I am a very cosmetic person when it comes to gaming and getting my character looking "just right" is a HUGE factor for me. In addition I look forward to the dye unlocks, mini pet collecting, dungeons, dynamic events, exploration... pretty much all of it. With the level scaling I feel like this game will sustain me easily until there is an expansion to explore as well.

I won't go on too long because really... you guys all pretty much nailed every aspect of the topic already, but one point I want to make here is that people will need to change their mindsets about traditional MMO game play when it comes to GW2. Things will be different here, and it will take some adjustment time for people to realize what it is in the game that will keep them around long term (or not). More time with the game, the races and their zones, and the various events will be a very telling factor for sure.

[Porimlys]

I'll be playing this game hyper-casually along side WoW, so I'm really not too concerned about end-game. Just gonna explore and level :3

---------- Post added 2012-05-05 at 11:49 PM ----------

Im planing on having as much fun as i can for as long as the content allows me to.

I like you. Lets be friends.

[Deleted]

The only worry I have is that whilst cosmetics upgrades are good enough for me (in fact I'm really looking forward to it) will they be good enough for the vast majority of players? Its great that its free to play after the initial purchase, and that people can drop in and out as they please but I don't want the servers to be quiet a year into launch.

I see PvP and WvW lasting forever as they attract a type of player who just enjoys competition and actually playing the game. However the majority of mmo players focus on PVE and that's where (currently) a carrot on a stick is required. If Anet can introduce a constant flow of Dynamic Events then there will hopefully be no issue, but if not then repeating DE won't be enough to keep players coming back.

Unfortunately it just seems to be a thing where PVP can sustain itself but PVE constantly needs new content - that's why developers resort to carrot on the stick methods.

However, GW2 is a new game with many appealing professions and a huge world full of content. So this issue will hopefully not arise for a long time (and by that time I'm sure an expansion will be on the horizion).