In Guild War 2 it's much different. You know like on WoW, you pick a server to play on and create a character on there, but you can't play on another server with the same character, that's not the case with Guild Wars 2. They're all combined and you just have to click Play, it will take you to the best connection server and if you want to play with your friends, you can just easily teleport to their server. But there's no server you actually pick like WoW.
that's not strictly true with WoW any longer, actually. They have the multi-server zones and if you are grouped with a friend from another server they can join you in that realm. They cannot join you in major cities, though. It's only a few servers for each, though. For example, on Wrymrest accord you have Moonguard, I think Farstriders, and a few others. Not all of them are even RP servers. I'm not sure who started off with that, but it's kind of annoying.
Yeah, totally. I think the devs should create more content that is towards PvE rather than focusing everything on PvP. I think that Guild Wars 2 already has a grand concept for PvP and is arguably one of the best PvP MMOs right now, but they can't continue to attract an audience without a strong PvE setup as well. I think adding larger raids would help.
The Free to Play will drive its popularity up if the expansions release the promised goods (Extended Level Cap, More end game content, more stuff to do in general with masteries and precursor crafting) so it looks to be poised for a solid run, but I never see it breaking the top 3. It's a solid 4 or 5 slot, guaranteed, though. And that's all a game really needs to flourish. But if they nail the expansion and promises it's going to break 4 or 5. Probably 2 or 3.
I think that it has a chance with expansions. It's not strictly free to play. You have to buy the game upfront, and I'm assuming that you would have to buy the expansions as well. So I don't really put it in the same category as Free to Play games. It will be interesting to see how the expansions go, though.
I'm skeptical about the future of GW2 mainly because I don't see it having a place beyond it's current niche. Albeit it functions fine within that niche, and doesn't NEED to go beyond that, but it is a fairly decent game all things considered. Growth is unlikely given the community. It will probably keep it's current, large and committed, playbase. Hell, I even occasionally log on still, but it isn't as often as I used to log on. Only time will tell what will happen.
I really don't think "Free to Play" games fail all that often. They may not command the numbers like paid subscriptions to WoW or something or but I'd wager a bet to say they're along for the ride/long haul. Even GW1 is still going strong. That's a testament to how much people hate paying 15 bucks consistently every month to enjoy a game they love.
I completely agree with you. I will ask you though, do you think GW2 has any pay to win attributes in it?
Pay to win? Definitely not. Pay to have fun? Pay to look nice? Sure. Plenty of it. But I'm fine since it's cosmetics, pets, and gathering items/boosts don't effect endgame play like WVW or High-end Dungeons. So nothing from the cash shoppe negatively effects the game itself, I have to say "no" it doesn't. Pay to win in my mind means you can pay to beat the next guy who plays for free. I'm on my free account, with nothing bought with diamonds from the store and I can still outdo someone that has spent 200 bucks for cosmetics? Then I'm inclined to say "no" once more. The only "pay to win" mechanic I see is you can make diamonds gold or vice versa. allowing a currency exchange will always allow farmers of some sort into your video game, even if you have the staff to watch out for it.
WvW is amazing. But PvP matches are lackluster as hell, few years after the release there are still issues with the balance. Let's be frank, maybe it's interesting in comparison with what other MMOs can offer, but there are dedicated games with similar game play that do it ten times better.
Well there is just a new expansin coming out now but by the way GW2 is a really awesome game and one of the most skill-based ones for sure in the entire MMORPG scene. If it has some future I don't know to be honest. I guess yes unless the developer will feel like abandon it.
NCSoft and ArenaNet don't abandon people, so you have no worries there. I agree that PVP can't be the entire endgame or people get bored. Look at DESTINY for that. Love the game, the PVE and even raiding is lackluster. The PVP is what drives the game, just like HALO. And even now they're losing people so they redid the game and added more PVE everything (quests, area, subclasses, etc) in DESTINY to revive it. Any game could take a cue from this and just ramp up their endgame content. If you want a game to succeed, all thoughts really need to be in the endgame. Veterans are the ones who will fuel the bank accounts.
The thing is - how do you define "end-game content"? If that's the content that you can play after you max out your character, then GW2 has the best "end-game" you can find, because there's literally always something to do. Honestly I don't want ArenaNet to introduce tons of new dungeons and exotic items to grind for, like in WoW's case.
Agree, the wonderful part of GW2 in my opinion are the very few dungeons you have to focus and I would mind if they new ones.
I think the movement towards F2P will help keep it alive. We really dont know what the lifespan of legendary MMORPGs are since their advent was circa 10 years ago.