Issues with GW2

[Fey]

But that's my whole point... once you've reached a certain stage, there really isn't. Once you've got world completion, you've done all the dynamic events (at least every single one that I could find/trigger, and I've been though every single zone with a comb, multiple times), played through most of the personal story paths, done all the dungeon paths (once)... what is there really, other than the grind (and pvp, which doesn't interest me at all) ?

How is this an issue? No game is endless.

[Centaur]

How is this an issue? No game is endless.

That's why I'm finished with it. I'll return if there is something fun for me to do again...

[Vayne]

Right but the way you phrased it is like there's something wrong with the game for not having enough content. There's a ton of content, you've done it all. This isn't really how you phrased this. In fact, you posted a big long thing about how Anet has misled us, all along.

[Castelvet]

I know you will understand...

CITIZENS, CITIZENS, CITICITICITIZENS, CITIZENS, CITI... CITIZENS!

[Centaur]

Right but the way you phrased it is like there's something wrong with the game for not having enough content. There's a ton of content, you've done it all. This isn't really how you phrased this. In fact, you posted a big long thing about how Anet has misled us, all along.

Well, they have. Several of the things they told us would be great and fun, aren't (see OP). Every single thing I described in the OP is an issue that I have run into in the past months, that bothers me, and that decreases my overall enjoyment of the game. Despite most of these issues, I continued to play, manoeuver my way around them and still have fun, because there were things left to explore, things not yet discovered. But once you've explored it all and you're level 80, suddenly the fun parts are gone, and ArenaNet's failures and 'broken promises' become that much more obvious. This isn't a single player RPG, it's an MMORPG, which is supposed to have replayability and long term value. But the only replayability and long term value that this game currently has, is in gear grinding... exactly the thing that ArenaNet originally claimed wouldn't be there.

They told us that when you are level 80, the whole game would be your playground, and you could find interesting and challenging things to do in every single zone in the game. That's simply not true... it's not challenging at all to go back to lower level zones, and unless you want to help out a friend or are gathering crafting resources, there is absolutely no point in doing so, as the rewards are pathetic (though I see in the patch notes that the latter has improved a little bit in this patch) and are absolutely no reasons/goals/targets in the game encouraging you to revisit older zones.
They told us that the game would have a lot of replayability because of the ever branching personal story and the wide range of dynamic events going on in all the zones (something different all the time). As described in the OP, the personal story branching is a joke, so you've done it all a lot faster than expected, and upon closer investigation, there really aren't that many different dynamic events in every single zone as well... and the pace at which new ones are added is extremely low.

So yes, every single point I wrote in the OP decreased my desire to keep on playing this game. And if I felt that ArenaNet were actually addressing these issues and that this would improve in the near future, then I would still stick around. But the past months, and this last patch, have made it more and more clear to me that ArenaNet's focus is in a completely different direction.

So yes, I had fun while it lasted, but as many of the things that ArenaNet told us would be there, aren't (and it doesn't look like they will be there anytime soon), the fun is over.

[Vayne]

Well, they have. Several of the things they told us would be great and fun, aren't (see OP). Every single thing I described in the OP is an issue that I have run into in the past months, that bothers me, and that decreases my overall enjoyment of the game. Despite most of these issues, I continued to play, manoeuver my way around them and still have fun, because there were things left to explore, things not yet discovered. But once you've explored it all and you're level 80, suddenly the fun parts are gone, and ArenaNet's failures and 'broken promises' become that much more obvious. This isn't a single player RPG, it's an MMORPG, which is supposed to have replayability and long term value. But the only replayability and long term value that this game currently has, is in gear grinding... exactly the thing that ArenaNet originally claimed wouldn't be there.

They told us that when you are level 80, the whole game would be your playground, and you could find interesting and challenging things to do in every single zone in the game. That's simply not true... it's not challenging at all to go back to lower level zones, and unless you want to help out a friend or are gathering crafting resources, there is absolutely no point in doing so, as the rewards are pathetic (though I see in the patch notes that the latter has improved a little bit in this patch) and are absolutely no reasons/goals/targets in the game encouraging you to revisit older zones.
They told us that the game would have a lot of replayability because of the ever branching personal story and the wide range of dynamic events going on in all the zones (something different all the time). As described in the OP, the personal story branching is a joke, so you've done it all a lot faster than expected, and upon closer investigation, there really aren't that many different dynamic events in every single zone as well... and the pace at which new ones are added is extremely slow.

