The developers of Guild Wars 2 want to win back old players with a new initiative. This involves bringing them back to existing content. However, the community particularly criticizes the lack of insight into the future.
This is what ArenaNet plans: In the forum, community manager Rubi Bayer announced that the studio will focus on returning players over the next five weeks.
The goal is to engage players who find it difficult to return to the MMORPG for Guild Wars 2. Members of the partner program will also be involved as support.
What might such content look like? Concrete content has not yet been shared in the forum post. However, it seems that each week will focus on a different episode of the Living World Season 4.
Guides and articles are to be published that include tips on general content like mounts.
Meanwhile, ArenaNet’s partners will stream the episodes throughout the week and try to provide viewers with tips.
Update: Apparently, each week the respective episodes of the Living World (in the first week “Daybreak”) will be offered for free again. Additionally, useful links were shared in a blog post.
Construction sites everywhere
This is how players are reacting: Many players appreciate ArenaNet’s basic idea and welcome the goal of bringing back more active players for Guild Wars 2.
However, many are bothered by both the manner and timing of the action. Major criticisms focus on the lack of content, missing roadmaps, and the absence of tips in the game itself.
Poor tutorial: For example, the current top comment on Reddit points out that the in-game tutorial of Guild Wars 2 fails to convey many mechanics.
As a result, players lack knowledge about defiance bars or dodge rolls, which are essential for having fun in the MMORPG.
Newcomers are often overwhelmed by the open world and the lack of clear tasks. Although there was a revamp of the starting experience in 2014, improvements should be made in this area.
Lack of content: The second major criticism is the absence of new content. Players complain that it is difficult to gain attention for their product when important innovations are lacking.
These include, for example, the overhauls of World versus World. Launching this update or revising a tutorial could attract new players.
The lack of a roadmap that returning players or players in general can rely on is also continually mentioned.
Poor decisions in the past: The marketing and community team at ArenaNet currently has a poor reputation.
This is due to many poor decisions in the past that are still held against them today.
For instance, the current campaign for “Friend/Ships” was not concluded, there was a small debacle in the collaboration with Bubble Tea, and there were also several discussions regarding mount skins.
How to actually win back players
Aside from the criticisms, players also express further suggestions to engage veterans and make the game appealing to returners.
Clear line and communication: As the most important point, players hope for open communication and a clear direction. In recent days, the developers have already provided insights behind the scenes of the API or revealed in advance changes to the loot system.
This is seen as a good start by many, but still just a start. A roadmap for 2019 and an overview of the direction the game should take is seen as the next step by many.
A better timing: At present, the initiative to bring players back comes at a poor time. Due to the layoffs of more than 100 employees, many players are uncertain about the future of Guild Wars 2.
Moreover, the last major patch for the game was at the beginning of January. The initiative for 5 weeks already indicates that the earliest a new episode of the Living World can be expected is the end of April.
Thus, there are no new features for veterans, who should entice new players to the game and answer questions.
Information for German Guild Wars 2 returnees
Where can I find help as a returnee? The German community Guildnews (for which the author also works) is using the initiative to give newcomers and returnees a good overview.
They have created a plan on their website Guildnews.de with guides, events, livestreams, and beginner question rounds. You are warmly invited to participate in these.
Questions of all kinds: If you have any questions about Guild Wars 2, feel free to ask them in the comments at any time. We will be here on MeinMMO to assist you.
We have also wondered what types of players GW2 actually appeals to:
