What will happen to gw2 when it dies?

[Wulf.5431]

I'm in a bit of a funk with gw2 right now, and have been for a while. The nature of mmo's is starting to bother me. I love this game so much, but the fact that I have no control over when it dies and what happens after really bums me out. Every time I go to spend money on the store I stop, because in a few years, who knows where gw2 will be. I know it's doing well now, but other iterations of the game may come out, or the company gets bought out, etc. Why it happens, or even when, isn't very important. What bugs me is the uncertainty, and god knows there's enough of that in life as it is. I love that I have other old games that I can boot up and play 20 years later, and I'll be able to in another 20 years.

 

I know gw2 is popular right now, and will in all likelihood stay active for years to come. My question is what will happen when its time is up? Will it be lost forever? Or will it be possible to have some offline/local play version of it or something? Private servers are possible but I don't want to be at the mercy of a random persons world either. I'm not looking for a dev to respond, as I'm sure they have better things to do. I suppose I'm looking for assurances, to help me feel better about playing the game. I know I'm gonna die someday, but I don't want my favorite avatar to die as well.

[Silmar Alech.4305]

The end of GW2 will be: Some years in the future, the game servers will be shutdown and you will be unable to access the game and your account any more.

 

That's the same as with all MMOs of the last years. It's probably the same as with GW1: it was announced a long time ago that there will be no server software available, so there will be no private servers. It was also announced that GW1 will run as long as there are players playing it - we don't know if this will be the case with GW2 as well. Ncsoft shut down games before that definitely had a non-negligible amount of players.

 

GW1 was released in 2005, 12 years ago. GW2 was released 2012, and if it will get at least the same time as GW1, GW2 will have at least 7 more years to go.

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Silmar Alech.4305" said:

> The end of GW2 will be: Some years in the future, the game servers will be shutdown and you will be unable to access the game and your account any more.

>

> That's the same as with all MMOs of the last years. It's probably the same as with GW1: it was announced a long time ago that there will be no server software available, so there will be no private servers. It was also announced that GW1 will run as long as there are players playing it - we don't know if this will be the case with GW2 as well. Ncsoft shut down games before that definitely had a non-negligible amount of players.

>

> GW1 was released in 2005, 12 years ago. GW2 was released 2012, and if it will get at least the same time as GW1, GW2 will have at least 7 more years to go.

 

That's so tragic to me. This game is perfect to me, I love everything about it. And I'm a very picky person. To find your perfect game only to realize it's not really yours, that you're just renting it for a decade or so, makes me not want to play it at all.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

All things die. The only question is when. My guess is gw2 will be available to play on for a long time, regardless of whether or not the game is being actively updated. To close down permanently would require ANet to close down also as a company. While I can see them at some point moving on to making another game as their main income I don’t see them closing this game down as maintaining it in the background like Guild Wars 1 takes minimal resources.

[Cragga the Eighty Third.60]

It's sort of like that for any game, though. None of my beloved old Age of Empires games plays on the newer Mac Os. Before that, TIE Fighter died for me when I had to upgrade to a computer that no longer supported joystick controls decently. There are Sega Genesis games I adored that I never found satisfactory playing on an emulator. And some Commodore 64 games I miss.

 

Online games just have a slightly different sort of death.

[Tasida.4085]

LOL GW1 is still kicking after 12 years. GW2 will be around a long, long time. Why even ponder it smh. WW3 will happen before the game dies then it wont matter.

[Zeefa.3915]

I'm sure GW2 will last for many years still... what happens the day it dies? Well I (we) have to move on to other things and/or other games. Maybe there will be a GW3 that I can move to like I did with GW1 to GW2, which felt very natural to me. Maybe at that time I will already have moved on to something entirely different... because life.

[MattDu.7123]

A friend bought The Secret World and all the expansions. Six months later they made it into a free to play. Changed the name by adding legends, gutted everything and made it pay to win or even progress. everything he had and paid for was gone. I'm not saying that will happen here but it did make me thing twice about playing a MMO.

[Taygus.4571]

At the spending money in the store.

 

Do you also. .not eat a cake? Buy a coffee/alcohol? Eat a meal out? Take away? Go to the zoo/some activity?

??

All these things a momentary. They don't last.

But what does, is our memories of them. (That is until dementia sets in, hopefully at a ripe old age).

 

Being temporary isn't a reason not to spend money on things you want.

Will it bring joy?

 

And more than the things I mentioned that have a cost above. ..how much time do you spend eating a meal out or having that coffee. 2 hours, 3?

 

If you used that same money in game...how many hours of use would you get from it then? Days, weeks, years. ...

 

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

> It's sort of like that for any game, though. None of my beloved old Age of Empires games plays on the newer Mac Os. Before that, TIE Fighter died for me when I had to upgrade to a computer that no longer supported joystick controls decently. There are Sega Genesis games I adored that I never found satisfactory playing on an emulator. And some Commodore 64 games I miss.

>

> Online games just have a slightly different sort of death.

 

All those problems you have are fixable though, with the old games. You just need the right equipment. But you can't go out and play city of heroes, no matter how much you want to.

[Randulf.7614]

Ive had an account with Anarchy Online since 2003. It is still going today on maintenance mode. Although i barely play, i would hate to see it and 15 years of characters vanish after so much investment.

I do have a bank of screenshots and if i can vid anything as well, that will be how i will preserve the memories and nostalgia.

 

Guild wars end is far enough away that it isnt something to worry about though. MMOs can survive on a fraction of this population - you only have look at lotro, any funcom mmo and various other ageing franchises.

 

Enjoy the ride and dont think about the end

[Pretty Pixie.8603]

We'll move on to bigger and better things, ofcourse. Like GW3. Worrying about you investment seems a little silly. If you get your enjoyment out of it then it's money well spent. If I go to a movie or buy a beverage then I'm fine with that expenditure afterwards, as long as I enjoyed it. Same for MMOs.

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Taygus.4571" said:

> At the spending money in the store.

>

> Do you also. .not eat a cake? Buy a coffee/alcohol? Eat a meal out? Take away? Go to the zoo/some activity?

> ??

> All these things a momentary. They don't last.

> But what does, is our memories of them. (That is until dementia sets in, hopefully at a ripe old age).

>

> Being temporary isn't a reason not to spend money on things you want.

> Will it bring joy?

>

> And more than the things I mentioned that have a cost above. ..how much time do you spend eating a meal out or having that coffee. 2 hours, 3?

>

> If you used that same money in game...how many hours of use would you get from it then? Days, weeks, years. ...

>

 

Material things are very different from food and drink, those are temporary. Games, videos, other material possessions are with you as long as you take care of them. Most games can be preserved if you really want to preserve them, to re-experience feelings of nostalgia or to show the next generation.

[Taygus.4571]

> @"Wulf.5431" said:

> > @"Taygus.4571" said:

> > At the spending money in the store.

> >

> > Do you also. .not eat a cake? Buy a coffee/alcohol? Eat a meal out? Take away? Go to the zoo/some activity?

> > ??

> > All these things a momentary. They don't last.

> > But what does, is our memories of them. (That is until dementia sets in, hopefully at a ripe old age).

> >

> > Being temporary isn't a reason not to spend money on things you want.

> > Will it bring joy?

> >

> > And more than the things I mentioned that have a cost above. ..how much time do you spend eating a meal out or having that coffee. 2 hours, 3?

> >

> > If you used that same money in game...how many hours of use would you get from it then? Days, weeks, years. ...

> >

>

> Material things are very different from food and drink, those are temporary. Games, videos, other material possessions are with you as long as you take care of them. Most games can be preserved if you really want to preserve them, to re-experience feelings of nostalgia or to show the next generation.

 

Well, i guess you need to think of an MMO differently.

 

It's no more material than going to the fun fair (carnival).

 

You can keep going, as often as you want. ....for as long as it's around.

Does the fact that it will leave, stop you from experiencing the rides?

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Pretty Pixie.8603" said:

> We'll move on to bigger and better things, ofcourse. Like GW3. Worrying about you investment seems a little silly. If you get your enjoyment out of it then it's money well spent. If I go to a movie or buy a beverage then I'm fine with that expenditure afterwards, as long as I enjoyed it. Same for MMOs.

 

Might seem silly to some people I guess. Personally the gameplay of gw2 meshes so well with me that I haven't been able to find that feeling in another game, and I really doubt the next iteration will fit as well as the current one does for me. Seeing a movie or buying a beverage isn't the same as owning something forever. It's more like seeing a movie once (mmo) and owning it so you can watch it whenever you want (Other games you can play offline/whenever you want). I'm a fan of looking to the future, not dwelling on the past. And my past would be brighter if I knew gw2 would be there when I wanted it.

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Taygus.4571" said:

> You can keep going, as often as you want. ....for as long as it's around.

> Does the fact that it will leave, stop you from experiencing the rides?

 

I get where you're coming from with your analogies, but the thing is is that gw2 is a game, traditionally something you pay to own. A material thing that is yours, not an experience you have once and it's over. It's something you own until you don't, only you don't know when that end will be. Besides, though I think your analogy is a little silly, I could for sure look forward to going on that ride again when it next comes into town, or follow it to the next town, etc.

 

[Pretty Pixie.8603]

> @"Wulf.5431" said:

> Might seem silly to some people I guess. Personally the gameplay of gw2 meshes so well with me that I haven't been able to find that feeling in another game, and I really doubt the next iteration will fit as well as the current one does for me. Seeing a movie or buying a beverage isn't the same as owning something forever. It's more like seeing a movie once (mmo) and owning it so you can watch it whenever you want (Other games you can play offline/whenever you want). I'm a fan of looking to the future, not dwelling on the past. And my past would be brighter if I knew gw2 would be there when I wanted it.

 

It's great that you are forward looking, but we cannot predict the future. We can make a few assumptions based on what we know; GW1 is on indefinite life support with no signs of the plug being pulled anytime soon, and it's quite possible GW2 would see a similar treatment. Also, the game seems hale and hearty for it's age, having arguably had the best year since launch, content wise. The Anet teams have grown, not shrunk, which seems like a commitment to the game.

 

If you worry too much about the future, you miss out on the joys of the present. Don't be that person.

 

 

[Astralporing.1957]

> @"Tasida.4085" said:

> LOL GW1 is still kicking after 12 years. GW2 will be around a long, long time. Why even ponder it smh. WW3 will happen before the game dies then it wont matter.

GW1 is running in full automated mode with practically noone to look after it. GW2 is a much bigger and more complex game, and i doubt it will have that option - and that's on top of requiring much bigger server resources.

 

 

[Linken.6345]

Well OP what your thinking about are single player games and in todays culture even those can die sadly.

 

Gw2 is a mmo and are the same as a food or drink kinda of thing.

[Wulf.5431]

> @"Pretty Pixie.8603" said:

> > @"Wulf.5431" said:

> > Might seem silly to some people I guess. Personally the gameplay of gw2 meshes so well with me that I haven't been able to find that feeling in another game, and I really doubt the next iteration will fit as well as the current one does for me. Seeing a movie or buying a beverage isn't the same as owning something forever. It's more like seeing a movie once (mmo) and owning it so you can watch it whenever you want (Other games you can play offline/whenever you want). I'm a fan of looking to the future, not dwelling on the past. And my past would be brighter if I knew gw2 would be there when I wanted it.

>

> It's great that you are forward looking, but we cannot predict the future. We can make a few assumptions based on what we know; GW1 is on indefinite life support with no signs of the plug being pulled anytime soon, and it's quite possible GW2 would see a similar treatment. Also, the game seems hale and hearty for it's age, having arguably had the best year since launch, content wise. The Anet teams have grown, not shrunk, which seems like a commitment to the game.

>

> If you worry too much about the future, you miss out on the joys of the present. Don't be that person.

>

>

 

Not worrying is the right solution, I know. I suppose I was hoping some tech genius would alleviate my worries by assuring me gw2 could be installed entirely on a single computer with no need for servers, or that a gw2 worker would say that once they moved on to the next game this one would live forever somehow. Hopefully I haven't outed myself as a complete moron but I know nothing of computers and servers.

[Taygus.4571]

> @"Wulf.5431" said:

> > @"Taygus.4571" said:

> > You can keep going, as often as you want. ....for as long as it's around.

> > Does the fact that it will leave, stop you from experiencing the rides?

>

> I get where you're coming from with your analogies, but the thing is is that gw2 is a game, traditionally something you pay to own. A material thing that is yours, not an experience you have once and it's over. It's something you own until you don't, only you don't know when that end will be. Besides, though I think your analogy is a little silly, I could for sure look forward to going on that ride again when it next comes into town, or follow it to the next town, etc.

>

 

It's an mmo.

You don't pay to own it. It is not your traditional game. It's the fun fair of games.

You pay to use it...to enter. .not to own it. Nor anything that exists within it.

 

Just as you dont own the gym you paid a membership fee for.

 

Fun fair rides change. If they trash a ride you liked. .do you regret riding on it the year before. ..because you can't re-experience it?

[Ayumi Spender.1082]

The most you can hope for is when it dies and still like it when it's near it's death for private servers to come up for it like many other MMOs.

Still waiting on the City of Heroes one...

...and a good Dragon Ball Online one...

[notebene.3190]

I've always thought of MMOs more of a service than a box game. I decide how much a month I'm willing to spend on my hobby, and try to stick to that as closely as I can. If this were to die, I'd move on to something else, and still be spending 'a certain amount of money a month on my hobby'. Whether I play one or two MMOs and buy things from their cash shop, or am the type of person that buys $60 games at a pace of 1-2/mo and play through them in 10-15 days, I'm still setting aside money for my hobby.

 

I spent a lot of money on Marvel Heroes, for the first few years, and really had a good time playing it. Things started shifting at the end of those 2 years, and friends were getting anxious to move on to something else, and I was a bit sad to leave my heroes behind (especially Squirrel Girl, because honestly, like 'no' other game I can think of had a character that had attack squirrels...and the voice acting, costumes were a lot of fun), but I don't regret a dime I spent playing it. I had a really good time. 2 years later, out of nowhere (though I suppose that is subjective), poof. I feel super bad for people that spent on anything in the last 6 months, and definitely for all the console players, who were more or less just starting out, but I still didn't retroactively regret the money I spent of the time I had.

 

While my current circumstances are such that I'm probably not a good person to comment on the idea of whether I would be sad if this game closed down in 6 months, I can put my 'way back' hat on and think about all the other MMOs I've played, spent money on, whether in subscription or cash shops, and I've never looked back with any personal regret. Usually sadness for anyone that was still really enjoying a product.

 

Though, I watched 'The Circle' last night, with my dad, and I totally regret that. 2 hours I'll never see again.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

> @"Wulf.5431" said:

> > @"Taygus.4571" said:

> > You can keep going, as often as you want. ....for as long as it's around.

> > Does the fact that it will leave, stop you from experiencing the rides?

>

> I get where you're coming from with your analogies, but the thing is is that gw2 is a game, traditionally something you pay to own. A material thing that is yours, not an experience you have once and it's over. It's something you own until you don't, only you don't know when that end will be. Besides, though I think your analogy is a little silly, I could for sure look forward to going on that ride again when it next comes into town, or follow it to the next town, etc.

>

 

Single player games are something you pay to own. Multi player games are a place you pay to enter that’s owned by someone else, like an amusement park where you buy a ticket to get through the gate. Your purchase is a rental to use not to own, including all the gemstore items.

[Majirah.5089]

> @"Wulf.5431" said:

> > @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

> > It's sort of like that for any game, though. None of my beloved old Age of Empires games plays on the newer Mac Os. Before that, TIE Fighter died for me when I had to upgrade to a computer that no longer supported joystick controls decently. There are Sega Genesis games I adored that I never found satisfactory playing on an emulator. And some Commodore 64 games I miss.

> >

> > Online games just have a slightly different sort of death.

>

> All those problems you have are fixable though, with the old games. You just need the right equipment. But you can't go out and play city of heroes, no matter how much you want to.

 

I would drop this game in a heart beat if they made city of heroes available again. I’d pay a lot to play it again too. Best game I ever played.