Issues with GW2

[Centaur]

That's the problem with ArenaNet's focus that I am most worried about. I feel they should be addressing replayability of existing content, making it more interesting/challenging/worthwhile for people to return to existing content and replay that. Then the whole game would be your playground, as they originally told us it would be.
Instead they are adding endgame content and a new level of gear progression that is required for that content... exactly the things they told us they wouldn't do.

That's why I'm not only no longer enjoying myself in playing this game, but I have also lost faith in ArenaNet's upcoming changes.

[StacyX]

Then I guess the difference between us is that I haven't done a fraction of what I want to do in this game yet. I'm nowhere near exhausting all the content, thus I'm still having fun.

This is a big game, with a huge world. If people can burn through this as fast as they apparently are, how can anyone make a game with enough content. How can anyone ever get away from the progression problem.

I'm not sure how any company can even function with the demands fans are placing on them for more content.

I totally agree. Aside form having to take the past 3 days away from the game, I've played every single day since beta and still haven't played through all the content in this game. These days though, many people play for 6+ hours a day, that's hard for any company to keep people like that with fresh and new content.

The bottom line is, many of those people WANT the Skinner box, something Anet hasn't done. Many people who spend so much of their lives in the game need that Skinner box to stay in the game, I think. I think Anet has an amazing idea with this game, but sadly I'm thinking that the grind is what is needed to keep those people playing. Sadly I think many people are different from you and I, Vayne - many people won't play for long for the enjoyment of it alone. As crazy as it sounds to me, many people want something to grind for and have trouble enjoying a game simply for the fun of it, and won't continue to play a game unless they have something they are "supposed to be grinding toward". Many people like the Skinner box. They may even need it. I think if Anet doesn't give them something to grind for they will leave ...unfortunately.

[Fey]

Then I guess the difference between us is that I haven't done a fraction of what I want to do in this game yet. I'm nowhere near exhausting all the content, thus I'm still having fun.

This is a big game, with a huge world. If people can burn through this as fast as they apparently are, how can anyone make a game with enough content. How can anyone ever get away from the progression problem.

It has nothing to do with how much content a game has. It's all about lastability and replay value. Honestly this game really lacks that on a MAJOR level. People like us will keep playing it anyway because we love the game itself, but that doesn't make a game good.

I played Sonic Adventure for hours on end for years because I loved the game. But that game was awful, and most people hated it. It was full of glitches and sloppy level designs, graphical errors and bugs that broke the game allowing you to skip entire levels. But that didn't matter to me because I still had fun. Having fun is not a reliable equation for success in MMO's because people enjoy different things, especially when that MMO lacks some major features that we were told we'd have.

Even the SPvP side of things has declined and slowed down a lot. We don't have ladders so there's no reason to keep competing. Tournaments are fun but ultimately there's really no reason to do them right now.

[Vayne]

That's my point. I AM finding lastability and replayability. Maybe it's because I'm a PVE'er who doesn't keep map markers on, so I can just run from spot to spot and check things off. Maybe it's because I like seeing the way the stories intertwine at the end based on different beginnings, and maybe it's because I'm having fun in a great guild with great people. Whatever the case is, this game is still holding my attention even when no one in my guild is online. There are still goals for me. I understand that other people aren't finding those goals.

But I guess the question is what percentage of the playerbase has even run every dungeon in every mode. I haven't. I still have two dungeons I haven't run in story mode yet. I've only run a small handful of explorable modes. I still have parts of the map to uncover, mini and jumping puzzles I've never seen...to me, that's what I do. I wander around doing fun stuff. That's enough for me. It's probably not enough for most people though.

Which is why I can't really complain about these changes. Some people are going to see this as a positive.

[Centaur]

But I guess the question is what percentage of the playerbase has even run every dungeon in every mode. I haven't. I still have two dungeons I haven't run in story mode yet. I've only run a small handful of explorable modes. I still have parts of the map to uncover, mini and jumping puzzles I've never seen...to me, that's what I do. I wander around doing fun stuff. That's enough for me. It's probably not enough for most people though.

This could very well mean that you will come to the same conclusion as I did... just a bit later (maybe a few months further down the road). Hopefully by then, ArenaNet will have turned this train around and increased the replayability value.

[Vayne]

This could very well mean that you will come to the same conclusion as I did... just a bit later (maybe a few months further down the road). Hopefully by then, ArenaNet will have turned this train around and increased the replayability value.

It's entirely possible. The thing is, I'm in a great guild with great people which adds, to me, infinite value to the game. We still have a good number of active players online every day, and we're starting to do more and more stuff together, which was a problem for a while.

Today we ran back to back explorable mode dungeons, one of which I'd never done before. And because the people are fun, I was having fun, having nothing at all to do with the game.

So it could be that I see the game through the light of playing with my guild, which changes the experience drastically. I can't remember the last time I soloed anything.

[Lagger]

You two hopefully realise you're right now reenacting certain threads from the past... Not gonna say much more. Just sittin' here, chillin' and pointing it out, yunno.

It seems to me, that what I'm watching on this forum regarding this game is a perfect reflection of the different demand stages of you guys posting here. Some have higher demands from their game and they've already complained. Now more and more people complain who were satisfied before. Obviously we've reached a lower demand stage. The question right now doesn't seem to be if the last one of you is reaching a breaking point at which the game "isn't fun" anymore. But when.

[Centaur]

Well, I didn't want to make a big scene out of me quitting the game. Everyone should determine for themselves if the game still holds enough replay value (and yes, being in a great guild definitely helps to add replay value). If it's still fun... great, by all means keep it up. Right now, I've reached the edge, and I just wanted the devs to know my concerns and my reasons for quitting, so they could draw their own conclusions. If it hadn't been for bokiz, and for my thread being deleted from the official forums for "making staff callouts", this thread here on this forum wouldn't even have existed.
I expected to just post the thread on the official forums, the mods to close (not delete) it and thank me for my feedback, and that was that. Obviously, it didn't quite work out that way. It even got reposted on the official forums a couple of times by different people (and those threads were all deleted as well). So I still wasn't sure that the devs would see it, although by now I had been made aware of the many people who shared my concerns.
Now I have finally managed to get the mods to not delete my thread, so as far as I'm concerned, I have had my say and have reached my goal. Now it's all up to the devs...

[Lagger]

The comments below your post are amusing. Would they post stuff like that if they realised you're a mod on probably the second biggest english fan forum for this game?

[Centaur]

I don't think me being a mod here adds any more validity to my complaints and to my story than anybody else's. I'm sure there are many others out there who have spent just as much as I did (if not more) on this game... which is way more than just the initial $60.
It's just sad that some people feel the need to put down anyone who doesn't agree with their own point of view. I believe that every single opinion and every piece of constructive criticism is important for the devs, to determine where this game needs to go. In my opinion, right now they are listening to the wrong group of people, making the wrong choices (moving the game into a completely different direction than they originally told us they would). I also believe that those people were a (very vocal) minority, and that many people who agreed with ArenaNet's manifesto and chose the game because of it, have stayed very quiet until now (and yes, I was guilty of that too). But only time will tell where ArenaNet can find the largest fanbase, and what direction those fans want the game to move in. If it continues to move in the direction that it's heading in now, then I simply won't be back. But if the game makes a turn and most of the concerns that I shared in the OP are addressed, yes, then I would look forward to returning and playing this game again.

Anyway, I think I've made myself clear enough and have said it all, so unless someone has something really important that requires a reply, I will withdraw from this thread now.