Why not as popular?

[Phoenix19]

Hi there,

Just bought GW2, after finally getting sick of WoW. I just have one question really...why isnt the game more popular. A one off payment for a good game, epic graphics and imo one of the nicest gameplay styles i have ever encountered. Literally played 30 mins and im hooked.

[Dirdie]

play 30 more and you will find out why

[Huehuecoyotl]

Hi there,

Just bought GW2, after finally getting sick of WoW. I just have one question really...why isnt the game more popular. A one off payment for a good game, epic graphics and imo one of the nicest gameplay styles i have ever encountered. Literally played 30 mins and im hooked.

Just remember that this game isn't based around an endgame that you have to rush through to. Enjoy the sights, sounds and gameplay as you go. What you do as you level, is (largely) what you will do as an 80, with a few bells and whistles. And remember, even when you think you have finished a zone, there may be secrets hidden in them that you have missed......

[Fencers]

Guild Wars 2 is pretty popular. It is one of the most popular MMOs on the current market.

Few games will ever be as popular as World of Warcraft despite quality of the game. Popularity in a broad sense has little to do with quality- well, it has a lot to do with perceived quality.

GW2 can be a lot of fun. Though it is a somewhat esoteric MMO in the market as well. Which can limit it's appeal among certain player bases.

[PACOX]

GW2 is pretty popular. You also have to remember that the game has pretty much been on hold for most of the year. ~8 months of no new content.

[Lotus Victoria]

Wait until the xpac! You'll see that the game will rise again!

Still, GW2 is a popular MMO, probably in the top 5.

[Sevarin]

i bought gw2 when it first released. it was a lot of fun, then i got max level. i spent hours trying to find a group to do anything, but rarely found one. there was nothing to really do at max level. they also said they would never add anything like a group finder (which they later added)

my first max level impression of the game was horrible. it drove me away, by the time they made changes, i had already lost all interest.

[Thrif]

For me it was just that the gameplay was incredibly dull and unintuitive. You had very few abilities, and they were limited to certain weapons, and many of them were uneccessary, very situational and just... I dunno. Most of the other things were okay, and I've yet to see a weapon even close to Twilight in epicness in any game ever, but I just couldn't get around the incredibly boring gameplay.

[Fencers]

there was nothing to really do at max level.

There is everything to do at max level in GW2. The game is not bi-modal.

they also said they would never add anything like a group finder (which they later added)

Arena.net never said such a thing. In fact, the game shipped with a group finder.

It was buried in the social menu and many did not know how to use it. All Anet did was improve the UI and functionality of the system. But it was always there.

[Sohalia]

GW2 is pretty popular. There are some aspects of the game that are simply too 'different' for some MMO players to wrap their heads around.

Firstly, the combat could be off-putting to those who are used to the generic WoW-like combat that seems to permeate the market. People that enjoy this style of combat are not guaranteed to like GW2's, and therefore are less likely to give it a shot.

Secondly, the lack of an end-game "grind" in the form of getting higher levels, and climbing a gear treadmill can also be off-putting to those who are used to those time sinks. Many people who hear of this (or at least those that I have seen) will claim that this causes there to be "no" end-game content.

Finally, Arenanet is just sort of... not the greatest when it comes to marketing their game to those who don't know much about it.
Don't get me wrong, they're GREAT at generating hype, (for people that play or are interested in their game already.)
But when it comes to getting their name out there to people who might not know that GW2 exists - they're kinda lacking in that department.

For instance, their launch trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Noh81HcovYY
vs
The hype-train start for Heart of Thorns: (SPOILER WARNING! This Cinematic is shown at the end of the SEASON 2 Living Story and segways into the upcoming expansion!) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRRfS9Gp0xQ

[Ivy]

past long time WoW player here too... when I first started I wasn't quite sure what was going on / what to do especailly w/no "holy trinity" (heaven forbid) - tried going back to WoW but when I couldn't dodge roll and the grind of dailes - hoping to get to that node to mine before someone steals it away while I fight off some monster attack ... bye bye sub.!

