Guild Wars 2 has released information about upcoming changes in a blog post. Among these are features that many players have been waiting for since the release.
What changes have been announced? In the blog post, Game Director Mike Zadorojny talked about the upcoming months and the general future of Guild Wars 2.
A small release, likely in the form of a side story, is expected in the coming weeks, leading up to the finale of the fourth season of the Living World.
This finale and another raid that is set to continue the story of the previous raids are also expected to be released soon.
However, Zadorojny announced some highlights especially for the general future:
- Legendary runes and sigils
- Build templates
- Cooking to 500
- The overhaul of World vs World
- Overhaul of the PvP tournament system
There is still no fixed release date or timeframe for all these changes.
Guild Wars 2 fulfills player wishes
Adjustments in Communication: For a long time, Guild Wars 2 was criticized for not communicating with the community and addressing player requests. This seems to be changing now, after issues and layoffs.
This change is particularly evident in the fact that almost all announced features have been on players’ wish lists for many years.
What is special about build templates? Guild Wars 2 was surprisingly released in 2012 without a system for saving skills, traits, and gear, which surprised many players.
Yet, the first part of Guild Wars had such a system from the start. Throughout Reddit, in forums, and even in the MeinMMO wishes for 2018, there was constant demand for a save function.
Now, after almost 7 years, the templates are within reach.
Revisions of Gear: The desire for adjustments to the inventory has also been on the players’ list repeatedly. It had usually become cluttered with items quickly. Additionally, multiple gear sets are sometimes needed for the same content, taking up space as well.
In the meantime, ArenaNet has responded. Last year, the runes and sigils were adjusted, and recently, the loot system was overhauled. In the next step, legendary runes and sigils will come to improve inventory management further.
More love for the competitive side: PvP and WvW were the hope-bearers of the game at launch and over the years have become the unwanted stepchildren.
Particularly since the cancellation of PvP tournaments with prize money and the WvW seasons, very few believed that any significant changes would happen for these modes.
However, the Game Director has now talked about newly formed teams. In addition to four content teams that are to deliver new content constantly, there are now special teams for balance, rewards, WvW, and PvP.
Here too, changes such as the major overhaul of World vs World and the Swiss system for PvP tournaments are planned.
Further into the future: Mike Zadorojny even went further in his post, announcing changes that will come after the above list has been completed:
- A PvP festival that is meant to highlight both competitive game modes
- The profession Jeweler to 500
- Point allocation in World vs World in an 8-hour interval to make the mode fairer
Is the shift in communication too late?
Criticism of Communication: As nice as the list looks for many players, the developers also face a lot of criticism. It mainly concerns the late shift in communication policy.
Players are wondering why there wasn’t open communication earlier and whether it took layoffs for Guild Wars 2 to develop positively again.
The long silence and ignorance have already led to players turning their backs on the MMORPG. While ArenaNet is currently trying to win these players back, they will likely only be convinced by new content.