So yes, every single point I wrote in the OP decreased my desire to keep on playing this game. And if I felt that ArenaNet were actually addressing these issues and that this would improve in the near future, then I would still stick around. But the past months, and this last patch, have made it more and more clear to me that ArenaNet's focus is in a completely different direction.

So yes, I had fun while it lasted, but as many of the things that ArenaNet told us would be there, aren't (and it doesn't look like they will be there anytime soon), the fun is over.

I'm not sure that the stuff you're calling promises are promises. Anet made statements you're calling promises. They also said at one point there was energy and then there wasn't, but you're not calling that a broken promise. The dye thing is an example. They had ideas, spoke about it too soon, changed the way it was, and you're calling it a broken promise. It's a change to a game that's had literally hundreds, if not thousands of changes.

The reality is, Anet had to launch when they did because of MoP. I keep saying it, and it's a reality. A lot of the things in your OP, like the security and the botting they are taking care of and have made serious improvements on. The dye thing doesn't seem to bother most people. It bothers a handful of people who have to have every dye on every character, but most dyes are cheap as hell in the marketplace.

The gear grind complaint is completely crystal ballish. They added a missing tier, because it was missing. They've even said so.

Broken promises, or business realities getting in the way of what was planned? Those are completely different concepts.

[Jim Hunter]

I know they said the drops will be a little better but with the new gear what good will the drops be unless they are ascended? I would like to think maybe they are offering unique skins from champions but I doubt it.

[Agemnon]

I know they said the drops will be a little better but with the new gear what good will the drops be unless they are ascended? I would like to think maybe they are offering unique skins from champions but I doubt it.

It's better because it's more vendoring money.

[Jim Hunter]

The gear grind complaint is completely crystal ballish. They added a missing tier, because it was missing. They've even said so.

Broken promises, or business realities getting in the way of what was planned? Those are completely different concepts.

You keep saying that but there wasn't a missing tier until they decided to give legendary gear higher stats rather than just making it cosmetically different. I understand you can still find enjoyment in the game but please stop trying to pretend that they didn't go back on what they have been preaching for years.

[Centaur]

I'm not sure that the stuff you're calling promises are promises. Anet made statements you're calling promises. They also said at one point there was energy and then there wasn't, but you're not calling that a broken promise. The dye thing is an example. They had ideas, spoke about it too soon, changed the way it was, and you're calling it a broken promise. It's a change to a game that's had literally hundreds, if not thousands of changes.

The reality is, Anet had to launch when they did because of MoP. I keep saying it, and it's a reality. A lot of the things in your OP, like the security and the botting they are taking care of and have made serious improvements on. The dye thing doesn't seem to bother most people. It bothers a handful of people who have to have every dye on every character, but most dyes are cheap as hell in the marketplace.

The gear grind complaint is completely crystal ballish. They added a missing tier, because it was missing. They've even said so.

Broken promises, or business realities getting in the way of what was planned? Those are completely different concepts.

First, ArenaNet has always said that they didn't announce a feature until they were sure about it. Everything I described in the OP was described in great detail, some of those things are even part of they manifesto.
Yes, some things changed over time, and ArenaNet went out of their way to describe, on their blog, why those things were changed and what they changed into. They didn't do that for any of the things in the OP... we had to discover at (or after) release date that they were changed, or simply not there.
And often - to use the simple example of the dyes - there simply isn't a good reason for those changes, other than to increase the grinding. There's 400 dyes in the game, many of them rare. It already takes the average person a long time (or money) to collect all of them on a single character, let alone on multiple characters. If those 400 had been account wide, I would gladly have bought a number of dye packs to unlock them all for my account. As it is, for my 10 characters, I'm not spending one single penny on dyes.

As for launching because of MoP... let's face it, if they really let themselves be pushed into launching too soon by Blizzard, then the joke is on them. They released a game that wasn't (and still isn't) finished, that lacked features that have been announced (and called 'top priority') ever since 2010, and that chased away a large part of their fanbase within the first few months. In short: Blizzard won, and ArenaNet would have been better of taking those few extra months to finish and improve all their shortcomings. But it isn't just about releasing an unfinished game, it's also about the direction in which they are heading. And right now, that direction is more endgame, and more gear grinding... the complete opposite of their long-term goals that they have been promoting over the past couple of years. If you set yourself a goal for your game, you make a big deal out of that goal (even make it into an anti-grind manifesto), and then make a 180 because of "business realities", then you shouldn't be surprised if the people you drew in also make a 180 and turn their back on you.

[edit] anyway, I'm off for today. I'll be back to check on this thread tomorrow...