Something big is coming.

[zed zebes]

Didn't a recent update just update FotM with new instability challenges at higher levels?

[Meledelion]

Yes but it's not challenging in the slightest.

[Littleraven]

When things like this are said, people start to expect their 40 virgins and golden palaces. ANet is not even the one saying it this time and they'll probably still get backlash.

so much this. NEVER build that much hype around anything.

[PACOX]

The only thing that could be more exciting than an expac is a standalone type expac a la GW1. But that doesn't exactly fit the style of GW2. Maybe Canta or Elona are being added to the game?

[Exroyal]

How does a company selling a product overhype their product? Are they supposed to say; "Well, this is gonna be pretty okay. We guess."

By overhyping i mean they make advertise the product to be much larger then what it actually is. Remember Frost and Flame? Then again, i guess its all just markeding and its the consumers fault for believing to much.

[Fencers]

By overhyping i mean they make advertise the product to be much larger then what it actually is.

But what exactly are they suppose to say? To advertise and stir excitement?

"This patch/feature is going to be well enough but you should get excited for it!"
"This patch is not going to be eventful or large but you should get excited for it!"

No company shilling any product would do so.

Overhype is like claiming your game will cure cancer or rck the foundations of the industry. Advertising a patch as exciting and compelling content is just sound marketing.

Then again, i guess its all just markeding and its the consumers fault for believing to much.

Most of the time it is.

Anet have overhyped some things or at the least make some silly statements. Such as their O'Brien saying to Forbes that the company was gunning for World of Warcraft with Guild Wars 2. Or the now infamous, "expansion worth of content" stuff Johanson let slip once.

Thought they would hardly be alone in these marketing faux pas. And would say that on average, Anet's marketing w/r/t to their content and features is on par with similar from other games developers and publishers.

[Nehezbegar]

Next 4 patches will be the featureless conclusion of Scarlet story arc. But....the things that will come more or less after 18th of March might be great, as ArenaNet said next patch after the end of a story will be the "only feature" patch. So maybe Lewis B is talking about stuff that they will release in this feature only patch? Who knows

[Deleted]

I think they should start deliver what we have been waiting for instead of shouting out more things to come. They have problems delivering content as they promise and in time.
Where is new wvwvw map? If it's there, Im sorry, if not.. well hand it over first and then tell us what's next.
Where is weekly and monthly tournaments in spvp? Promised since launch, and if it's there now... if not, well hand it over first and then tell us what's next.
Etc..
First they promise patches worth an expansion, well I haven't seen any such patch yet. Now they promise patch worth more than an expansion... I mean.. come on, who do they have left to fool? Reading this thread it's obvious many players are sceptical to their claims..

[Lane]

Lets all be completely honest, we all know that ANet likes to say things are bigger then they seem. However, if it's something better then an expansion, then im curious now matter how much of a lie that is.

Agreed.

Whatever it is will be purely subjective. Personally, I can't think of anything that would be "better than an expansion" because that's what I want. However, I know some people have expressed a strong desire for more elder dragon content, which I am not interested in whatsoever.

[Nehezbegar]

Well the good thing is to not expect too much. Ppl moan about this game, just because they expected to much. It may be ArenaNet fault, but to be honest, most of ppl expected the second coming of Jesus Christ of MMOs and i think this is stupid . Second thing that comes to my mind is that...ppl always whine about that every new MMO is a copy of EQ, WoW etc. One thing i noticed about GW2, ArenaNet delivered very different game than we could see in the past and the funny thing i noticed are the ppl who whine about "WHY THIS GAME IS NOT THE SAME AS WOW"(ofc between the lines ). When i read ArenaNet forum and this whole whine and cries, ppl just want ArenaNet to add features copied from other games. Ppl just got used to their old games, ppl hate changes.

The best thing is to get everything with a grain of salt, and i assure You, You won't be disappointed, especialy when You don't have to pay for the new content .

[Deleted]

Agreed.

Whatever it is will be purely subjective. Personally, I can't think of anything that would be "better than an expansion" because that's what I want. However, I know some people have expressed a strong desire for more elder dragon content, which I am not interested in whatsoever.

And what if Anet combines these two? Elder dragon themed expansions.

[Dezerte]

"All instances are removed, they are now fully open-world zones and work exactly like the regular content"

Asking for too much?

[Lane]

And what if Anet combines these two? Elder dragon themed expansions.

I suppose it would depend on how prevalent the elder dragon is in the 'expansion' elements. I have been so thoroughly oversaturated with dragon themes in MMOs that I want no more part of them.

[Nehezbegar]

I suppose it would depend on how prevalent the elder dragon is in the 'expansion' elements. I have been so thoroughly oversaturated with dragon themes in MMOs that I want no more part of them.

I think it is impossible for ANet current engine to implement elder dragons as they are in the lore...How can You imagine island-size dragon(Kralkatorrik) in the game? And elder dragon themed expansion would have no sense without an elder dragon apperance himself

[Valeron]

I suppose it would depend on how prevalent the elder dragon is in the 'expansion' elements. I have been so thoroughly oversaturated with dragon themes in MMOs that I want no more part of them.

it even goes beyond games for me. In the 2nd Hobbit movie the dragon Smaug is very cool, very well done. However, I am sick of dragons in general that I was...meh a dragon when viewing it.

[Zoneseek]

I'm well aware the demographic for challenging content is quite small, but it's still a demographic that exists. Right now there is no challenging content in the game giving that demographic no reason to play. From a business standpoint, that's fine for Anet. I already bought the game a long time ago so they got all they're going to get from me. From the viewpoint of the minority that enjoys challenging games, it definitely rubs the wrong way. Whether or not my demographic is small, the immense lack of support leaves me with a negative view of the company and no desire to purchase from them in the future.

It's more of a courtesy and fan loyalty thing than anything. I have no expectations for them to get around to difficult content because the interest is such a small demographic, but Anet not taking any initiative whatsoever to do anything for the demographic tells me I should look elsewhere in the future. It reflects poorly on the company. I'd rather go with a company that cares more about its player base than getting the initial dollars out of me at launch and then doing nothing to support the game in a way that's relevant to me.

I think it reflects well on the company. Why waste time and resources on garbage such a small playerbase wants? Most gamers go to pvp games for challenging content. If I want to be challenged, ill jump into CS:GO with a few buddies and queue up for a scrim. Or ill jump into DOTA 2. I won't jump into a mmo to kill dragons, sounds lame. Thats just computer generated AI challenge and it doesn't surprise me that such a small demographic gives a crap about it.

[Deleted]

Well the good thing is to not expect too much. Ppl moan about this game, just because they expected to much. It may be ArenaNet fault, but to be honest, most of ppl expected the second coming of Jesus Christ of MMOs and i think this is stupid . Second thing that comes to my mind is that...ppl always whine about that every new MMO is a copy of EQ, WoW etc. One thing i noticed about GW2, ArenaNet delivered very different game than we could see in the past and the funny thing i noticed are the ppl who whine about "WHY THIS GAME IS NOT THE SAME AS WOW"(ofc between the lines ). When i read ArenaNet forum and this whole whine and cries, ppl just want ArenaNet to add features copied from other games. Ppl just got used to their old games, ppl hate changes.

The best thing is to get everything with a grain of salt, and i assure You, You won't be disappointed, especialy when You don't have to pay for the new content .

Well, as a former spvp player I really hoped that they wouldnt be like wow, neglection of pvp.. focus on pve... balance failures. But hey, they sure did a wow on that one. And we paid for the game, preordered myself, and we still haven't got things that were promised with launch (monthly, yearly tournament for example... there was a placeholder at launch but still not filled and now placeholder removed :P). So, unfortunately, ANet copied many things from other mmos, we just wanted good spvp... and look at the spvp situation over past year and half. QQ worth the name, and they have admitted it several times as well, but the dedicated few that are working on spvp in game are just dedicated few... they can't make magic with their knees as company refuse to give them more resources =( And spvp players left and left and now they try to at least get pve players come and dip their feet in that pool by promising gold as reward. Ah well, what can you do..

[Valeron]

what pvp games do you play Tea, just out of curiosity

[Fencers]

neglection of pvp.. focus on pve... balance failures.

No game aside from PVP exclusive MMOs can ever focus on PVP content or features to equal or greater degree than PVE. It isn't possible to develop a game as such without unlimited funding/staff. That is why only a PVP exclusive game can do such as that is their only intention of their design.

Also, balance can never be a concern for a player. It's transitory in all cases of active development where balance among desperate systems is measured. Not to mention players desire and perception of "balance" can not be in line with developer desire or perception.

Morello lead game designer of League of Legends wrote a very elegant post on the illusion of "balance" from a player perspective that is one the best written explanations of game design out there.

It is just not possible from a theoretical or practical POV. Designers simply can not make games the way you imagine.

[Dabrix32]

Guild Wars 3 beta opt in.