Guild Wars is taking so long because they are making all the expansion packs at once.
This is not Guild Wars 1. This is not ArenaNet's first mmo. They no longer have to portray a name for themselves. This in now 2011 and businesses are more into making profits than ever.
It's only my Opinion, but I'm often right......The Original Guild Wars 2 will be short, more so for the hardcore fast levelers. You will find the next paid expansion in the stores within two weeks, then the third and the forth soon after. You will not save anything. After a year you will be scratching your head thinking " I just paid the same amount as if I paid for an mmo and all its monthly fees ".
My Grandma used to say :
Nothing is free !
If it looks to good, it probably is not !
I don't understand the problem.
A game that I want to play is going get expansions and this is supposed to bother me?
Also what's up with the nothing is free line? Guild Wars 2 will be 50-60 bucks retail so obviously it wont free.
Are you referring to the Not having to pay for a monthly subscription? If so I highly doubt they will make that many content packs available that GW2 would be as expensive as a P2p model.
Guild Wars is taking so long because they are making all the expansion packs at once.
GW2 is approaching 5 years in development. SWTOR is going to take 7 years once it's released. Are they doing the same as well? This hypothetical scenario is simply ridculous.
Originally posted by page
It's only my Opinion, but I'm often right......The Original Guild Wars 2 will be short, more so for the hardcore fast levelers. You will find the next paid expansion in the stores within two weeks, then the third and the forth soon after.
Consumers aren't stupid. Arenanet isn't either. If they release an incomplete game it will get nothing but bad press and feedback. The only people who will buy it are the die hard Arenanet fanboys. Everyone else will think it's crap and pass. It just takes a long time to a make quality MMORPG (see SWTOR). If they release expansions that offer very little content, then even the fans won't buy them because they will indeed feel "tricked".
Everything we know about what will be at launch is anything but short. Yeah it will be likely that you'll be paying for most of the content in GW2. And the best way to make profit is to make something consumers want to buy.
As a fan of subs....I could care less, and if I get a ton of content, I will be happy...So thanks for the good news!
If hypothetically ANet had monthly content updates for GW2 that you could or could purchase at your own leisure I would be F***ING ESTATIC. This would be an amazing concept. But if its anything like GW1's model I am thinking its going to be more like 1 maybe 2 per year. Either way GW2 from what I (for me, mine, my. singular person meaning me) know has enough content for a year at the least.
Playing: GW2 Waiting on: TESO Next Flop: Planetside 2 Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
I see a lot of " If GW2 is anything like GW1 then will have Expansions every six months to a year ".
Well,
This is not GW1. GW1 is GW1 not GW2, large business does not think that way. They don't always have to follow there original model. In fact often they have to be more impressive with an opening product to build a name for themselves. UNDERSTAND THIS, With the original GW1 they never knew what they were getting into, that was years ago. Developers did not know how much of a success there product was to be. It took all there time and effort to make the original model, only for expansions to be somewhat of an after thought.
Big Business spends a lot of time brain storming. CEO's, developing engineers, and marketing managers spend a lot of time working out profit, future profit and balancing of what the population will put up with.
How do I know this :
22 years as a supervisor in the largest CD and DVD manufacturing company. Sure I was a low level boss, but I sat in a lot of meetings along with watching some nasty tricks on both the public and employiees.....It was always a balancing act to play right on the line of profit, and what people would put up with.
Now, as stated in post # 33, It's not really all that much a bad thing. I'll be playing Guild Wars 2. I'm sure it will be a quality game. The good news is that you will have the game forever, and can be played over and over. Eventually for free depending on how you look at it.
JUST DON'T THINK YOU WILL BE GETTING A GREAT BARGAIN. This will not be the starving collage student's dream.
JUST DON'T THINK YOU WILL BE GETTING A GREAT BARGAIN.
Why not?
For the box price alone you are still getting a complete level 1-80 MMO which (by Arena Net's accounting) has more content than Guild Wars Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall/Eye of the North combined. Along with that they are dedicating a Live Team to work exclusively on free content updates (that will be seperate from the expansion development team). That sounds like a bargain to me.
