On May 28, Guild Wars 2 wants to introduce new “Quality of Life” changes to the game. These changes are part of a variety of adjustments that have already been made in recent months. Our author Alexander Leitsch finds the tackling of old systems very positive.
Guild Wars 2 celebrates its seventh birthday in August. Over time, games become outdated, and you can see that with this MMORPG as well. However, since April 2018, the developers have been revising many old systems. And I really like that.
Next Tuesday, the process is set to continue. The latest change seems quite unspectacular.
What can we expect in the upcoming patch? For the patch on May 28, small adjustments to gear with selectable attributes are planned.
When I farmed Ascended jewelry using the currency Winterberries, that gear had specific values to choose from. These were previously restricted to the expansion Heart of Thorns.
But now everything will be standardized. No matter where the gear I farmed comes from, the selectable values will adapt to the status of my account. If I only owned Path of Fire, I could only use those values and those of the base game. Of course, I own all expansions and can access all values accordingly.
However, there are three small exceptions:
- Crafted backpieces
- Armor and weapon rewards from elite specialization collections
- Attribute combinations related to raids and fractals
So far, so unspectacular. However, when you look at this change in connection with the many other adjustments, a complete picture is slowly emerging.
Guild Wars 2 wants to become more beginner-friendly, clearer, and generally more understandable. And with the latest patches, they are succeeding in that.
Less clutter in the inventory, underwater combat, and standardization
Where do the QoL changes begin? ArenaNet was known for a long time for “making things worse” in Guild Wars 2. With the revamp in August 2014, they started improving the entry into the game.
The developers streamlined the system at the beginning and simply removed content like the downstate or elite skills, only to unlock them again at a later level.
While beginners were no longer overwhelmed by content, they were suddenly surprised by mechanics that simply didn’t exist at the beginning. I spent many hours explaining to people what exactly the downstate is and when they would receive skills for it.
Some changes, such as those to traits, I have always viewed critically. To be honest, I didn’t expect ArenaNet to turn things around and implement meaningful revisions.
However, since 2018, everything has changed.
Quality of Life in 2018: Almost all innovations regarding game systems in 2018 were celebrated enthusiastically by players. It all started with the glyph system in April. This created a unified system for gathering tools with bonus effects for the first time, something I had already demanded in a podcast.
Following this was a major overhaul of underwater combat, the return of the thought-to-be-dead Festival of the Four Winds, an expansion of the wardrobe, and a revamp of runes and sigils.
I could hardly believe my luck, as ArenaNet was actually tackling many things I never thought would happen.
Quality of Life in 2019: This year there were even innovations and announcements I never expected. The adjustments to the loot system from March, which ensure that the inventory is no longer cluttered with gear, was already a significant bonus.
However, the developers captured my heart with the announcement of the build save system. This feature is not yet in the game but has been hotly debated since its release in 2012.
A long way, but a good one
Why QoL changes are important: I am well aware that the listed changes do not win new players and that only a few veterans will cheerfully return to the MMORPG because of them.
Why have items such as pots and toys not been in the wardrobe for years? Why has underwater combat been so strictly ignored? These and many other questions were repeatedly raised by players.
If you want to bind players to a game long-term, it must also have some comfort functions and, above all, a unified system. And that is exactly what Guild Wars 2 has lacked for many years.
The right path: ArenaNet has taken the right path for me. Regular story episodes like now the Eternal War, additional content like fractals and raids, regular balance patches, and many adjustments to old systems.
In the first 5 months alone, there were 9 major updates for Guild Wars 2, including the mount Warclaw for WvW. But the journey is far from over. Important updates like the alliance system or build templates are still missing.
However, if ArenaNet continues to stay on track, then Guild Wars 2 has a long future ahead of it for me, especially because old systems are constantly being revised.
If you want to see something new in Guild Wars 2, you should definitely play the new map:
