OK, so we all know one thing. Guild Wars will shutdown at some point in time. Might be ten years from now ,might be tonight. Nobody knows ,probably not even Arena Net at this point. It is fun to speculate on such things though. I believe that the future of Guild Wars will depend on how well GW2 does. If it is a big hit, GW1 is sure to have a quick death. My guess would be 1-2 years after GW2 release. But it's not a sure thing that GW2 will be a hit. Remember Asheron's call 1 and 2 ? Number 2 was a failure and number one is still going. I'm sure A net will make sure they have another money maker before they ditch what thay got now. If GW2 fails thay could always make a few more bucks off of the original by more content.
So when the sad day comes when the servers do close, I have wondered this. Is there any way they could let people download the whole games data base and continue to play it offline as a single player RPG??? I know it would be kinda lame, but it could also be kinda fun. Maybee even add some multiplayer LAN capabilities. Just a thought.
OK, so we all know one thing. Guild Wars will shutdown at some point in time. Might be ten years from now ,might be tonight. Nobody knows ,probably not even Arena Net at this point. It is fun to speculate on such things though. I believe that the future of Guild Wars will depend on how well GW2 does. If it is a big hit, GW1 is sure to have a quick death. My guess would be 1-2 years after GW2 release. But it's not a sure thing that GW2 will be a hit. Remember Asheron's call 1 and 2 ? Number 2 was a failure and number one is still going. I'm sure A net will make sure they have another money maker before they ditch what thay got now. If GW2 fails thay could always make a few more bucks off of the original by more content.
So when the sad day comes when the servers do close, I have wondered this. Is there any way they could let people download the whole games data base and continue to play it offline as a single player RPG??? I know it would be kinda lame, but it could also be kinda fun. Maybee even add some multiplayer LAN capabilities. Just a thought.
Who knows, maybe ArenaNet will add some functionality for us to host our own servers or something of the sort before they shut it down. It has sold very well so I doubt they'd let it die that easily.
Originally posted by Lydon Who knows, maybe ArenaNet will add some functionality for us to host our own servers or something of the sort before they shut it down. It has sold very well so I doubt they'd let it die that easily.
Servers hosted by yourself with the ability to change how the different skills work would be of such awesomeness that it's hardly true. I can already feel how a server where the skills were balanced nicely was created... And one with horribly unbalanced skills for PvE. I would play it.
GW 1 will continue to be around for one main reason: Hall of Monuments. Once people see how their new GW2 characters will be improved by advancing their GW 1 characters through the Hall of Monuments, by achieving titles, weapons and armor, people will be palying both: when you get bored with one, you can play the other.
My fear is that GW 2 will be a bigger grind than EoTN is. If that's the case, I'll spend more time in GW 1.
It is interesting to me that when Guild Wars first came out it was said to be less of a grindfest than most other MMOs. At that point in time this was true. You could level a toon to max level and get max level equipment with realatively little time spent. You could also PvP right out of the box. Very little grinding, alot of fun. This became even more true with the release of Factions. You could then hit level twenty in record time.
Doing quests and killing monsters to gain experience/levels some how started to be referred to as grinding in the MMO community. And Guild Wars didnt require very much of this so it was considered to be a game without the grind.
This however is no longer the case. Guild Wars is now the ultimate grind fest. As most of us long time players have already completed all the campaingns and most of the PvE content there is little left to do. In most games you try to gain high level items to show yourself to be a dedicated , high level player of the game. This is not possible in Guild Wars as all items of max level can be easily obtained, hell, you can just buy em if you want to. So, all that leaves us to do is try to obtain titles to show how great we are. Title hunting in guild wars is the absolute biggest grindfest in MMO history. Spend 10,000 minutes drunk, no thnx. Identify thousands of gold items, nah. Open hundreds of chests to get nothing, no way.
At least when your grinding for items or levels in other games you are seeing progressive content as you go. So its not really a grind, its more of a progression. Doing the same dumb stuff ovevr and over hundreds of times to get a title, now thats grinding.
