Guild Wars 2 is planning many free releases in the coming months instead of a major expansion. In an interview with PCGamesN, Game Director Mike Zadorojny revealed how the teams are structured and what they are currently working on.
What has changed with the teams? For the upcoming Living World Season 5, ArenaNet has created 4 different teams focused on new content.
This is intended to ensure maximum flexibility and faster content releases. As Mike already disclosed in the interview, the developers plan to release exciting content every month.
What are the four teams currently working on? The focus of the content teams is on the upcoming Icebrood Saga. Accordingly, the first three teams are working on the following content:
- Prologue Episode, set to be released on September 17
- Episode 1, which is expected to be released in 2019
- Episode 2
The fourth team, however, is working on content that Mike does not want to reveal yet.
Additionally, the Random Content Team (RCT), which is responsible for festivals like Dragon Bash or Roller Beetle Racing, has been further strengthened with additional staff, allowing it to create more content independently.
Replayability is the focus
How will the content be released? In the interview, Mike Z. also revealed that the developers have learned a lot about content releases during the last season of the Living World:
Since the beginning of the year, we have had a much better understanding of what we can release and how often. That’s what we want to focus on strongly now.
New content is therefore intended to come more frequently and regularly. Between episodes, there will be additional updates that are not filler episodes but will bring their own content.
Furthermore, no innovations will be saved for larger updates or expansions:
We are working on larger projects and are able to release them when they are ready. We do not have to hold them back like we would with a bundled expansion.
How are the contents structured in the future? Among the contents that will not be saved, was also the Chef at level 500, which was released in August. But also the Build Templates, which are expected to come soon, or possible Elite Specializations or mounts are included.
Moreover, innovations in Guild Wars 2 are expected to focus on being repeatable and providing incentives for replaying.
These innovations will also include Assault missions, which are intended to serve as a stepping stone for entering raids.
Return of Season 1 of the Living World unlikely
What about the return of old content? Old content and assets are expected to be reused more frequently in Guild Wars 2. In this context, the first season of the Living World was also discussed.
However, a return of this content seems unlikely:
Due to the way we built the content – it was like “Fire and Forget” – this means that one team released content and the next came and just overwrote the changes [..].
If we simply bring it back, newer players have something new, but older players just say “okay, there’s nostalgia” [..].If we bring it back, then it has to be adjusted and be something significant.
What about guilds? In the interview, it was also discussed about guild content. Mike emphasized that guilds will still receive decorations, but the focus in the last season was not on this player group.
However, they are working on finding ways to create new content for guilds.
What information did Mike Z. provide? Currently, a small passage of the interview is generating discussion in the community. Mike states:
The skill difference between average and hardcore players is extreme. We are talking about ten times the damage.
This large difference is also the reason why some players find the story content too difficult while others find it too easy.
Players often wonder what they can do in the endgame of Guild Wars 2. We present eight possible activities in this article:
