Originally posted by flclimax is this supposed to be bad news?
Imho i think this is excellent news, because you dont need to break your game in order to put everything in once. As they said this is the base for the future class development, something i m ok with. I prefer having 1 working specialization while waiting for more in the future, than having more with the release and get a retarded game.
On top of that, since they want to add another specialisation with every expansion, it shows they are going for the long time commitment. The whole one specialisation/class/expansion also makes me think they want to push more expansions in the future..
i somehow hope that they can push one expansion/year in the future, with a whole season of living story entwined between 2 expansions... Add on top of that seasonals and other temporary content and it might as well be the game to stick with for me..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Originally posted by flclimax is this supposed to be bad news?
Imho i think this is excellent news, because you dont need to break your game in order to put everything in once. As they said this is the base for the future class development, something i m ok with. I prefer having 1 working specialization while waiting for more in the future, than having more with the release and get a retarded game.
On top of that, since they want to add another specialisation with every expansion, it shows they are going for the long time commitment. The whole one specialisation/class/expansion also makes me think they want to push more expansions in the future..
i somehow hope that they can push one expansion/year in the future, with a whole season of living story entwined between 2 expansions... Add on top of that seasonals and other temporary content and it might as well be the game to stick with for me..
Because it took nearly 2 years and a few months before they added the first new class and 1 new specialization for each class (which we aren't even sure the scope at which each class changes because of this). So its obviously common knowledge that we should expect a new expansion every year thereafter.
Chances of that happening are slim, I feel like this is a good step, but seriously, one specialization only per class - isn't much, if anything at all. They already mentioned that you NEED to complete all of the jungle to beat the jungle content. So now what... instead of all being called rangers... we get to be called druids? Then what happens when they expand to an ice cavern and add a new ranger specialization called IceWoodsmen, then we all become IceWoodsmen for the ice cavern expansion to complete that content?
I'm glad they are finally releasing an expansion, but I'm not just going to roll over and accept everything they give us and pretend its the best thing simply because they got around to creating it. They made a lot of promises with the original game, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon thinking it was going to be the greatest thing ever... but thats never the case.
Some further information on ANet's vision for specialisations
PCG: Another thing you announced was profession specialisations. The one you revealed was the Druid. That the Ranger was getting a staff weapon. Beyond having a different weapon, how different will the druid specialisation be from a 'standard' Ranger?
Colin: We're really trying to make it feel like it's almost a sub-profession or a secondary profession if you will, and not just a new set of a couple of skills. It's not just opening up the capacity to use a staff. When a ranger becomes a druid, they have an entire new set of skills and traits that come available to them. And their profession mechanic changes as well. That's true with all the specialisations. You actually play the profession differently, not just in skills and traits, but in the core mechanics of those professions. Some of them will change an existing profession, some of them might give them entirely new profession abilities and remove other ones. It really varies specialisation to specialisation, but it really should feel like you are playing a new version of your old profession. And players can actually mix and match a little bit. If you are playing as a Druid you will be able to use a lot of the Ranger's skills, and you can actually slot them in to make a lot of creative builds. But a Ranger can not use any of the stuff a Druid has unless they become a Druid.
PCG: So philosophically, with creating these specialisations, was the idea to fill gaps a profession wouldn't normally be equipped for?
Colin: Yeah, I think that's a fair description. We definitely looked at each profession and asked what are some of the things that we think this profession doesn't currently do that we'd love for them to be able to do? What role do we want to try to expand on that they can't do, or what gameplay would be really awesome to add to this profession? In some cases, we went way outside the box to go with some stuff that I think people are going to be pretty shocked and pretty excited when they get a chance to see how some of this stuff works. It's definitely trying to create a wider variety of roles for players in combat and with their profession. That is a big part of the specialisation system.
It's also laying a permanent groundwork for us that we can use to expand and build on in the future, and that's a common theme with everything you're going to find in this expansion. Every decision we made, and the entire reason we made this expansion, was so that when this expansion releases we have the framework. We have the pillars we need so that we can regularly grow the game in the future. Specialisations is one of the key components of that.
Torch would actually be 8 skills for the elementalist. Maybe mesmer will get something else.
I hear the guardian specialization is called Bulwark and their new weapon is shield main-hand. So that would be another class getting a single handed weapon.
Torch would actually be 8 skills for the elementalist. Maybe mesmer will get something else.
I hear the guardian specialization is called Bulwark and their new weapon is shield main-hand. So that would be another class getting a single handed weapon.
Whaaaat!?
Thats just retarded >:[
I guess it all depends on how they incorporate it if they do. One of my favorite classes was/is WoWs prot Pally and Avenger's Shield that hurls the shield at the target. I suppose it will look silly though as a main hand weapon if it comes to it, unless they come up with some awesome new designs.
FYI:
The Old Bashing Shield The main purpose of the Spartan shield was defensive; however Spartans also used it to bash their opponents. This could be to stun them, knock them down or get some room to use another weapon. The shield could also be used as a killing weapon outright, its weight and thin edge making it a superb blunt weapon. The hoplite shield, or aspis (although it is commonly called a ‘hoplon’), was heavy, weighing about 30 pounds. They were constructed out of wood with an outer layer of bronze. Due to its defensive nature, Spartans using it as a weapon could gain the advantage of surprise. Being clubbed to death by heavy shield may have even been more unpleasant then being hacked apart by a Kopis!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
Originally posted by flclimax is this supposed to be bad news?
Imho i think this is excellent news, because you dont need to break your game in order to put everything in once. As they said this is the base for the future class development, something i m ok with. I prefer having 1 working specialization while waiting for more in the future, than having more with the release and get a retarded game.
On top of that, since they want to add another specialisation with every expansion, it shows they are going for the long time commitment. The whole one specialisation/class/expansion also makes me think they want to push more expansions in the future..
i somehow hope that they can push one expansion/year in the future, with a whole season of living story entwined between 2 expansions... Add on top of that seasonals and other temporary content and it might as well be the game to stick with for me..
+1
Started again a couple of days ago and i m really having a very good time. I forgot how wonderful the game world is and how great is playing in the open world with other ppl.
If they stick to a plan like the one you said, it will easily be my main game for long.
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1 Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
We allready know there will be specializations. Logically that means for each class - otherwise they would not be able to sell expansion to all players.
So the news that each class is getting ONE specialization, is either non news, or BAD news.
Not all of us are following GW2 official annoucements. So yes this is news for me at least.
This isn't good news IMO. What good are specializations like these if there isn't even so much as a fork in the road to pick from? Right, so every ranger obviously will be a druid because it's the only way to go. There's no fun in this. What good is giving these out by piecemeal? It's an expansion, at least have the decency to have 2 sub classes to choose from.
*Reminded of why I don't rock with ANet anymore*
Hype... disengaged.
"As far as the forum code of conduct, I would think it's a bit outdated and in need of a refre *CLOSED*"
I think on the whole, the amount of utilities elites weapons etc you will have access to at any given time will be the same (If for nothing else but keeping balance in check). Picking druid isn't going to simply add staff x utilities a heal and elite. It's going to replace current ones either completely or be some kind of variant of an old one (For instance perhaps engineers turrets utilities turns into those flying bots).
There will also be some changes in the traits, since there's supposed to be a change in the core mechanic I'd assume at the very least the last trait line is getting a replacement since it deals with class mechanics.
In essence, the initial class is itself a specialization. Specializations work by removing mechanics from the main class and adding in new ones. They aren't a flat addition, and thus serve as an alternative rather than an upgrade.
i was hoping the Mesmer gets an off-hand pistol but i can already see my mesmer looking badass holding a big tower shield. Also, gotta start leveling my Necro. Must get Belinda's Katana
Some further information on ANet's vision for specialisations
PCG: Another thing you announced was profession specialisations. The one you revealed was the Druid. That the Ranger was getting a staff weapon. Beyond having a different weapon, how different will the druid specialisation be from a 'standard' Ranger?
Colin: We're really trying to make it feel like it's almost a sub-profession or a secondary profession if you will, and not just a new set of a couple of skills. It's not just opening up the capacity to use a staff. When a ranger becomes a druid, they have an entire new set of skills and traits that come available to them. And their profession mechanic changes as well. That's true with all the specialisations. You actually play the profession differently, not just in skills and traits, but in the core mechanics of those professions. Some of them will change an existing profession, some of them might give them entirely new profession abilities and remove other ones. It really varies specialisation to specialisation, but it really should feel like you are playing a new version of your old profession. And players can actually mix and match a little bit. If you are playing as a Druid you will be able to use a lot of the Ranger's skills, and you can actually slot them in to make a lot of creative builds. But a Ranger can not use any of the stuff a Druid has unless they become a Druid.
PCG: So philosophically, with creating these specialisations, was the idea to fill gaps a profession wouldn't normally be equipped for?
Colin: Yeah, I think that's a fair description. We definitely looked at each profession and asked what are some of the things that we think this profession doesn't currently do that we'd love for them to be able to do? What role do we want to try to expand on that they can't do, or what gameplay would be really awesome to add to this profession? In some cases, we went way outside the box to go with some stuff that I think people are going to be pretty shocked and pretty excited when they get a chance to see how some of this stuff works. It's definitely trying to create a wider variety of roles for players in combat and with their profession. That is a big part of the specialisation system.
It's also laying a permanent groundwork for us that we can use to expand and build on in the future, and that's a common theme with everything you're going to find in this expansion. Every decision we made, and the entire reason we made this expansion, was so that when this expansion releases we have the framework. We have the pillars we need so that we can regularly grow the game in the future. Specialisations is one of the key components of that.
sounds like a way to rid rangers of those retarded pets.
the trailer showed the Druid with a pet too, but maybe it will give you the option to not use pets. I rather they overhaul the pet system for all classes that have pets. They are indeed retarded and die too fast and cant tank even for half the battle with trash mobs.
sounds like a way to rid rangers of those retarded pets.
Pets allow for very relaxed open world champion soloing. They're also pretty good at killing wandering mobs while you go chase the cat away from the defrosting meat or whatnot.
Currently playing: GW2 Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
sounds like a way to rid rangers of those retarded pets.
I'm thinking since druids are usually associated with shape shifting in other fantasy settings and games like pen and paper D&D and of course WoW, that maybe they will add that mechanic. Maybe you would actually be able to shift into the same type animals that you would normally have as a ranger. Just guessing though of course. My main is a warrior though, so I'm kind of nervous on what they are going to come up with for their specialization.
Hey, np. I had to clear up the confusion. People were saying "at minimum there will be 3 specializations", "It doesn't make since to say specialize and there only be one. Specialize means options".
I even got called an ***hole for saying "Just 1 weapon, 1 heal, 1 elite and a few utilities" and for me thinking it would be that way is "to put it mildly, stupid". Turns out it is just one weapon the profession couldn't use before, 1 heal, one elite and a few utilities.
Well, not exactly. WE don't know how many skills 1 specialisation gives and how drasticlly it changes class mechanics. Maybe people will have to make a choice between being the base class and the speciliasation (e.g. certain skills being replaced by others).
It's anyone's guess at this point what the speciliasation will do to a class.
We know exactly how many skills to expect, at least at a minimum. Five, the natural number of skills that you get from a new weapon.
Not to mention, the last time they started hyping up "new skills!", we got....a single heal skill. And then another one. And then pretty much *squat* ever since. So "new skills", to them, is 1-2 skills. And apparently, "specializations" is just one specialization to them. So it's reasonable to presume there won't be many skills coming out of this.
Though I can't say I'm shocked that the expansion's already starting to lose some of the hype it built up as the details slowly begin to emerge about it. The devil has always been in the details for ANet's content patches to date. Looking through this interview, it sounds like it's going to be a LOT less than people are expecting, and I won't be the least bit shocked when people's high expectations come crashing down.
The more we learn about the expansion, the less enthused I become.
No level cap increase, but rather, instead, a new form of rigid progression where masteries will be needed to successfully access new tiers of expansion content. (This, with in the framework of how levels work in GW2, is actually worse than a level increase). Specializations with only one specialization per profession, but having skills and mechanics you will really want/need to have in order to play the new expansion content, making the specialization essentially non-optional.
When asked about how many new zones, we get the twisty-turny evasiveness that has marked the Colin Johanson era as game director, where they downplay the importance of the number of zones and stress that the new zones have "a lot of verticality".
I think the expansion will probably do well among those who ANet has managed to keep playing with the "adventure by checklist" model embodied by Living Story, but it's likely to do very little as far as gaining back players who have abandoned the game due to the vapid development style we've seen since early 2013.
I think the once vast potential this game possessed is essentially gone for good now that we know that the expansion looks to be just as flubbed as the last two years of live content development have been.
Absolute shame. At launch, the game seemed the best hope for the genre in at least a decade, now, I don't know where to look for hope for the MMO genre.
The more we learn about the expansion, the less enthused I become.
No level cap increase, but rather, instead, a new form of rigid progression where masteries will be needed to successfully access new tiers of expansion content. (This, with in the framework of how levels work in GW2, is actually worse than a level increase). Specializations with only one specialization per profession, but having skills and mechanics you will really want/need to have in order to play the new expansion content, making the specialization essentially non-optional.
A level cap increase would be the equivalent of the devs saying "fuck it" and turning off the servers. They would lose a massive chunk of their playerbase (and rightfully so), by instantly invalidating weeks of effort per character per stat set in the form of ascended armor sets that are no longer meaningful.
And for what? Adding a few levels onto the game, each of which, by design, will only take about 1-2 hours at a regular playing pace and regular content to gain? That's scarcely any time progression at all, and then they would need to slap on another arbitrary gear tier - further maddening the veteran playerbase.
And do not mistake the Guild Wars veteran playerbase for what it is. The appeal of the first game was its genius approach to largely horizontal progression. Part of the appeal of the second game was, at launch, its promises of innovative, grind-free horizontal progression (nevermind that it ended up having neither significant horizontal nor significant vertical progression - but that's another discussion entirely).
Arenanet has already seen the consequences of upping the vertical ante on its playerbase. Their attempts were met with contempt by both parties. The vertical progression crowd still wants nothing to do with the game, and the veteran playerbase was largely angered by the change - and certainly by the poor implementation of the change.
And let's not ignore the effects of a raised level cap on the game's primary build mechanic - traits. The face of traits would change (likely for the worse) with the addition of extra trait points. Building would become overly simple, with fewer sacrifices involved in the process.
No. The Mastery System was the correct approach to progression. It adds a framework for renovation to the entire game - through new mechanics that players can learn to face. It has been explained, in recent blogs, as a way to unlock exclusive collections, learn new languages and interact with new cultures, fight in new ways, and explore new terrain. This is progression that has never really been seen in the MMO world, and at least in concept, it's much more immersive and realistic than the lazy leveling alternative.
As for specializations, it's become readily clear that they aren't straight upgrades. They aren't something you'll need to progress further in the expansion content. They lose skills and mechanics from the main profession (which is thus itself a specialization) in exchange for their new features. If done well, the specialization system - even with only one new specialization per class - will add a significant amount of variety and depth to the game's build system.
OThey lose skills and mechanics from the main profession (which is thus itself a specialization) in exchange for their new features. If done well, the specialization system - even with only one new specialization per class - will add a significant amount of variety and depth to the game's build system.
I am not sure youi will lose skills. Its not Anet way
A level cap increase would be the equivalent of the devs saying "fuck it" and turning off the servers. They would lose a massive chunk of their playerbase (and rightfully so), by instantly invalidating weeks of effort per character per stat set in the form of ascended armor sets that are no longer meaningful.
And for what? Adding a few levels onto the game, each of which, by design, will only take about 1-2 hours at a regular playing pace and regular content to gain? That's scarcely any time progression at all, and then they would need to slap on another arbitrary gear tier - further maddening the veteran playerbase.
They already angered the veteran GW player base. Most of those people left long ago. Like, back in November during the Ascended debacle, when Mike O'Brien said this:
"In GW1 we never advanced the level cap through four campaigns/expansions. The game design didn't allow for it. But GW2 was designed without those restrictions, and we've always expected that we will someday raise the level cap in GW2."
And then recently, he said this, probably in an attempt to win those same people back with this new expansion:
"We will never add more levels to the game, we will never add more tiers of gear to the game. The tiers and levels we have today will be the tiers and levels we have for the rest of the life of Guild Wars 2."
So, the real question becomes....which Mike O'Brien should we believe? The one who insisted that they were eventually going to raise the level cap back when the game was riding high on its success, or the one who is now saying they'll never do that now that the game needs an expansion to bring back some of the people it's being losing? And, ultimately, what's to stop him from changing his mind again two more years from now?
Comments
On top of that, since they want to add another specialisation with every expansion, it shows they are going for the long time commitment. The whole one specialisation/class/expansion also makes me think they want to push more expansions in the future..
i somehow hope that they can push one expansion/year in the future, with a whole season of living story entwined between 2 expansions... Add on top of that seasonals and other temporary content and it might as well be the game to stick with for me..
Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)
Because it took nearly 2 years and a few months before they added the first new class and 1 new specialization for each class (which we aren't even sure the scope at which each class changes because of this). So its obviously common knowledge that we should expect a new expansion every year thereafter.
Chances of that happening are slim, I feel like this is a good step, but seriously, one specialization only per class - isn't much, if anything at all. They already mentioned that you NEED to complete all of the jungle to beat the jungle content. So now what... instead of all being called rangers... we get to be called druids? Then what happens when they expand to an ice cavern and add a new ranger specialization called IceWoodsmen, then we all become IceWoodsmen for the ice cavern expansion to complete that content?
I'm glad they are finally releasing an expansion, but I'm not just going to roll over and accept everything they give us and pretend its the best thing simply because they got around to creating it. They made a lot of promises with the original game, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon thinking it was going to be the greatest thing ever... but thats never the case.
Some further information on ANet's vision for specialisations
PCG: Another thing you announced was profession specialisations. The one you revealed was the Druid. That the Ranger was getting a staff weapon. Beyond having a different weapon, how different will the druid specialisation be from a 'standard' Ranger?
Colin: We're really trying to make it feel like it's almost a sub-profession or a secondary profession if you will, and not just a new set of a couple of skills. It's not just opening up the capacity to use a staff. When a ranger becomes a druid, they have an entire new set of skills and traits that come available to them. And their profession mechanic changes as well. That's true with all the specialisations. You actually play the profession differently, not just in skills and traits, but in the core mechanics of those professions. Some of them will change an existing profession, some of them might give them entirely new profession abilities and remove other ones. It really varies specialisation to specialisation, but it really should feel like you are playing a new version of your old profession. And players can actually mix and match a little bit. If you are playing as a Druid you will be able to use a lot of the Ranger's skills, and you can actually slot them in to make a lot of creative builds. But a Ranger can not use any of the stuff a Druid has unless they become a Druid.
PCG: So philosophically, with creating these specialisations, was the idea to fill gaps a profession wouldn't normally be equipped for?
Colin: Yeah, I think that's a fair description. We definitely looked at each profession and asked what are some of the things that we think this profession doesn't currently do that we'd love for them to be able to do? What role do we want to try to expand on that they can't do, or what gameplay would be really awesome to add to this profession? In some cases, we went way outside the box to go with some stuff that I think people are going to be pretty shocked and pretty excited when they get a chance to see how some of this stuff works. It's definitely trying to create a wider variety of roles for players in combat and with their profession. That is a big part of the specialisation system.
It's also laying a permanent groundwork for us that we can use to expand and build on in the future, and that's a common theme with everything you're going to find in this expansion. Every decision we made, and the entire reason we made this expansion, was so that when this expansion releases we have the framework. We have the pillars we need so that we can regularly grow the game in the future. Specialisations is one of the key components of that.
http://www.pcgamer.com/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-interview/#page-2
LOL
That would be mega facepalm
But seriously, I bet Elementalist get two handed sword. Similar to the spell they allready have
Whaaaat!?
Thats just retarded >:[
I guess it all depends on how they incorporate it if they do. One of my favorite classes was/is WoWs prot Pally and Avenger's Shield that hurls the shield at the target. I suppose it will look silly though as a main hand weapon if it comes to it, unless they come up with some awesome new designs.
FYI:
The Old Bashing Shield
The main purpose of the Spartan shield was defensive; however Spartans also used it to bash their opponents. This could be to stun them, knock them down or get some room to use another weapon. The shield could also be used as a killing weapon outright, its weight and thin edge making it a superb blunt weapon. The hoplite shield, or aspis (although it is commonly called a ‘hoplon’), was heavy, weighing about 30 pounds. They were constructed out of wood with an outer layer of bronze. Due to its defensive nature, Spartans using it as a weapon could gain the advantage of surprise. Being clubbed to death by heavy shield may have even been more unpleasant then being hacked apart by a Kopis!
Death is nothing to us, since when we are, Death has not come, and when death has come, we are not.
+1
Started again a couple of days ago and i m really having a very good time. I forgot how wonderful the game world is and how great is playing in the open world with other ppl.
If they stick to a plan like the one you said, it will easily be my main game for long.
All Time Favorites: EQ1, WoW, EvE, GW1
Playing Now: WoW, ESO, GW2
Not all of us are following GW2 official annoucements. So yes this is news for me at least.
This isn't good news IMO. What good are specializations like these if there isn't even so much as a fork in the road to pick from? Right, so every ranger obviously will be a druid because it's the only way to go. There's no fun in this. What good is giving these out by piecemeal? It's an expansion, at least have the decency to have 2 sub classes to choose from.
*Reminded of why I don't rock with ANet anymore*
Hype... disengaged.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I think on the whole, the amount of utilities elites weapons etc you will have access to at any given time will be the same (If for nothing else but keeping balance in check). Picking druid isn't going to simply add staff x utilities a heal and elite. It's going to replace current ones either completely or be some kind of variant of an old one (For instance perhaps engineers turrets utilities turns into those flying bots).
There will also be some changes in the traits, since there's supposed to be a change in the core mechanic I'd assume at the very least the last trait line is getting a replacement since it deals with class mechanics.
In essence, the initial class is itself a specialization. Specializations work by removing mechanics from the main class and adding in new ones. They aren't a flat addition, and thus serve as an alternative rather than an upgrade.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
sounds like a way to rid rangers of those retarded pets.
the trailer showed the Druid with a pet too, but maybe it will give you the option to not use pets. I rather they overhaul the pet system for all classes that have pets. They are indeed retarded and die too fast and cant tank even for half the battle with trash mobs.
Pets allow for very relaxed open world champion soloing. They're also pretty good at killing wandering mobs while you go chase the cat away from the defrosting meat or whatnot.
Currently playing: GW2
Going cardboard starter kit: Ticket to ride, Pandemic, Carcassonne, Dominion, 7 Wonders
I'm thinking since druids are usually associated with shape shifting in other fantasy settings and games like pen and paper D&D and of course WoW, that maybe they will add that mechanic. Maybe you would actually be able to shift into the same type animals that you would normally have as a ranger. Just guessing though of course. My main is a warrior though, so I'm kind of nervous on what they are going to come up with for their specialization.
"If I offended you, you needed it" -Corey Taylor
We know exactly how many skills to expect, at least at a minimum. Five, the natural number of skills that you get from a new weapon.
Not to mention, the last time they started hyping up "new skills!", we got....a single heal skill. And then another one. And then pretty much *squat* ever since. So "new skills", to them, is 1-2 skills. And apparently, "specializations" is just one specialization to them. So it's reasonable to presume there won't be many skills coming out of this.
Though I can't say I'm shocked that the expansion's already starting to lose some of the hype it built up as the details slowly begin to emerge about it. The devil has always been in the details for ANet's content patches to date. Looking through this interview, it sounds like it's going to be a LOT less than people are expecting, and I won't be the least bit shocked when people's high expectations come crashing down.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The more we learn about the expansion, the less enthused I become.
No level cap increase, but rather, instead, a new form of rigid progression where masteries will be needed to successfully access new tiers of expansion content. (This, with in the framework of how levels work in GW2, is actually worse than a level increase). Specializations with only one specialization per profession, but having skills and mechanics you will really want/need to have in order to play the new expansion content, making the specialization essentially non-optional.
When asked about how many new zones, we get the twisty-turny evasiveness that has marked the Colin Johanson era as game director, where they downplay the importance of the number of zones and stress that the new zones have "a lot of verticality".
I think the expansion will probably do well among those who ANet has managed to keep playing with the "adventure by checklist" model embodied by Living Story, but it's likely to do very little as far as gaining back players who have abandoned the game due to the vapid development style we've seen since early 2013.
I think the once vast potential this game possessed is essentially gone for good now that we know that the expansion looks to be just as flubbed as the last two years of live content development have been.
Absolute shame. At launch, the game seemed the best hope for the genre in at least a decade, now, I don't know where to look for hope for the MMO genre.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
A level cap increase would be the equivalent of the devs saying "fuck it" and turning off the servers. They would lose a massive chunk of their playerbase (and rightfully so), by instantly invalidating weeks of effort per character per stat set in the form of ascended armor sets that are no longer meaningful.
And for what? Adding a few levels onto the game, each of which, by design, will only take about 1-2 hours at a regular playing pace and regular content to gain? That's scarcely any time progression at all, and then they would need to slap on another arbitrary gear tier - further maddening the veteran playerbase.
And do not mistake the Guild Wars veteran playerbase for what it is. The appeal of the first game was its genius approach to largely horizontal progression. Part of the appeal of the second game was, at launch, its promises of innovative, grind-free horizontal progression (nevermind that it ended up having neither significant horizontal nor significant vertical progression - but that's another discussion entirely).
Arenanet has already seen the consequences of upping the vertical ante on its playerbase. Their attempts were met with contempt by both parties. The vertical progression crowd still wants nothing to do with the game, and the veteran playerbase was largely angered by the change - and certainly by the poor implementation of the change.
And let's not ignore the effects of a raised level cap on the game's primary build mechanic - traits. The face of traits would change (likely for the worse) with the addition of extra trait points. Building would become overly simple, with fewer sacrifices involved in the process.
No. The Mastery System was the correct approach to progression. It adds a framework for renovation to the entire game - through new mechanics that players can learn to face. It has been explained, in recent blogs, as a way to unlock exclusive collections, learn new languages and interact with new cultures, fight in new ways, and explore new terrain. This is progression that has never really been seen in the MMO world, and at least in concept, it's much more immersive and realistic than the lazy leveling alternative.
As for specializations, it's become readily clear that they aren't straight upgrades. They aren't something you'll need to progress further in the expansion content. They lose skills and mechanics from the main profession (which is thus itself a specialization) in exchange for their new features. If done well, the specialization system - even with only one new specialization per class - will add a significant amount of variety and depth to the game's build system.
I am not sure youi will lose skills. Its not Anet way
They already angered the veteran GW player base. Most of those people left long ago. Like, back in November during the Ascended debacle, when Mike O'Brien said this:
"In GW1 we never advanced the level cap through four campaigns/expansions. The game design didn't allow for it. But GW2 was designed without those restrictions, and we've always expected that we will someday raise the level cap in GW2."
And then recently, he said this, probably in an attempt to win those same people back with this new expansion:
"We will never add more levels to the game, we will never add more tiers of gear to the game. The tiers and levels we have today will be the tiers and levels we have for the rest of the life of Guild Wars 2."
So, the real question becomes....which Mike O'Brien should we believe? The one who insisted that they were eventually going to raise the level cap back when the game was riding high on its success, or the one who is now saying they'll never do that now that the game needs an expansion to bring back some of the people it's being losing? And, ultimately, what's to stop him from changing his mind again two more years from now?