Expansion Already?!?!

[Fey]

I didn't want to put this up in the news section since it's not actually news. It's only a projection of what may happen during 2013.

In China, the company is planning to launch Blade & Soul (via a publishing agreement with Tencent) in 3Q13 and Guild Wars 2 in 4Q13 (via a publishing agreement with Kong Zhong). Furthermore, we expect NCsoft to release an expansion pack for Guild Wars 2 in Europe and the US in 2H13.

Original Source

GameBreaker Article

Usually I don't really like seeing expansions or even hints/rumors of an expansion this soon since it normally would seem desperate. However, GW2 doesn't have the same model as most MMO's. I find it refreshing. Especially considering how fast we've burned through content.

Not saying there isn't enough content or that there's nothing left to do at this point. But for the most part, most of us have already done almost everything. Hell it might not even happen. ArenaNet has a track record of pushing things back to try and perfect them better.


Here's hoping for a fist fighting class. Or an actual Assassin. I'm not biased!

[Steel]

Seems early for a new class though since brass knuckles could be used by more than one profession. I remember reading that a juggernaut was being considered but was too much like the warrior. Once they find a mech to give it they will capitalize on it by waiting a few years I bet. I wonder if they plan to raise lvl cap to add new traits or keep it at 80. I hope they flesh out underwater combat as well since as a necro half my utilities and only one elite works.

[Lucread]

2H13 means that its being projected for the second half of 2013.
That isn't too early, at all, as the game will be about a year old.

To put it into perspective, Guild Wars was released in April 2005.
Factions was released in April 2006 with Nightfall in October.
Eye of the North was then released in August of 2007.

So yeah, I'd say the timing here is pretty spot on.

[Fey]

2H13 means that its being projected for the second half of 2013.
That isn't too early, at all, as the game will be about a year old.

To put it into perspective, Guild Wars was released in April 2005.
Factions was released in April 2006 with Nightfall in October.
Eye of the North was then released in August of 2007.

So yeah, I'd say the timing here is pretty spot on.

GW wasn't a real MMO. It's only been like 4 months and we're already hearing about an expansion. That's ridiculously fast. Just saying.

[Vayne]

GW wasn't a real MMO. It's only been like 4 months and we're already hearing about an expansion. That's ridiculously fast. Just saying.

Well yes, it's true, Guild War wasn't a true MMO. And Factions wasn't an expansion...it was a brand new game. Everything new, not reusing anything, except the six professions, and adding two new ones. New tutorial, new beginning, all new maps. Arguably, an expansion for a game should take less time than a full new product.

[Lucread]

GW wasn't a real MMO.

That's debatable... sure it wasn't like other MMORPGs but it was still technically, by definition, an MMORPG... y'know, because it was Massively Multiplayer, was required to be played Online, and was obviously a Role Playing Game. But yeah, it was a different kind of game due to its pure instanced approach.

But then, like Vayne said, Factions wasn't exactly an expansion either. It was far more than that. It was a brand new standalone game built on the same engine and mechanics that was just as big (actually, I think it was a bit bigger, to be honest, though I'm not sure, it just felt that way to me), and just happened to attach itself to the original, allowing it to act as an expansion... Nightfall was the same way (though not quite as big, I don't think), and they both introduced huge game changing aspects. Eye of the North was the only true expansion, inasmuch that it required one of the previous three campaigns to be played, but it also did the least. Yeah, its story was time consuming, but it wasn't nearly as big as Factions or Nightfall, though it did serve to expand the GW mythos significantly by introducing the Norn, Asura, and the doomed Dwarves to the world, showing us a wider world that we would eventually come to know as Guild Wars 2.

But the point remains that one year is plenty of time before an expansion... want another example, since the GW1 one doesn't really do it for ya? How about Everquest 2?

Everquest 2 came out in November 2004. After two adventure packs, its first real expansion hit in September 2005... 2 months shy of its 1 year anniversary, and its second expansion hit just 5 months later in February 2006, which was followed by another adventure pack before its third expansion arrived on the heels of the game's second anniversary in November 2006, and has since seen further expansions in a fairly annual manner.

So, once again, I say the timing here is pretty spot on.

[Bogus Dude]

technically it was only a MMO in towns, otherwise it was a CORPG as Anet will be happy to confirm for you. I do recall before release them claiming that the engine they used to develop GW2 was built in such a way to make adding new content relatively quick and easy. So even though its a larger world with more content i'm pretty sure they have it in their minds to atleast try to maintain a similar schedule for expansions, as thats where they profit most with box sales and new player introductions.

I'm still disappointed with the complete lack of advertising, especially as i'm seeing the likes of World of Tanks and Runescape being advertised on TV now....wtf is that all about, there must be a HUGE gullible market of new gamers out there that they're looking to sucker in. This could be GW2s market if they bothered to make a move for it. With successful release and profit reports surely they can splash out on a little advertising, be nice for my console gaming nerds to have actually herd of the game i play

[Fey]

And Factions wasn't an expansion...it was a brand new game. Everything new, not reusing anything, except the six professions, and adding two new ones. New tutorial, new beginning, all new maps. Arguably, an expansion for a game should take less time than a full new product.

That's awesome. But considering it was basically a singleplayer game with the option of 2-8 player Co-Op I'm not really surprised. However, for whatever reason people seem to be debating this despite:

GW2 doesn't have the same model as most MMO's. I find it refreshing.

If it is planned I'm not saying it's bad. It's a surprise to hear about more than anything. 4 months in is still ridiculously early to start talking about an expansion even if one is planned for 2013. Though I could see this as a way to continue to gain a lot of revenue with the lack of a monthly fee.

tl;dr. Less about old games and more about what people think we'll be getting. Come on now.

[Castelvet]

Maybe its so fast because the game doesnt have much lvl 80 content. Anyway, sounds fast fast fast, sounds for a weak game. Like a DLC for pick up money

[Lucread]

Expansions and typical DLC packs are two very different things. Expansion are huge additions to the game, usually providing a whole new story with multiple quest lines and item sets, whilst the typical DLC pack your thinking off is small, perhaps providing one quest line and/or an item set.

It should also be noted that this isn't something like Dragon's Dogma (which was actually a great game, aside from this huge flaw I'm about to mention) where stuff was deliberately left out of the "finished" product in order to make small cash grabs through DLC so the company could make more money... this is a full on expansion we're talking about here... something that likely wasn't even fully thought out when the game was released, thus couldn't have been deliberately withheld because it didn't exist (and likely still doesn't, at least not in a playable version).

Expansions are not cash grabs, they're honest extensions to a game made for people who love the game and want more of it... and really, they've been giving us free additions every step of the way so far, so its clear they're not just gonna put something up as a cash grab (obviously I'm ignoring the existence of the Cash Store, but that's different, lol)... I mean, if they were gonna do that, I'm pretty sure Fractals would've cost something.