I love Guild Wars, Its a great game. However, the reason I quit playing on a regular basis is because the game lacks progression. I had a blast, and then I just hit a wall. Nothing to do. And I'll be damned if Im gunna eat 50,000 candy canes to get some BS title.
I dont think we have to worry about GW2 being more of a grind fest than GW1. My god, how could it be ??
Oh can you please link me any Info saying the devs will continue to add, dungeons, new skills, armor/weapons and quests to the game? seriously I think my post is valid.
what's going to happen to Guild Wars after the expansion comes out now that Guild Wars 2 is coming?
Jeff Strain: We'll continue to support it with live content, we'll continue to have holiday events and support the tournament infrastructure of the game.
It's obviously very much in our best interests to keep Guild Wars players happy, because we think most of those Guild Wars players will be Guild Wars 2 players. Between now and the release of Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars will be fully supported by us as a development team.
The other important point to make is that nobody has to worry about what's going to happen to the Guild Wars servers or Guild Wars 1 after Guild Wars 2 ships. As long as there are people playing and enjoying Guild Wars 1, we'll continue to run the servers and support the game.
This however is no longer the case. Guild Wars is now the ultimate grind fest. As most of us long time players have already completed all the campaingns and most of the PvE content there is little left to do. In most games you try to gain high level items to show yourself to be a dedicated , high level player of the game. This is not possible in Guild Wars as all items of max level can be easily obtained, hell, you can just buy em if you want to. So, all that leaves us to do is try to obtain titles to show how great we are. Title hunting in guild wars is the absolute biggest grindfest in MMO history. Spend 10,000 minutes drunk, no thnx. Identify thousands of gold items, nah. Open hundreds of chests to get nothing, no way.
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
uumm if you need your GW fix so bad just keep playing 1 and then play 2 when its out...theres a good chance itll be better anyways (game sequals often work that way). And if its not neccesarily better it will at least be fresh : )
This however is no longer the case. Guild Wars is now the ultimate grind fest. As most of us long time players have already completed all the campaingns and most of the PvE content there is little left to do. In most games you try to gain high level items to show yourself to be a dedicated , high level player of the game. This is not possible in Guild Wars as all items of max level can be easily obtained, hell, you can just buy em if you want to. So, all that leaves us to do is try to obtain titles to show how great we are. Title hunting in guild wars is the absolute biggest grindfest in MMO history. Spend 10,000 minutes drunk, no thnx. Identify thousands of gold items, nah. Open hundreds of chests to get nothing, no way.
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
I beg to differ. Look at any of the title tracks since Nightfall came out: Sunspear, Lightbringer, Vanguard, Asura, Dwarven, Norn, Kurzick and Luxon. Each of these title tracks offers rewards in the form of skills that invariably make your character more powerful: some of these skills are absolutely necessary in certain dungoens in EoTN (LoD, for one). The higher your rank in these tracks, the more powerful you become via these skills.
My very first ranger, which I created in July of '05 when I first joined this game, has 2.5 million xp so I've played him a lot over the years. To obtain the rank of Undercover Agent (40,000 Vanguard points) in the Vanguard title track - at the current pace of progression - will require farming the same Vanguard missions over and over again at least 4 more times. That's if I want my Vanguard Assassin Support to produce a lvl 18 Assassin. And I've already run through 2 complete hero books and 2 partials just for Vanguard.
If progression in any of the title tracks were XP, this game would be at the top of the list of biggest grinders ever made.
Grinding has indeed replaced progression as a way to take people's minds off the fact that the devs can't produce new content quickly enough. Title tracks were added to keep people busy between campaigns. EoTN's grind was added to keep people busy until GW2 comes out. Nothing wrong with that, just sick and tired of grinding.
BTW, does anyone even go to DoA or Urgoz's Warren anymore? Think I'll check in and report back with a population report.
I beg to differ. Look at any of the title tracks since Nightfall came out: Sunspear, Lightbringer, Vanguard, Asura, Dwarven, Norn, Kurzick and Luxon. Each of these title tracks offers rewards in the form of skills that invariably make your character more powerful: some of these skills are absolutely necessary in certain dungoens in EoTN (LoD, for one). The higher your rank in these tracks, the more powerful you become via these skills.
I remember when they released the title system first, they assured us that, titles won't give any advantage in any form. I was actually shocked that titles were giving (however small) advantage over other players. Titles aren't just "cosmetic" anymore.
The arguement "If you don't want to, just don't do it, no body is forcing you" is irrelevent if the said grind/action is the only way to advance your character further. You are playing this game to advance your character (and have fun while, or after you do that).
Honestly, I have no trust left for Arena.Net after the GW:EN thingy. They just did everything they said that they would never do with that expension/time period.
"I remember when they released the title system first, they assured us that, titles won't give any advantage in any form. I was actually shocked that titles were giving (however small) advantage over other players. Titles aren't just "cosmetic" anymore."
Case in point: Rank 5 Vanguard title track: +7 armor against Charr, 60% more adrenaline when attacking Charr, +2 energy when Charr dies.
Now, team with a PuG of players who have have lesser ranks or none at all in that title track. You gonna want to team with them, especially in hard mode?
Like so much the devs have done to this game, they simply widened the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", and the only way to be a "have" is to grind your a$$ off for it.
BTW, you don't hear or read the devs talking so much about a "grind-free game" anymore. This game used to be promoted as the only game where "player skill, not time spent grinding" made a difference to the outcome. They don't say that anymore, and haven't since Nightfall was released.
P.S. I would like to see one thing implemented in GW2 if they're going to go with a bunch of these "title tracks" in that game: the ability to convert XP to reputation or even gold. You shouldn't have to grind for XP, then also grind for reputation, gold, or anything else of any value. You're already earning XP, so why shouldn't that count to anything you'd like to use it on?
With 2.5 million XP on my ranger (and a bunch of other characters with 1.5 million + XP), I feel like I've already supported this game (all 3 really, plus EoTN) with enough of my time grinding. I would gladly trade some of that worthless, accrued XP I've gained over the years for something of value that would make my character better. Instead, unfortunately, A-Net's release of EoTN basically told me all my time playing the other three meant virtually nothing, and that if I want anything to count on new characters in GW2, I should count on more rep farming and more grinding, just more and more and more. New players to GW and EoTN probably don't see the grind we veterans do. But for those of us who've been around for awhile, EoTN represented little more than a slap in the face and a decree to "go farm some more!"
Bah! Sick of it. If I even get a whiff that GW2 is what GW1 has become, I'lll pass.
This however is no longer the case. Guild Wars is now the ultimate grind fest. As most of us long time players have already completed all the campaingns and most of the PvE content there is little left to do. In most games you try to gain high level items to show yourself to be a dedicated , high level player of the game. This is not possible in Guild Wars as all items of max level can be easily obtained, hell, you can just buy em if you want to. So, all that leaves us to do is try to obtain titles to show how great we are. Title hunting in guild wars is the absolute biggest grindfest in MMO history. Spend 10,000 minutes drunk, no thnx. Identify thousands of gold items, nah. Open hundreds of chests to get nothing, no way.
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
I beg to differ. Look at any of the title tracks since Nightfall came out: Sunspear, Lightbringer, Vanguard, Asura, Dwarven, Norn, Kurzick and Luxon. Each of these title tracks offers rewards in the form of skills that invariably make your character more powerful: some of these skills are absolutely necessary in certain dungoens in EoTN (LoD, for one). The higher your rank in these tracks, the more powerful you become via these skills.
My very first ranger, which I created in July of '05 when I first joined this game, has 2.5 million xp so I've played him a lot over the years. To obtain the rank of Undercover Agent (40,000 Vanguard points) in the Vanguard title track - at the current pace of progression - will require farming the same Vanguard missions over and over again at least 4 more times. That's if I want my Vanguard Assassin Support to produce a lvl 18 Assassin. And I've already run through 2 complete hero books and 2 partials just for Vanguard.
If progression in any of the title tracks were XP, this game would be at the top of the list of biggest grinders ever made.
Grinding has indeed replaced progression as a way to take people's minds off the fact that the devs can't produce new content quickly enough. Title tracks were added to keep people busy between campaigns. EoTN's grind was added to keep people busy until GW2 comes out. Nothing wrong with that, just sick and tired of grinding.
BTW, does anyone even go to DoA or Urgoz's Warren anymore? Think I'll check in and report back with a population report.
I'll give you that one...but one has to remember that the entire game does not revolve around Eye of the North dungeons. I will in no way attempt to say that one does not need to grind for Sunspear or Lightbringer points under certain circumstances, but it is not necessary to experience the game in the larger sense. Unlike a game such as WoW, you aren't forced to level in order to finish the game.
As far as title grind being necessary for PvE skills(Kurzick/Sunspear/lightbringer), they modded that a few months ago by making the PvE-only skills very useable even at rank one. Plus, the split between PvE/PvP skill balances allowed them to modify skills on the PvE side so you don't really need the "grind skills" anymore. Hell, they just made Visions of Regret the Mesmer's new SS. Add to this the fact they said HoM rewards will not give gameplay advantages in GW2, and no, grind is not necessary.
I think GW will be around for a while. It has a thriving community. Think about if you are coming into the game now, how long you would be playing all three games, plus EotN, going through all the missions and quests, capping elites, hunting greens, vanquishing areas, doing elite missions,then doing it all in Hard Mode. There are a lot of people still buying the game and getting started. Those servers aren't going anywhere. Hell, people still buy Diablo 2.
Comments
OK, so we all know one thing. Guild Wars will shutdown at some point in time. Might be ten years from now ,might be tonight. Nobody knows ,probably not even Arena Net at this point. It is fun to speculate on such things though. I believe that the future of Guild Wars will depend on how well GW2 does. If it is a big hit, GW1 is sure to have a quick death. My guess would be 1-2 years after GW2 release. But it's not a sure thing that GW2 will be a hit. Remember Asheron's call 1 and 2 ? Number 2 was a failure and number one is still going. I'm sure A net will make sure they have another money maker before they ditch what thay got now. If GW2 fails thay could always make a few more bucks off of the original by more content.
So when the sad day comes when the servers do close, I have wondered this. Is there any way they could let people download the whole games data base and continue to play it offline as a single player RPG??? I know it would be kinda lame, but it could also be kinda fun. Maybee even add some multiplayer LAN capabilities. Just a thought.
Who knows, maybe ArenaNet will add some functionality for us to host our own servers or something of the sort before they shut it down. It has sold very well so I doubt they'd let it die that easily.
Servers hosted by yourself with the ability to change how the different skills work would be of such awesomeness that it's hardly true. I can already feel how a server where the skills were balanced nicely was created... And one with horribly unbalanced skills for PvE. I would play it.
GW 1 will continue to be around for one main reason: Hall of Monuments. Once people see how their new GW2 characters will be improved by advancing their GW 1 characters through the Hall of Monuments, by achieving titles, weapons and armor, people will be palying both: when you get bored with one, you can play the other.
My fear is that GW 2 will be a bigger grind than EoTN is. If that's the case, I'll spend more time in GW 1.
It is interesting to me that when Guild Wars first came out it was said to be less of a grindfest than most other MMOs. At that point in time this was true. You could level a toon to max level and get max level equipment with realatively little time spent. You could also PvP right out of the box. Very little grinding, alot of fun. This became even more true with the release of Factions. You could then hit level twenty in record time.
Doing quests and killing monsters to gain experience/levels some how started to be referred to as grinding in the MMO community. And Guild Wars didnt require very much of this so it was considered to be a game without the grind.
This however is no longer the case. Guild Wars is now the ultimate grind fest. As most of us long time players have already completed all the campaingns and most of the PvE content there is little left to do. In most games you try to gain high level items to show yourself to be a dedicated , high level player of the game. This is not possible in Guild Wars as all items of max level can be easily obtained, hell, you can just buy em if you want to. So, all that leaves us to do is try to obtain titles to show how great we are. Title hunting in guild wars is the absolute biggest grindfest in MMO history. Spend 10,000 minutes drunk, no thnx. Identify thousands of gold items, nah. Open hundreds of chests to get nothing, no way.