Maybe Anet is also plotting to take over the world with all of their expansions?! Good thing I'm wearing my tinfoil hat!
I remember seeing/reading somewhere that they weren't going to follow the same method as GW1 with the expansions. It'd be normal for them to have ideas for content that they want to release after the initial release, or to take things out and implement them later on, but I really, really doubt that Anet will be like the COD franchise (that is, leaving things out of the game and releasing it later on as DLC, the sly dogs).
Also, I couldn't be bothered reading every one of the comments in this thread.
Its funny to see haters want to make expansions sound like a compulsory fee to play the game.
When it is the complete opposite. If subscription decides to charge $15 per major content update instead of a monthly fee, the game will be out of business.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
Its funny to see haters want to make expansions sound like a compulsory fee to play the game.
When it is the complete opposite. If subscription decides to charge $15 per major content update instead of a monthly fee, the game will be out of business.
Nah, but people would buy 1 or 2 of those updates a year, the best ones.
I just don't see it happening anyways, unless you don't buy lots of junk in the shop (which you can do in most P2P games as well) there is no way playing GW2 will be more expensive long term than a regular P2P game.
My prediction is that ArenaNet will always try to release a new expansion six months after the previous one. However, every single expansion will be delayed.
My prediction is that ArenaNet will always try to release a new expansion six months after the previous one. However, every single expansion will be delayed.
My prediction is that ArenaNet will always try to release a new expansion six months after the previous one. However, every single expansion will be delayed.
First, if you read the page I previously linked on GW: Utopia, you'll find that one of the reasons they were unhappy with the 6 month expansion model was because of all the things they wanted to do but were unable to fit into that time frame.
But, in fact, the restrictions of the every-six-months model meant the team found itself perpetually wistful over what didn't make it into the game
And secondly, Nightfall was exactly 6 months after Factions, April 28th, 2006 to October 27th, 2006. Factions, being the first expansion, was delayed (though they did release Sorrow's Furnace at 6 months to compensate), and EOTN was delayed because they scrapped Utopia, but Nightfall clearly wasn't.
You're free to predict whatever you want, but if you're basing your prediction on past history you're a little off.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
I think they will be a lot less eager to release huge expansions for many reasons, not least because they know that people like to spend money on vanity gear for their characters. When GW was first launched, they assumed they needed to create expansions in order to make money. I expect they will be dedicating a lot more resources to non-essential gameplay enhancement for small amounts of cash.
I'm also not sure they have a firm plan for how they want to handle integration of large chunks of new game areas. Treadmill games like WoW use a model that won't really fit GW2. The basic idea of expansions in those games is to create a new path for additional character advancement. If character advancement isn't a big deal, and every area of the game is designed to be equally fun regardless of level (the way Hard Mode in GW1 increases the playability of that game world), then introducing new game maps tends to spread out the player population. That might not be as much of a problem in GW2 as it is in GW1 or other games, but it's something they will want to plan for before committing resources to creating new continents.
I do expect to see dungeons released as DLC, which grant access to new gear skins and maybe new PVE elite skills. I know I'd probably pay 14.99 or w/e for a big dungeon crawl after I've run all the stuff that's in at release. Especially if I could pick up a spiffy new skill with some cool visuals. And the ability to segregate skills from the PVP sphere would prevent having to deal with balance issues there.
I'd also almost expect to see the release of perhaps a smaller game area as the starter area for a new playable race before seeing an entire continent. Seems like that would be easy enough to integrate into the primary game world.
More than any of that, though, I think we will see continuous creation of new DE popping up throughout the world. And perhaps recycling of old events to sort of make room.
TLDR; don't expect big expansions any time soon, but do look for DLC dungeons and keep an eye open for newly created DEs.
Charr: Outta my way. Human: What's your problem? Charr: Your thin skin.
more expansions=more content. i pray for an expansion pack every 6 months or so. i also preffer this kind of deal than paying every month for the same content and wait for an expansion every 1.5-2 years (which we will pay it ofc aswell).
Considering the average game DLC is around $15 and the average game expansion around $40, if they were to release a DLC every 1.5 months (which they stated DLC's will be part of their business model) and an expansion every 6 months we get:
(15*8)+(40*2) = $200 per year
Now, comparing that to your standard P2P game like WoW, where there is a monthly subscription fee of $15 and a yearly expansion cost of $40, we get:
(15*12)+(40*1) = $220 per year
As you can see, there would be very little price differences between both models and a 6 month time span would be a rather small time frame to develop a fully-fledged expansion pack. That prediction further seems unrealistic considering the time between each of Guild Wars 1's content updates.
It should also be taken into account that the development cycle time has also gone up in the industry since GW1 and given that they were struggling to fit most of the stuff in those expansions, I don't think they'll stick to same old "1 expansions every 6 months" unless they have some SERIOUS newly added manpower to back it up.
Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing.
Considering the average game DLC is around $15 and the average game expansion around $40, if they were to release a DLC every 1.5 months (which they stated DLC's will be part of their business model) and an expansion every 6 months we get:
(15*8)+(40*2) = $200 per year
Now, comparing that to your standard P2P game like WoW, where there is a monthly subscription fee of $15 and a yearly expansion cost of $40, we get:
(15*12)+(40*1) = $220 per year
As you can see, there would be very little price differences between both models and a 6 month time span would be a rather small time frame to develop a fully-fledged expansion pack. That prediction further seems unrealistic considering the time between each of Guild Wars 1's content updates.
Can you show me the link where any of the ArenaNet developers said that there will be DLCs in the cash shop or is this only a rumor spread in this forum? Because i follow all of Guild Wars 2 news in Guru and it was stated a lot of times by the developers that, when you buy the game, you buy the whole pack, cash shop is only for cosmetic, services (name change, etc...), extra storage and character slots. They've never said there will be mission packs, dlcs or whatever you want to name it. Also they've said that they are preparing free content updates to launch after release.
It seems to me that this thread is too much filled with false assumptions...
Also, the expansions will be really big, including new zones (crystal desert or new continents, i don't know) and a whole new storyline. I don't think we will see "expansions like crazy".
Guild Wars is taking so long because they are making all the expansion packs at once.
This is not Guild Wars 1. This is not ArenaNet's first mmo. They no longer have to portray a name for themselves. This in now 2011 and businesses are more into making profits than ever.
It's only my Opinion, but I'm often right......The Original Guild Wars 2 will be short, more so for the hardcore fast levelers. You will find the next paid expansion in the stores within two weeks, then the third and the forth soon after. You will not save anything. After a year you will be scratching your head thinking " I just paid the same amount as if I paid for an mmo and all its monthly fees ".
My Grandma used to say :
Nothing is free !
If it looks to good, it probably is not !
i'm trying to find the negative in all that.
see, at least then i know i'm paying for SOMETHING. and if it's good and keeps coming, i'm happy to pay for it. new events, new things? awesome! i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who seriously thinks more content is something they wouldn't want on a regular basis. you'd find a lot of people wishing it were free, but most people know that any game - even those you pay monthly fees for - will charge you for expansion packs. which, let's face it, usually offer something pretty good to be called an expansion pack. can't say gw1's expansion packs weren't worth getting.
i think you'll also be hard pressed to find someone who's planning on playing gw2 because it's "cheap". if gw2 was going to be a subscribed mmo, i think they'd have the same excitement as it does now. it's not the payment model that's got everyone drooling. it's the game itself.
for me, if they do an expansion every month that adds so much more to the experience, i'll pay it. and i won't be crying about it either. you have a think about subscription model games. when you reach mythical "endgame", what then? you spend a year or so running around the same dungeon collecting an armor set. and when you've done that? ummm. dailies? same quest over and over again.
for, like, a year.
at least.
so, i'm telling you if they're going to do what you say, then i'll be singing their praises for the rest of my life because that sounds like heaven to me. new things to do all the time rather than same old same old for a year.
Laughed and stopped reading after the OP said expansion pack after two weeks. Doubt they would do that. Try 3-4 months and that sounds more reasonable.
Seems like the simple solution is just not to hardcore level. Do other stuff besides just play one game (easy with so many freemium games) and don't eat up the content so fast. Maybe even go outside!
Important facts: 1. Free to Play games are poorly made. 2. Casuals are not all idiots, but idiots call themselves casuals. 3. Great solo and group content are not mutually exclusive, but they suffer when one is shoved into the mold of the other. The same is true of PvP and PvE. 4. Community is more important than you think.
Can you show me the link where any of the ArenaNet developers said that there will be DLCs in the cash shop or is this only a rumor spread in this forum? Because i follow all of Guild Wars 2 news in Guru and it was stated a lot of times by the developers that, when you buy the game, you buy the whole pack, cash shop is only for cosmetic, services (name change, etc...), extra storage and character slots. They've never said there will be mission packs, dlcs or whatever you want to name it. Also they've said that they are preparing free content updates to launch after release.
It seems to me that this thread is too much filled with false assumptions...
Also, the expansions will be really big, including new zones (crystal desert or new continents, i don't know) and a whole new storyline. I don't think we will see "expansions like crazy".
There's definitely a video on Youtube where someone from the audience asks one of ArenaNet's developers about this and he states that DLC's are probably going to be part of their business model, yes. It's on one of the discussion panels, but I can't remember which.
Can you show me the link where any of the ArenaNet developers said that there will be DLCs in the cash shop or is this only a rumor spread in this forum? Because i follow all of Guild Wars 2 news in Guru and it was stated a lot of times by the developers that, when you buy the game, you buy the whole pack, cash shop is only for cosmetic, services (name change, etc...), extra storage and character slots. They've never said there will be mission packs, dlcs or whatever you want to name it. Also they've said that they are preparing free content updates to launch after release.
It seems to me that this thread is too much filled with false assumptions...
Also, the expansions will be really big, including new zones (crystal desert or new continents, i don't know) and a whole new storyline. I don't think we will see "expansions like crazy".
There's definitely a video on Youtube where someone from the audience asks one of ArenaNet's developers about this and he states that DLC's are probably going to be part of their business model, yes. It's on one of the discussion panels, but I can't remember which.
He says that as far as content goes, there will definitely be free content, there will be content through the store probably, and there will definitely be boxed expansions. He also says that they're not sure what those contents will be comprised of and that they'll be listening to feedback about that.
I think I also remember them saying something that additional personal story options could be released through DLC, but I can't find anything about that so consider that to be unsubstantiated rumor unless someone can help me out with a link.
edit: I just want to add that ArenaNet has been very clear that they aren't going to sell power in their cash shop. I don't think we need to be worried inherently about DLC, it's just another option for them. It's got its drawbacks like potentially dividing the playerbase, but it also kind of fits with the "a la carte" nature of the B2P model. I think they could do personal story options or maybe ultra hard dungeons (as long as they only had different skins as rewards) without really presenting a problem for anybody.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it."-Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
of course there are going to be expansions, i highly doubt they'll be at a monthly frequency however.
i'd be more willing to predict that the expansions for the first 2 years will likely be every 4-6 months. that i'm basing on arenanet simply trying to cater to both the 'hardcore' and 'casual' audience at the same time. a casual player is going to be bummed out if there's new content added all the time because they won't have the dedicated time to accomplish that said content like a hardcore player would... so they'll just find another game.
it will definately be more often than the first game, it has to because 'limited edition' costume packs somehow don't impress me enough to invest in a game.
Comments
I don't understand the problem.
A game that I want to play is going get expansions and this is supposed to bother me?
Also what's up with the nothing is free line? Guild Wars 2 will be 50-60 bucks retail so obviously it wont free.
Are you referring to the Not having to pay for a monthly subscription? If so I highly doubt they will make that many content packs available that GW2 would be as expensive as a P2p model.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
GW2 is approaching 5 years in development. SWTOR is going to take 7 years once it's released. Are they doing the same as well? This hypothetical scenario is simply ridculous.
Consumers aren't stupid. Arenanet isn't either. If they release an incomplete game it will get nothing but bad press and feedback. The only people who will buy it are the die hard Arenanet fanboys. Everyone else will think it's crap and pass. It just takes a long time to a make quality MMORPG (see SWTOR). If they release expansions that offer very little content, then even the fans won't buy them because they will indeed feel "tricked".
Everything we know about what will be at launch is anything but short. Yeah it will be likely that you'll be paying for most of the content in GW2. And the best way to make profit is to make something consumers want to buy.
If hypothetically ANet had monthly content updates for GW2 that you could or could purchase at your own leisure I would be F***ING ESTATIC. This would be an amazing concept. But if its anything like GW1's model I am thinking its going to be more like 1 maybe 2 per year. Either way GW2 from what I (for me, mine, my. singular person meaning me) know has enough content for a year at the least.
Everything you need to know about Elder Scrolls Online
Playing: GW2
Waiting on: TESO
Next Flop: Planetside 2
Best MMO of all time: Asheron's Call - The first company to recreate AC will be the next greatest MMO.
I see a lot of " If GW2 is anything like GW1 then will have Expansions every six months to a year ".
Well,
This is not GW1. GW1 is GW1 not GW2, large business does not think that way. They don't always have to follow there original model. In fact often they have to be more impressive with an opening product to build a name for themselves. UNDERSTAND THIS, With the original GW1 they never knew what they were getting into, that was years ago. Developers did not know how much of a success there product was to be. It took all there time and effort to make the original model, only for expansions to be somewhat of an after thought.
Big Business spends a lot of time brain storming. CEO's, developing engineers, and marketing managers spend a lot of time working out profit, future profit and balancing of what the population will put up with.
How do I know this :
22 years as a supervisor in the largest CD and DVD manufacturing company. Sure I was a low level boss, but I sat in a lot of meetings along with watching some nasty tricks on both the public and employiees.....It was always a balancing act to play right on the line of profit, and what people would put up with.
Now, as stated in post # 33, It's not really all that much a bad thing. I'll be playing Guild Wars 2. I'm sure it will be a quality game. The good news is that you will have the game forever, and can be played over and over. Eventually for free depending on how you look at it.
JUST DON'T THINK YOU WILL BE GETTING A GREAT BARGAIN. This will not be the starving collage student's dream.
Why not?
For the box price alone you are still getting a complete level 1-80 MMO which (by Arena Net's accounting) has more content than Guild Wars Prophecies/Factions/Nightfall/Eye of the North combined. Along with that they are dedicating a Live Team to work exclusively on free content updates (that will be seperate from the expansion development team). That sounds like a bargain to me.
Maybe Anet is also plotting to take over the world with all of their expansions?! Good thing I'm wearing my tinfoil hat!
I remember seeing/reading somewhere that they weren't going to follow the same method as GW1 with the expansions. It'd be normal for them to have ideas for content that they want to release after the initial release, or to take things out and implement them later on, but I really, really doubt that Anet will be like the COD franchise (that is, leaving things out of the game and releasing it later on as DLC, the sly dogs).
Also, I couldn't be bothered reading every one of the comments in this thread.
Its funny to see haters want to make expansions sound like a compulsory fee to play the game.
When it is the complete opposite. If subscription decides to charge $15 per major content update instead of a monthly fee, the game will be out of business.
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
Nah, but people would buy 1 or 2 of those updates a year, the best ones.
I just don't see it happening anyways, unless you don't buy lots of junk in the shop (which you can do in most P2P games as well) there is no way playing GW2 will be more expensive long term than a regular P2P game.
My prediction is that ArenaNet will always try to release a new expansion six months after the previous one. However, every single expansion will be delayed.
Yes, I can definately see that happening. :P
First, if you read the page I previously linked on GW: Utopia, you'll find that one of the reasons they were unhappy with the 6 month expansion model was because of all the things they wanted to do but were unable to fit into that time frame.
But, in fact, the restrictions of the every-six-months model meant the team found itself perpetually wistful over what didn't make it into the game
And secondly, Nightfall was exactly 6 months after Factions, April 28th, 2006 to October 27th, 2006. Factions, being the first expansion, was delayed (though they did release Sorrow's Furnace at 6 months to compensate), and EOTN was delayed because they scrapped Utopia, but Nightfall clearly wasn't.
You're free to predict whatever you want, but if you're basing your prediction on past history you're a little off.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
I think they will be a lot less eager to release huge expansions for many reasons, not least because they know that people like to spend money on vanity gear for their characters. When GW was first launched, they assumed they needed to create expansions in order to make money. I expect they will be dedicating a lot more resources to non-essential gameplay enhancement for small amounts of cash.
I'm also not sure they have a firm plan for how they want to handle integration of large chunks of new game areas. Treadmill games like WoW use a model that won't really fit GW2. The basic idea of expansions in those games is to create a new path for additional character advancement. If character advancement isn't a big deal, and every area of the game is designed to be equally fun regardless of level (the way Hard Mode in GW1 increases the playability of that game world), then introducing new game maps tends to spread out the player population. That might not be as much of a problem in GW2 as it is in GW1 or other games, but it's something they will want to plan for before committing resources to creating new continents.
I do expect to see dungeons released as DLC, which grant access to new gear skins and maybe new PVE elite skills. I know I'd probably pay 14.99 or w/e for a big dungeon crawl after I've run all the stuff that's in at release. Especially if I could pick up a spiffy new skill with some cool visuals. And the ability to segregate skills from the PVP sphere would prevent having to deal with balance issues there.
I'd also almost expect to see the release of perhaps a smaller game area as the starter area for a new playable race before seeing an entire continent. Seems like that would be easy enough to integrate into the primary game world.
More than any of that, though, I think we will see continuous creation of new DE popping up throughout the world. And perhaps recycling of old events to sort of make room.
TLDR; don't expect big expansions any time soon, but do look for DLC dungeons and keep an eye open for newly created DEs.
Charr: Outta my way.
Human: What's your problem?
Charr: Your thin skin.
more expansions=more content. i pray for an expansion pack every 6 months or so. i also preffer this kind of deal than paying every month for the same content and wait for an expansion every 1.5-2 years (which we will pay it ofc aswell).
Considering the average game DLC is around $15 and the average game expansion around $40, if they were to release a DLC every 1.5 months (which they stated DLC's will be part of their business model) and an expansion every 6 months we get:
(15*8)+(40*2) = $200 per year
Now, comparing that to your standard P2P game like WoW, where there is a monthly subscription fee of $15 and a yearly expansion cost of $40, we get:
(15*12)+(40*1) = $220 per year
As you can see, there would be very little price differences between both models and a 6 month time span would be a rather small time frame to develop a fully-fledged expansion pack. That prediction further seems unrealistic considering the time between each of Guild Wars 1's content updates.
It should also be taken into account that the development cycle time has also gone up in the industry since GW1 and given that they were struggling to fit most of the stuff in those expansions, I don't think they'll stick to same old "1 expansions every 6 months" unless they have some SERIOUS newly added manpower to back it up.
I predict they will not attempt to produce a DLC that they expect players will want to spend 15 bucks on every six weeks.
Charr: Outta my way.
Human: What's your problem?
Charr: Your thin skin.
wow, OP, that's actually great news! If your plan was to troll you failed big time
Guild Wars 2 Youtube Croatian Maniacs
My Guild Wars titles
Can you show me the link where any of the ArenaNet developers said that there will be DLCs in the cash shop or is this only a rumor spread in this forum? Because i follow all of Guild Wars 2 news in Guru and it was stated a lot of times by the developers that, when you buy the game, you buy the whole pack, cash shop is only for cosmetic, services (name change, etc...), extra storage and character slots. They've never said there will be mission packs, dlcs or whatever you want to name it. Also they've said that they are preparing free content updates to launch after release.
It seems to me that this thread is too much filled with false assumptions...
Also, the expansions will be really big, including new zones (crystal desert or new continents, i don't know) and a whole new storyline. I don't think we will see "expansions like crazy".
i'm trying to find the negative in all that.
see, at least then i know i'm paying for SOMETHING. and if it's good and keeps coming, i'm happy to pay for it. new events, new things? awesome! i think you'd be hard pressed to find someone who seriously thinks more content is something they wouldn't want on a regular basis. you'd find a lot of people wishing it were free, but most people know that any game - even those you pay monthly fees for - will charge you for expansion packs. which, let's face it, usually offer something pretty good to be called an expansion pack. can't say gw1's expansion packs weren't worth getting.
i think you'll also be hard pressed to find someone who's planning on playing gw2 because it's "cheap". if gw2 was going to be a subscribed mmo, i think they'd have the same excitement as it does now. it's not the payment model that's got everyone drooling. it's the game itself.
for me, if they do an expansion every month that adds so much more to the experience, i'll pay it. and i won't be crying about it either. you have a think about subscription model games. when you reach mythical "endgame", what then? you spend a year or so running around the same dungeon collecting an armor set. and when you've done that? ummm. dailies? same quest over and over again.
for, like, a year.
at least.
so, i'm telling you if they're going to do what you say, then i'll be singing their praises for the rest of my life because that sounds like heaven to me. new things to do all the time rather than same old same old for a year.
i, for one, hope you're right again...
Laughed and stopped reading after the OP said expansion pack after two weeks. Doubt they would do that. Try 3-4 months and that sounds more reasonable.
Seems like the simple solution is just not to hardcore level. Do other stuff besides just play one game (easy with so many freemium games) and don't eat up the content so fast. Maybe even go outside!
Important facts:
1. Free to Play games are poorly made.
2. Casuals are not all idiots, but idiots call themselves casuals.
3. Great solo and group content are not mutually exclusive, but they suffer when one is shoved into the mold of the other. The same is true of PvP and PvE.
4. Community is more important than you think.
There's definitely a video on Youtube where someone from the audience asks one of ArenaNet's developers about this and he states that DLC's are probably going to be part of their business model, yes. It's on one of the discussion panels, but I can't remember which.
I think this might be the video that stealthbr is referring to. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=R0iGqmudGdM#t=248s It's from August, so if there's something more current I don't know what it is.
He says that as far as content goes, there will definitely be free content, there will be content through the store probably, and there will definitely be boxed expansions. He also says that they're not sure what those contents will be comprised of and that they'll be listening to feedback about that.
I think I also remember them saying something that additional personal story options could be released through DLC, but I can't find anything about that so consider that to be unsubstantiated rumor unless someone can help me out with a link.
edit: I just want to add that ArenaNet has been very clear that they aren't going to sell power in their cash shop. I don't think we need to be worried inherently about DLC, it's just another option for them. It's got its drawbacks like potentially dividing the playerbase, but it also kind of fits with the "a la carte" nature of the B2P model. I think they could do personal story options or maybe ultra hard dungeons (as long as they only had different skins as rewards) without really presenting a problem for anybody.
"Gamers will no longer buy the argument that every MMO requires a subscription fee to offset server and bandwidth costs. It's not true you know it, and they know it." -Jeff Strain, co-founder of ArenaNet, 2007
Don't mind paying as long as the account remains active..
A True Master who Knows his own limit...
of course there are going to be expansions, i highly doubt they'll be at a monthly frequency however.
i'd be more willing to predict that the expansions for the first 2 years will likely be every 4-6 months. that i'm basing on arenanet simply trying to cater to both the 'hardcore' and 'casual' audience at the same time. a casual player is going to be bummed out if there's new content added all the time because they won't have the dedicated time to accomplish that said content like a hardcore player would... so they'll just find another game.
it will definately be more often than the first game, it has to because 'limited edition' costume packs somehow don't impress me enough to invest in a game.