The MMORPG Guild Wars 2 has released plans for the first quarter of 2020. Despite many updates, many players are dissatisfied with the roadmap because some popular game modes are not mentioned.
What is in the roadmap? For the first quarter of 2020, Guild Wars 2 has some plans:
- As early as January, the second episode of the Icebrood Saga is set to follow. It is named “Shadows in the Ice”.
- The annual Lunar New Year event is returning, but with new content and rewards: a weapon set and a new armor piece.
- For PvP players, the Swiss tournament system is to be implemented. This was already part of the roadmap announced in April 2019. Also, a major balance patch is on the way.
- For WvW players, there will be a balance update for the Warclaw.
A small highlight is expected to be the new content “Visions of the Past”, which will also be introduced in the first quarter. In this, we can follow missions from the past from the perspective of Ryland Steelcatcher, a Charr, who had a significant role in the prologue to the Icebrood Saga.
ArenaNet has set high expectations for the early months of 2020 and seems to keep the promise that there will be a highlight every month.
Why are players still dissatisfied? Despite these interesting updates, some players are disappointed with the roadmap. They miss many contents, promised updates, and many are not thrilled with the “Visions of the Past”.
However, it also reflects the disappointment over a whole year 2019 from the fans, which turned out differently than many players had thought at the beginning of 2019. Issues such as the layoffs at ArenaNet and the content drought in summer have left their mark.
We have already taken a detailed look at the year 2019 here:
Many promises, few actions from the developers
What is missing for players in the roadmap? Fans of Guild Wars 2 miss some game contents and updates, including:
- New raids or fractals
- A “real” update for PvP or WvW
- The alliance update announced in February 2018
- New contents that would otherwise have been saved for an expansion
Especially the last two points regarding alliance update and expansion contents are critical. Both were promises from ArenaNet that have not yet been fulfilled.
Players have been waiting for the alliance update for almost 2 years now. The current innovations are far from expansion contents like gliding, mounts, or elite specializations. It now looks like there will be no changes in the coming three months.
What is wrong with instanced content? The absence of new instances in the form of raids or fractals has already led many “hardcore guilds” to leave Guild Wars 2. The time gaps are getting longer:
The lack of instanced content beyond simple attack missions in the coming three months makes many players sad:
- Rivelon: “Press F for Fractals/Raids.”
- Zosin: “Raids and fractals are dead.”
- Berlusinni: “I welcome the roadmap, but the new content is just more story in addition to the Living World, which is already the focus. Meanwhile, we hear nothing about fractals or raids; we don’t even know if there are still developers for them.”
Not all players are dissatisfied
What do players praise about the roadmap? Guild Wars 2 has not provided a real preview of upcoming updates that are more than two weeks away since its release in 2012. Many players are therefore happy that there is a roadmap at all.
Moreover, the rapid release of the second episode of the Icebrood Saga is praised. The prologue was released in September, the first episode in November, and it continues in January. This rhythm pleases many players.
PvP players are also looking forward to the upcoming balance patch, which according to Game Designer Cal Cohen, will make many significant changes and align the skills and traits of the classes.
What do you think about the roadmap? Is the criticism justified, or do the contents convince you?
The greatest praise in GW2 surprisingly went to a patch that brought only a little content