[jellmoo]

I like GW2, there's a lot to admire in the design, and I love the voiceover work. But it's always felt like there's just a little missing for me to really be grabbed. I'm honestly not sure what it is. An extra race maybe, or a little more options in the professions (which looks like it may be coming in the expansion).

The big problem though is that the meta in that game is practically holy. Try playing a Necromancer or a Ranger and get invited to end game content... The class balance has been an issue since launch.

[Speedlance]

GW2 was the best and most fun leveling experience I've probably ever had but then you got to max level and there wasn't much too do, most stuff where boring. things might have improved drastically now but as with many mmo's like star wars, it's very hard to get integrated when you've not been there from the start. Most people won't bother to help you or ignore you.
Wow didn't have this problem early on, I started in september 05, which was a while after it was launched and I was so exited about eastern plague lands and a kind shaman who was lvl 55 took me and a friend on a trip into eastern plaguelands and showed us around a bit, this was the guy that made me stick with wow and gw2 is lacking this guy to make it fun for a fresh person without friends who plays gw2.
my2c at least.

[Arewn]

The big problem though is that the meta in that game is practically holy. Try playing a Necromancer or a Ranger and get invited to end game content... The class balance has been an issue since launch.

Honestly, this isn't that much of an issue.
First of all, necros and rangers aren't actually that bad. There are builds that do very well and are perfectly "competitive" in PvE. In fact, ranger has at points been a part of the so called "speed clear dungeon meta", and I've seen full zerker necro speed clear videos of CoF that only tick a few seconds below top times. Necro in particular is in a bad place in PvE because of its lack of useful group utility, but it still does fine.

Second, you won't actually have trouble finding a group for anything. You may, on very rare occasions, get rejected by some two-bit idiots who "dun want necro or ranger cuz dey sux", but you can turn around and find another group or make your own pretty quickly. In over 3000 hours of playing, I've had one class related argument about grouping in PvE content (and it was about a thief). This is an experience generally mirrored by the community.

The class balance hasn't been any more of an issue then it is on average across any MMO. And the meta isn't actually that religiously upheld. The zerker meta certainly is prominent, but you won't actually have that much trouble finding groups, or be given that much of a hard time if you're not zerker.

[Deleted]

Play for about two weeks total, see where you're at then.

GW2's a beautiful game graphics wise, everything else is kinda meh.

It's very casual, gets boring after a short while.

[Mellrod]

Hi there,

Just bought GW2, after finally getting sick of WoW. I just have one question really...why isnt the game more popular. A one off payment for a good game, epic graphics and imo one of the nicest gameplay styles i have ever encountered. Literally played 30 mins and im hooked.

GW2 has a thriving community, but obviously it won't reach WoW's numbers, few games will.

As for other similar games that failed, a lot of WoW's competitors have just more or less copied the format WoW has created which is usually why they lose the wind in their sails a few weeks after release, in terms of competition. (Also the fact that no one can really gain millions of subs that fast, let alone maintain them forever.) Where Blizzard has taken ideas from other games in the same genre and innovated on them, other games just don't innovate. Aion is a good example of this. Everyone predicted it to be "THE WoW-killer", and jumped on board when it came out, only to discover that the game was just all the grindiness of Wow with some nice graphics, and they all regretted their decision.

SWTOR is another example. Same story, except apart from the Mass Effect-like storylines and choices, this game was all of the bad parts of WoW and nothing but potential.

[Lazuli]

GW2 is pretty popular. You also have to remember that the game has pretty much been on hold for most of the year. ~8 months of no new content.

GW2 has been on hold for its entire lifespan lol

[Edge-]

GW2 has been on hold for its entire lifespan lol

I must have hallucinated all of the living story updates. Strange.

[Deleted]

Because people can't let go of WoW.

[barackopala]

I must have hallucinated all of the living story updates. Strange.

Silverwastes was just a mere setback!!

Now to be ontopic: Which other MMO would be considered popular nowadays outside WoW? maybe FFXIV and GW2, other mmo's tend to just go eh with me (maybe rift? idk, i've ranted about that one that sells you the soul classes separated from the expansion which ends up racking more price than i'd like to).