At least when your grinding for items or levels in other games you are seeing progressive content as you go. So its not really a grind, its more of a progression. Doing the same dumb stuff ovevr and over hundreds of times to get a title, now thats grinding.
I love Guild Wars, Its a great game. However, the reason I quit playing on a regular basis is because the game lacks progression. I had a blast, and then I just hit a wall. Nothing to do. And I'll be damned if Im gunna eat 50,000 candy canes to get some BS title.
I dont think we have to worry about GW2 being more of a grind fest than GW1. My god, how could it be ??
if it helps
www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php
what's going to happen to Guild Wars after the expansion comes out now that Guild Wars 2 is coming?
Jeff Strain: We'll continue to support it with live content, we'll continue to have holiday events and support the tournament infrastructure of the game.
It's obviously very much in our best interests to keep Guild Wars players happy, because we think most of those Guild Wars players will be Guild Wars 2 players. Between now and the release of Guild Wars 2, Guild Wars will be fully supported by us as a development team.
The other important point to make is that nobody has to worry about what's going to happen to the Guild Wars servers or Guild Wars 1 after Guild Wars 2 ships. As long as there are people playing and enjoying Guild Wars 1, we'll continue to run the servers and support the game.
EQ2 fan sites
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
uumm if you need your GW fix so bad just keep playing 1 and then play 2 when its out...theres a good chance itll be better anyways (game sequals often work that way). And if its not neccesarily better it will at least be fresh : )
playing: darkfall
waiting: earthrise
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
I beg to differ. Look at any of the title tracks since Nightfall came out: Sunspear, Lightbringer, Vanguard, Asura, Dwarven, Norn, Kurzick and Luxon. Each of these title tracks offers rewards in the form of skills that invariably make your character more powerful: some of these skills are absolutely necessary in certain dungoens in EoTN (LoD, for one). The higher your rank in these tracks, the more powerful you become via these skills.
My very first ranger, which I created in July of '05 when I first joined this game, has 2.5 million xp so I've played him a lot over the years. To obtain the rank of Undercover Agent (40,000 Vanguard points) in the Vanguard title track - at the current pace of progression - will require farming the same Vanguard missions over and over again at least 4 more times. That's if I want my Vanguard Assassin Support to produce a lvl 18 Assassin. And I've already run through 2 complete hero books and 2 partials just for Vanguard.
If progression in any of the title tracks were XP, this game would be at the top of the list of biggest grinders ever made.
Grinding has indeed replaced progression as a way to take people's minds off the fact that the devs can't produce new content quickly enough. Title tracks were added to keep people busy between campaigns. EoTN's grind was added to keep people busy until GW2 comes out. Nothing wrong with that, just sick and tired of grinding.
BTW, does anyone even go to DoA or Urgoz's Warren anymore? Think I'll check in and report back with a population report.
I remember when they released the title system first, they assured us that, titles won't give any advantage in any form. I was actually shocked that titles were giving (however small) advantage over other players. Titles aren't just "cosmetic" anymore.
The arguement "If you don't want to, just don't do it, no body is forcing you" is irrelevent if the said grind/action is the only way to advance your character further. You are playing this game to advance your character (and have fun while, or after you do that).
Honestly, I have no trust left for Arena.Net after the GW:EN thingy. They just did everything they said that they would never do with that expension/time period.
"I remember when they released the title system first, they assured us that, titles won't give any advantage in any form. I was actually shocked that titles were giving (however small) advantage over other players. Titles aren't just "cosmetic" anymore."
Case in point: Rank 5 Vanguard title track: +7 armor against Charr, 60% more adrenaline when attacking Charr, +2 energy when Charr dies.
Now, team with a PuG of players who have have lesser ranks or none at all in that title track. You gonna want to team with them, especially in hard mode?
Like so much the devs have done to this game, they simply widened the gap between the "haves" and the "have nots", and the only way to be a "have" is to grind your a$$ off for it.
BTW, you don't hear or read the devs talking so much about a "grind-free game" anymore. This game used to be promoted as the only game where "player skill, not time spent grinding" made a difference to the outcome. They don't say that anymore, and haven't since Nightfall was released.
P.S. I would like to see one thing implemented in GW2 if they're going to go with a bunch of these "title tracks" in that game: the ability to convert XP to reputation or even gold. You shouldn't have to grind for XP, then also grind for reputation, gold, or anything else of any value. You're already earning XP, so why shouldn't that count to anything you'd like to use it on?
With 2.5 million XP on my ranger (and a bunch of other characters with 1.5 million + XP), I feel like I've already supported this game (all 3 really, plus EoTN) with enough of my time grinding. I would gladly trade some of that worthless, accrued XP I've gained over the years for something of value that would make my character better. Instead, unfortunately, A-Net's release of EoTN basically told me all my time playing the other three meant virtually nothing, and that if I want anything to count on new characters in GW2, I should count on more rep farming and more grinding, just more and more and more. New players to GW and EoTN probably don't see the grind we veterans do. But for those of us who've been around for awhile, EoTN represented little more than a slap in the face and a decree to "go farm some more!"
Bah! Sick of it. If I even get a whiff that GW2 is what GW1 has become, I'lll pass.
Guild Wars is no longer a grindfest simply because of titles. Titles are a small part of the game which you have the CHOICE of persuing or not. No one is forcing you to obtain them.
A game which is a grindfest is one which forces you to grind in order to progress - usually in the form of levels, reputation points etc. Titles are for cosmetic reasons and bragging rights only. If you cannot play a game simply for the fun of playing it and feel the need for "bigger and better things," it's not the game's fault.
I beg to differ. Look at any of the title tracks since Nightfall came out: Sunspear, Lightbringer, Vanguard, Asura, Dwarven, Norn, Kurzick and Luxon. Each of these title tracks offers rewards in the form of skills that invariably make your character more powerful: some of these skills are absolutely necessary in certain dungoens in EoTN (LoD, for one). The higher your rank in these tracks, the more powerful you become via these skills.
My very first ranger, which I created in July of '05 when I first joined this game, has 2.5 million xp so I've played him a lot over the years. To obtain the rank of Undercover Agent (40,000 Vanguard points) in the Vanguard title track - at the current pace of progression - will require farming the same Vanguard missions over and over again at least 4 more times. That's if I want my Vanguard Assassin Support to produce a lvl 18 Assassin. And I've already run through 2 complete hero books and 2 partials just for Vanguard.
If progression in any of the title tracks were XP, this game would be at the top of the list of biggest grinders ever made.
Grinding has indeed replaced progression as a way to take people's minds off the fact that the devs can't produce new content quickly enough. Title tracks were added to keep people busy between campaigns. EoTN's grind was added to keep people busy until GW2 comes out. Nothing wrong with that, just sick and tired of grinding.
BTW, does anyone even go to DoA or Urgoz's Warren anymore? Think I'll check in and report back with a population report.
I'll give you that one...but one has to remember that the entire game does not revolve around Eye of the North dungeons. I will in no way attempt to say that one does not need to grind for Sunspear or Lightbringer points under certain circumstances, but it is not necessary to experience the game in the larger sense. Unlike a game such as WoW, you aren't forced to level in order to finish the game.
As far as title grind being necessary for PvE skills(Kurzick/Sunspear/lightbringer), they modded that a few months ago by making the PvE-only skills very useable even at rank one. Plus, the split between PvE/PvP skill balances allowed them to modify skills on the PvE side so you don't really need the "grind skills" anymore. Hell, they just made Visions of Regret the Mesmer's new SS. Add to this the fact they said HoM rewards will not give gameplay advantages in GW2, and no, grind is not necessary.
I think GW will be around for a while. It has a thriving community. Think about if you are coming into the game now, how long you would be playing all three games, plus EotN, going through all the missions and quests, capping elites, hunting greens, vanquishing areas, doing elite missions,then doing it all in Hard Mode. There are a lot of people still buying the game and getting started. Those servers aren't going anywhere. Hell, people still buy Diablo 2.