How Guild Wars 2 Plans to Survive

It's not the finest time to be making MMOs. Where at one time it felt like this genre was primed to take over the world, the last year has noticed many prominent titles which includes Star Wars: The Old Republic, The Secret World & TERA all ditch their subscription charges, while even GW2 gold games with astonishingly loyal fanbases like City of Heroes have had their plugs pulled due to less than stellar player numbers. It is understandable then that a number of men and women could be thinking the MMO genre is failing, & all who enter into it are doomed.

But not Colin Johanson. When I sat down with the game director of Guild Wars 2 to talk about the future of the zero cost-to-play MMO, he's speedy to assert that he reckons the genre has never been in a more robust position. After years of titles trying to copy World of Warcraft, finally some innovation is beginning to creep in; from Dust 514 to Destiny, features conventionally only located in MMOs are beginning to permeate the sector as a complete.

"I would say that the business definitely went through a period of about five or six years where it stagnated and it wasn't that healthy, though I think it continues to grow & is doing honestly well," Johanson explained. "Should you look at Bungie's upcoming release there are components of MMOs there. I think we're seeing more businesses start moving more & more towards integrating all these online elements, and it's already took place in the East. Just about all of the substantial games out there really are quite a few form of an MMO."

An business veteran of over 15 years who's worked on other MMOs including the original Guild Wars, Johanson admits that the decision to make an MMO shouldn't be taken lightly; failure comes at a high cost. "It takes some serious balls to jump into the MMO sector & go after it," he admits.

"You are fundamentally betting your company any time you choose that the thing you're going to make is an MMO. They take so lengthy to make, and they take so much income that either you are effective and you are going to do honestly well, or you are not and your company's toast. Should you have a genuinely big backer, perhaps you could survive that but it's a substantial risk."

The truth that such a gamble appears to have paid off not once although twice for ArenaNet isn't something to be sniffed at. Aside from managing to shift over 3 million copies in the six months since it launched, Johanson also informs me that Guild Wars two has bucked one of the primary MMO trends by seeing player numbers continue to rise all through what would more often than not be a post-launch slump. The six weeks following Christmas saw escalating numbers of individuals eager to explore the world of Tyria, making Guild Wars 2 1 of especially couple of MMOs to launch, settle into its core playerbase and then really start to grow once again (EVE Online would be maybe the only other prominent example of this unusual trend).

That isn't to share there haven't been difficulties though. From the moment the game launched ArenaNet had to restructure itself from a company focused on development to one centred around services. Johanson explains, "To transition 300 individuals from operating 1 way to all of a sudden turning into a service company a week later is challenging to do. It is something where we totally had growing pains for those first couple of months, understanding the way to do that and the way to make live content & the best way to be productive in that model."

1 of the most prominent of these growing pains was the Ascended Gear debacle. Before the game released, ArenaNet made a manifesto video (which you need to without doubt go look at, should you haven't already) setting out guidelines the company hoped to stay with when making and keeping the Guild Wars 2 gold game. 1 of these that players latched onto most fervently was the promise that there would be no "gear treadmill"; a prevalent feature in MMOs akin to a carrot on a stick, where increasingly powerful gear is routinely added for players to chase after, with new sets coming every few months. Guild Wars 2 players were pleased to study they'd be zero cost from this sense of obligation that other MMOs foster when it comes to acquiring the finest gear...till Ascended Gear was added in November.

Useful link:


http://zone.aimoo.com/blog/RoxannSpicer/blog/491280

http://shadowbox.1309102.n2.nabble.com/Guild-Wars-2-No-Plans-for-Expansion-td7580839.html

http://www.epressreleasesite.com/author/update.php?id=61200

http://netccm.com/story.php?title=guild-wars-2-brings-more-tricks-to-the-wvw-experience-living-story-

http://tipbo.com/gaming/guild-wars-2-brings-more-tricks-to-the-wvw-experience-living-story-/