3:22 am, October 14, 2013
174
On-demand content?
1. GW2 is a solo game.
While the game has group content or groping makes the content more enjoyable, in it's core, GW2 is a solo game. When you buy GW2, you are buying a game that you will solo with the potential to play in a group. That's why there are no dedicated healers, we have predetermined bars, ... it's to make players self-sufficient.
2. GW2 wants you to play in the area you are in.
Waypoint fees and the fact that DE notices only pop up for your closest vicinity speak for the idea that jumping around the map, hunting down content isn't promoted. Players should wander around the map, stumbling onto content instead.
The problem is that the content in question (outside of hearts, story and exploration - which are both one-off things and based on other games we have played considered to be tools that facilitate content rather than content itself) are DEs. And as I said, the players only receive the DE warning if they are basically on top of the DE. Not only that, DEs will happen in the world regardless if the player is present in it or not.
Which means that DEs, while certainly playing a huge role in any player's gaming experience are not the most reliable content. It means that when players log into the world, they can pretty much only expect to experience on-demand content. A lot of the time this will not be the only thing they will experience, especially if you play for a bit longer, but this is the content you should expect to experience.
And this brings us to the fact that GW2 is a solo game. The repeatable on-demand content in GW2 is (almost?) exclusively group content. You know that AC will always be up and running - but you need a group for it. This means that players can sometimes be prevented from doing this content (not finding a group, not being allowed to join a group, ...) and it also means that the players who do not wish to group to experience on-demand content are simply out of luck.
What this leads to is that the only solo, repeatable, on-demand content in this game is basically killing trash. This is what players should expect to experience when logging into the world, with a decent chance of dynamic content on top of it. And killing trash in GW2, sadly, isn't interesting, nor is it rewarding. If I remember correctly, A.Net actually said that they do not want players to be running around killing trash.
And going forward, at least once the new smell wears off, this doesn't seem to be the best outlook.
So, do you agree or disagree? Am I completely missing some on-demand content? Do you agree, but not consider it an issue? Hoping that the February/March patch resolves this?
While the game has group content or groping makes the content more enjoyable, in it's core, GW2 is a solo game. When you buy GW2, you are buying a game that you will solo with the potential to play in a group. That's why there are no dedicated healers, we have predetermined bars, ... it's to make players self-sufficient.
2. GW2 wants you to play in the area you are in.
Waypoint fees and the fact that DE notices only pop up for your closest vicinity speak for the idea that jumping around the map, hunting down content isn't promoted. Players should wander around the map, stumbling onto content instead.
The problem is that the content in question (outside of hearts, story and exploration - which are both one-off things and based on other games we have played considered to be tools that facilitate content rather than content itself) are DEs. And as I said, the players only receive the DE warning if they are basically on top of the DE. Not only that, DEs will happen in the world regardless if the player is present in it or not.
Which means that DEs, while certainly playing a huge role in any player's gaming experience are not the most reliable content. It means that when players log into the world, they can pretty much only expect to experience on-demand content. A lot of the time this will not be the only thing they will experience, especially if you play for a bit longer, but this is the content you should expect to experience.
And this brings us to the fact that GW2 is a solo game. The repeatable on-demand content in GW2 is (almost?) exclusively group content. You know that AC will always be up and running - but you need a group for it. This means that players can sometimes be prevented from doing this content (not finding a group, not being allowed to join a group, ...) and it also means that the players who do not wish to group to experience on-demand content are simply out of luck.
What this leads to is that the only solo, repeatable, on-demand content in this game is basically killing trash. This is what players should expect to experience when logging into the world, with a decent chance of dynamic content on top of it. And killing trash in GW2, sadly, isn't interesting, nor is it rewarding. If I remember correctly, A.Net actually said that they do not want players to be running around killing trash.
And going forward, at least once the new smell wears off, this doesn't seem to be the best outlook.
So, do you agree or disagree? Am I completely missing some on-demand content? Do you agree, but not consider it an issue? Hoping that the February/March patch resolves this?