Where are we going? How do we adapt and overcome?

[Daniel.5428]

First of all, this is gonna be one of those points where someone is talking about his point of view on the direction the game is heading. The difference? Well, the difference is that I will try to be fair and to not point out mistakes or pluses where is not the case.

 

I am not a GW1 player, but I have been sticking with GW2 since the beginning. Do I regret it? No. I've never have so much fun with a video game in all my life and I have been playing tons of MMORPGS. The disadvantage of playing for so long is that you start to think on how things are and how they used to be.

 

**CONTENT**

 

Well, the amount of content today is smaller than it used to be in season 2, for example, but this is not a bad thing. Is somehow a necessary evil. Back in season 2 I was over my head with new content every 2 weeks, but also I had a lot of free time to farm meta over meta in SW for those damn organs. I think the actual pace of one episode every 2-3 months is good. It gives you (for 2-3 weeks) the pleasure of new stuff, but at the same time it also offers you a break to go back to the things you left unattended (leveling my crafting professions, maybe some undone story for the new players, farming for a legendary, the new pvp season and so many other things that are out there). And, most important, it's FREE. You can't complain when it's free, but pointing out small issues is not always complaining.

 

**MAP**

 

Here I might have a very different point of view from the others, but the actual world map is filled with level 80 zones and most of them are unattended. We all like to get a new map every episode, is a very cool feeling, but we should also bother to look behind. What do we leave behind? Well, a ton of lvl 80 maps, many of them completely ignored because everything we can get from them are AP and people are not always heading for full achievements. How do I see the actual situation? Well....it's like using plastic straws. It's more comfortable to use a plastic straw, the soda tastes so much better through it.....but at the same time, after using it, you throw it away but it won't disappear. It will just stay there. The solution? Well, a small solution (but not viable in my point of view) is already there. You need the episode + story to access the land, which is ok, because it also keep new played from wandering into zones they did not yet reached through the story.

 

**FASHION**

 

Fashion war much? Yes, we do, and we like it. Can't complain. Fashion part improved over the ages, even if I still don't understand the purpose of chairs XD. It's just not my taste.

 

**RELATION WITH GW1**

I loved the opportunity to learn a part of the GW1 lore and visit some GW1 maps in the last LS/expansion, but I would like GW2 to go it's own path and not become a GW1 fanboy. This problem was also half-solved when we have learned that the next expansion will take place in Cantha.

 

 

**QUALITY**

 

Well, for most mature gamers graphics does not matter, but I think everyone realized that GW2 graphics (engine, textures etc) are a little left behind. Anet is considering improving, we can see that in the new maps. First we got the HOT maps that were real mazes and very fun to explore. Then new way of traveling, then snowy plains with a ton of hidden caves. The quality of the map is improving, but the limits of the engine starts showing off as well. I don't know how developers usually treat these problems, the only example I have is WoW which used the events of Cataclysm (destroyed maps that needed remodeling) to also improve the things. I think Anet should pay more attention and allocate more resources to this problem.

 

**ACHIEVEMENTS **

 

This is my thing. I love AP system in GW2 and always tried hard to do all the achievements during new episodes / expansion, but somehow, since the beginning of Icebrood Saga, it feels like Anet is using these achievements as farming. One new full set of weapons/armor every new episode + the achievements who almost lost that unique, fun touch. For example, during SW episodes, you had to collect different organs + other things and, at the end, you were getting one set of armor. Now (best example is the most recent episode) you have to gather 20.000 commandations, find some lost pages and you get an emote. The previous episode also had a lot of achievements going around strike missions, totally ignoring the content added in that episode. You cannot get meta chest without doing the strike achies. Strikes are a separate game mode, they should have their own category, like it always happened. It is clear that the people in charge of achievements lost their interest or their number was cut short because the achievements are lamer every episode. Why is this a thing? Well, achievements are not usually important, but in the current situation, they are the only thing that make you go back on the old maps. The exploration itself takes 30-40 minutes, story takes 1-2 hours so, without good achievements, there would be no reason to go back there.

 

**ECONOMY**

 

Maybe I am wrong here, but I feel like the economy also broke a little. Some years ago it used to be a small but observable difference between materials and tiers. Now, most of the materials are worth less than a scrap and the only worthy ones are the ones that are time gates. What would I do? Well, I would open more account-bound materials and make them tradeable. For example, I would allow players to sell raid tokens (LI and LD). This would reduce the amount of raid selling a little but would also force ppl to raid for the unique rewards (because they need to actually kill the bosses). I would also allow players to sell some items from the black lion chests (mini eggs, token vouchers etc).

 

This is all I had to say. What do you think, guys? How do you think things will change?