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[Column] Guild Wars 2: The World's Most-Updated MMO

SBFordSBFord Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129

In our latest MMO chronicle, we take a look at ArenaNet and Guild Wars 2 as the "most updated MMO in the world". Check it out before heading to the comments to talk it up.

After its auspicious launch, Guild Wars 2 has seen countless updates, all of which have altered the game in one way or another. Some have been of the housekeeping sort (such as the one designed to foil rampant account hacking) and others, like Living Story, have been added just for fun. Over the last fifteen months, the already large world of Tyria has been augmented with things like mini-dungeons, guild missions, guesting, jumping puzzles (urgh), weapons and enemies. ArenaNet development Chief Mike O'Brien bragged in August of this year that Guild Wars 2 was the most frequently updated MMO in existence. His statement takes for granted that this is a boon, but the quality of the game's updates and the players' collective response to them seems to indicate otherwise. 

Read more of Neilie Johnson's Guild Wars 2: The World's Most-Updated MMO.

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Comments

  • nerovipus32nerovipus32 Member Posts: 2,735
    To be honest i don't want to play an mmo that adds jumping puzzles as content. I was excited about the launch of GW2 but it has utterly disappointed me.
  • Ender4Ender4 Member UncommonPosts: 2,247

    Fractals are about the only good thing they have added in 15 months. The rest of it has been just awful. Between the terrible living story updates and the just pathetic holiday updates I don't hold much hope for this game ever being what it was capable of being.

  • zastenzasten Member Posts: 283
    Originally posted by Ender4

    Fractals are about the only good thing they have added in 15 months. The rest of it has been just awful. Between the terrible living story updates and the just pathetic holiday updates I don't hold much hope for this game ever being what it was capable of being.

    Not in to fractals, but agreed on the rest!

    Holiday events are mostly unplayable after the first day or maybe two, just not enough players interested in going in just to find it is ...

  • RadooRadoo Member UncommonPosts: 298

    True, GW2 has a huge number of updates and that is commendable, my issue with this game however is the fact that they dont seem to update what the community of the game wants/needs. The "Suggestions" section of the forum is filled with ideas on how the game could improve and with many i do agree and see them for a real quality, long needed change. Problem is that A.Net just wont even take them into consideration. They keep  piling up the "living story" while the people are hungry for something else.

    I had such high hopes for this game but then it proved to be another over-hyped mmo.

     

  • zastenzasten Member Posts: 283
    Originally posted by nerovipus32
    To be honest i don't want to play an mmo that adds jumping puzzles as content. I was excited about the launch of GW2 but it has utterly disappointed me.

    Agreed, for me jp's are not worth the effort, not to mention dangerous, if you like to roll play, nobody in their right mind would go near something where one wrong step meant the end of your chars life!

  • rojoArcueidrojoArcueid Member EpicPosts: 10,722
    Originally posted by nerovipus32
    To be honest i don't want to play an mmo that adds jumping puzzles as content. I was excited about the launch of GW2 but it has utterly disappointed me.

    while i agree that i also want new and different content i also want more jumping puzzles. IMO they are great if they make it challenging and rewarding and not just a cakewalk with a few blue drops. I would even love to have jumping puzzles as an extra path in dungeons (want to avoid some paths and enemies? take a shortcut, all you have to do is go through the jp of death over there lol)





  • mCalvertmCalvert Member CommonPosts: 1,283
    Originally posted by nerovipus32
    To be honest i don't want to play an mmo that adds jumping puzzles as content. I was excited about the launch of GW2 but it has utterly disappointed me.

    I agree, but the alternative is games with an expansion ever 2 years, which is basically just more kill rats quests in a new map.

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,610

    I stopped playing because of the living world. My wife and I are casual players and having a timer on getting content done (about 1 month) to get the reward does not work for us. Seeing content go away before you get to see it all is a real pain. 

    Then you see content you are enjoying go away and the next month living story is something you dont like so you dont play for a month in hopes the next part of the living world is something you want to play but wait... I wont get to the rewards because it will poof before I get it done.

  • TripChargeTripCharge Member UncommonPosts: 1
    I feel like I'm the only player who actually likes the bi-weekly updates. Oh no.
  • ghorgosghorgos Member UncommonPosts: 191

    most content-updates yes but not biggest content updates

    In addition most updates are tempory stuff and most of the time its just another zerg here and some achievement grind there. The realy good and fresh new content is quite limited.  Third issue is that other mmo's already got their first expansion after a year and had much more fresh content than gw2.

  • dave6660dave6660 Member UncommonPosts: 2,699

    Don't you think the title of the article is a little misleading, "GW2: The Worlds Most Updated MMO".  To me that sounds like GW2 has had highest number of updates.  The article states, "Guild Wars 2 was the most frequently updated MMO in existence" which is something else entirely.

     

    “There are certain queer times and occasions in this strange mixed affair we call life when a man takes this whole universe for a vast practical joke, though the wit thereof he but dimly discerns, and more than suspects that the joke is at nobody's expense but his own.”
    -- Herman Melville

  • RocknissRockniss Member Posts: 1,034
    I don't play GW2 but I'm happy for the people that do and enjoy the updates.
  • Radar11xRadar11x Member UncommonPosts: 118
    And yet a Sub is required for ESO, so that they can add more content? I hope ESO rethinks there stance. xD
  • Gaia_HunterGaia_Hunter Member UncommonPosts: 3,066

    The dozens upon dozens of people I see participating in the living story far out number the complainers in forums.

    I enjoyed some of the updates, others not as much and some I skipped.

    The Live Team is a small team, consisting mostly of content designers and artists, not tech guys.

    The Live story isn't detracting.

    Also the time that the content is available is increasing, allowing players to proceed at their own pace and if they so choose to, only to participate in the Living Story after any bugs are out.

    I hope Anet Live Team keeps releasing content while their main team works on the expansion.

    Currently playing: GW2
    Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders

  • TelondarielTelondariel Member Posts: 1,001

    "Taking part in Guild Wars 2's Living Story is like being on a tour bus that tries to squeeze in the Roman Colosseum, Big Ben and the Eiffel Tower in less than three days; you're so busy jumping on and off the bus, you never really get to enjoy anything. The stories set you on a series of hamster wheels that force you to run, run, run in order to avoid missing things, and where's the fun in that? Moreover, once you've fallen behind on this temporary content, (not to mention daily/monthly content) your achievement perfection goal is permanently shot.

    Aside from time constraints, another issue with the temporary content is its close ties to the game's gem store. Many players see this relationship as a ploy on ArenaNet's part to get them to spend money and considering ArenaNet's not a charity, those players are probably not wrong. This wouldn't be a problem for most of us though, if we felt we were getting quality content for the money; at the moment however, that's not really the case. Thus far, ArenaNet's ambitious update schedule has accomplished two things: it's set player expectation high and dashed that expectation to bits. Updates have not only been underwhelming, they've been rife with fun-killing bugs. Regardless of its staggered development schedule and multiple dev teams, ArenaNet is clearly struggling to maintain standards."

     

    These two paragraphs from the article pretty much sum up the problem of the Living Story for a lot of people, including myself.   The updates are nothing more that colorful candy shells coating their Gem Store skins.  By keeping up with the 2 week cadence, they keep sales up.  However, their focus has gone entirely to this frenetic pacing in their desire to max profits while abandoning the game as a whole and ignoring the player-base.  Judging by the last quarterly earning report, this has apparently bitten them in the arse.

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  • orbitxoorbitxo Member RarePosts: 1,956

    i agree. they have done an absolute amazing job with updates and content...

    but i stopped playing as 'living world' really didnt speak to me as an mmo. i prefer straight forward lore content that i can delve into.

     

    i wish them the best- and maybe sometime in the future ill revisit Tyria.

     
  • AeonbladesAeonblades Member Posts: 2,083
    Well said in the article, I warned Anet of this earlier this year and it appears as if they are finally reaping what they sow as far as completely ignoring their player base. Living Story and Cash locked skins are not content, and have never been.

    Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
    Have played: You name it
    If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.

  • GODGANONDORFGODGANONDORF Member Posts: 59
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle

    I stopped playing because of the living world. My wife and I are casual players and having a timer on getting content done (about 1 month) to get the reward does not work for us. Seeing content go away before you get to see it all is a real pain. 

    Then you see content you are enjoying go away and the next month living story is something you dont like so you dont play for a month in hopes the next part of the living world is something you want to play but wait... I wont get to the rewards because it will poof before I get it done.

    OMG i so agree with this!!! im a colector and achiever and knowing everything is incomplete forever because i cannot play for 15 days and i missed something is sad and dissapointing, is supposed to be causal mmo not hardcore, that is why i abandoned it

    DARK AND LIGHT I GOVERN BOTH

  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591

    I'm not a "hater" or anything, so please don't label me one, but adding content that should have been at launch or is useless or is the same thing accept with different words that are poorly written (looking at you "living" story aka content that is indifferential from one another or even other events) should not be even counted as content!

     

    loved GW2. I was a huge freaking fan of it, but playing the same thing week after week with "living" stories seemingly adding absolutely nothing new really burned me out on the game. Apparently adding a ton of crappy content means you get to be advertised as "The World's Most Updated MMO" though. ArenaNet really spending that advertisement cash well I see.

     

    It's pretty disappointing, honestly, due to the fact that they did such a great job on the original Guild Wars and that sense of quality (especially with the in-game story) seems to be non-existent in the sequel.

     

    Edited after I finished reading the article completely.

     

    Smile

  • NanfoodleNanfoodle Member LegendaryPosts: 10,610
    Originally posted by Razeekster

    This title and this article pisses me off so much. I'm not a "hater" or anything, so please don't label me one, but adding content that should have been at launch or is useless or is the same thing accept with different words that are poorly written (looking at you "living" story aka indifferential between events) should not be even counted as content!

     

    loved GW2. I was a huge freaking fan of it, but playing the same thing week after week with "living" stories seemingly adding absolutely nothing new really burned me out on the game. Apparently adding a ton of crappy content means you get to be advertised as "The World's Most Updated MMO" though.

     

    This article is just shameless advertising.

     

    LOL, did you even read the article?

  • The user and all related content has been deleted.

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  • TheLizardbonesTheLizardbones Member CommonPosts: 10,910

    I'm sure the millions of dollars ArenaNet is making will comfort them as they realize there are a few people on MMORPG.com that do not play their game. I feel certain they'll get through.

    They must be doing something right. There wouldn't be any point to all these updates if they didn't have a bunch of players and new people trying the game out.

    I can not remember winning or losing a single debate on the internet.

  • RazeeksterRazeekster Member UncommonPosts: 2,591
    Originally posted by Nanfoodle
    Originally posted by Razeekster

    This title and this article pisses me off so much. I'm not a "hater" or anything, so please don't label me one, but adding content that should have been at launch or is useless or is the same thing accept with different words that are poorly written (looking at you "living" story aka indifferential between events) should not be even counted as content!

     

    loved GW2. I was a huge freaking fan of it, but playing the same thing week after week with "living" stories seemingly adding absolutely nothing new really burned me out on the game. Apparently adding a ton of crappy content means you get to be advertised as "The World's Most Updated MMO" though.

     

    This article is just shameless advertising.

     

    LOL, did you even read the article?

     

    Yeah, I admit I had only read half of it, it's edited now (I'm just so tired of people going on about how GW2 gets so many updates and I thought this article was that again).

    Smile

  • black_isleblack_isle Member UncommonPosts: 256
    Item skins and dumb grindy achievements that means nothing as content lol. I can't believe how badly they ran the whole thing. It could be great this game, but even if they dropped this BS living story thing, i'm afraid the damage is done. I just don't care about it enough anymore.
  • ArskaaaArskaaa Member RarePosts: 1,265
    Originally posted by Ender4

    Fractals are about the only good thing they have added in 15 months. The rest of it has been just awful. Between the terrible living story updates and the just pathetic holiday updates I don't hold much hope for this game ever being what it was capable of being.

    Story was boring,holiday stuff is childish.

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