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[Column] Guild Wars 2: The Importance of the Guild Hall
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Most players in an MMO band together to form guilds. Members of a guild can call upon one another for help, or to join in on a tough dungeon. I’ve made a lot of friends playing in guilds over the years, in several different MMOs. There’s one game that really made the guild experience feel important, and that was the original Guild Wars, which had a nice feature called the guild hall... a feature that Guild Wars 2 is sadly missing.
Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: The Importance of the Guild Hall.
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The trophies that you could display in the Hall of Monuments were a great way to show off to your friends.
Comments
really strange the game never launched with this, and never added later
instead we got endless jump puzzle updates...and 'living' story...great
Smile
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/releases/ lots of content releases that were not part of the living story, that offered features to crafting, pvp, wvw, pve, world bosses, champions, achievements, super adventure box and so on.
Agreed, this should of been a primary focus from the get go and we got temporary content and cash locked skins for "content". I don't know if Guild Halls would save GW2 for many people at this point, but I do think it would be a step in the right direction for Anet after all the controversy the game has had to endure the past year or so.
Still hoping you can pull this one out of the fire Anet, your fans look forward to seeing GW2 the way it was meant to be one day
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
All I remember about Guild Halls for GW2 was an announcement a long while back made by Anet stating that they wanted guild halls to be epic and that they wanted to do it right.
That was a while ago, and I have no idea where it went from there, if it is even being worked on, if they plan on working on it, or whatever.
With all the current mmos on the market releasing housing now, it would seem silly for Anet to keep putting it off. Wildstar boasts its launch housing, Rift implemented it, EQ2 had it all along, Star wars is getting it, FFXIV has it, DCUO has it.
I would be interested to see that Anet announces somewhat of a list of features that are in the works sometimes soon.
Originally posted by Arskaaa
"when players learned tacticks in dungeon/raids, its bread".
Will you ever grow tired of spouting things about this game that simply ain't true? I feel like that every time I am reading a piece on Guild Wars 2, you're in here spreading misinformation. It sticks out like a soar eye, for someone like me who wishes to talk to other people who are genuinely interested in discussing the pros and cons.
I'm sorry you disagree with my opinion and the information I have available to me. You do have the option of blocking me so you don't see my posts. I love GW2, I played it pretty solidly for over a year and off and on since then, but I'm not going to entertain any illusions about what the game is and how the direction they have taken has hurt the game tremendously. I'm not the only person in the world who has had a problem with the direction they took the game from the original manifesto, so I don't know why I would be singled out for my opinion. You can't expect everyone to be happy with controversial design decisions.
As I said, feel free to block my posts if you don't agree with them, it won't hurt my feelings a bit, I promise
Currently Playing: ESO and FFXIV
Have played: You name it
If you mention rose tinted glasses, you better be referring to Mitch Hedberg.
He's right. You say things like that the game has been hurt tremendously, a very bold assessment and also one that you have no verifiable proof of, citing your own criteria (eg: that the game disappointed enough people with greater expectations as to hurt it 'tremendously').
Anyway, I don't really care about guild halls. There I said it. Because I don't really care about guilds.
You're not alone. I disagree vehemently with its direction. The temporal nature of content at least seems to resolved, and we've gotten the ability to craft new armor in this latest release. It's something, but it's not enough. I think for people like us, nothing short of a full blown expansion will be enough. Sadly, we may be waiting a long time.
IMO i think Guild Halls would be a nice addition but the lack of it doesnt mean the game is hurting. There is only so much you can do in a guild hall. But either way im happy with every improvement they add to the game.
A game can only take one of two paths, the path of improvement or the path of failure. And GW2 has been taking the first one since it launched. And im glad im not wasting monthly subscriptions waiting for new content so thats a plus too
We want expansion we want expansion ... this magical word everybody seemingly wants. Except nobody writes what wants there. And when expansion comes, you will be still not satisfied. Accept it, you dont like game, dont play it.
I like the game, I play the game and I dont want expansion. Way the Living Story season 2 is done, I don't need it.
They've already got the guild influence as a currency but it would still be a reasonable amount of work to figure out the costs of things, placement, npcs - race, voice, limitations ' would letting them have crafting stations detract from lions arch or other towns ' concept art, building the levels, considering if they will be purely decoration or used for guild vs guild pvp - a point I think many guild wars 1 fans will complain about if they do introduce guild halls without gvg.
For me GvG was reserved for the elite few and that's fine but in the end payoff must be worth the amount of work required.
I really really really really want guild halls, but they'd have to be done right.
Play for fun. Play to win. Play for perfection. Play with friends. Play in another world. Why do you play?
In their original manifesto they talked about the desire to make a changing world and make a game even for people who dislike MMOs. The living story, arguable tries to facilitate that. Reading your post you I get the impression that you have misunderstood or been misinformed to what they actually said they were trying to make.
But people are so stuck in the status quo and what they feel is the right way, that they start making their own realities and claim ArenaNet betrayed them or lied to them, which is not true at all.
When they alter the world people gets mad. Here is a game that dares defy convention and turn its world upside down and yet people are begging for static same-old-same-old. It's mind boggelig to me.
I feel like an old man: Enough with the jumping!
It is about time we had our guild halls.
I've grown to accept the reality that Guild Wars 2 will never be as good as the first one was. Though honestly, that's like comparing Apples to Oranges at this point, and just calling them both fruit. Guild Wars was practically an instant classic from the get-go and improved tremendously over time -- I haven't stopped playing it, and continue to do so to this day (in fact, I logged in last night to play with my SO). Guild Wars 2? Barely lasted me a month. It's a persistent online game, yes. Though it lost the soul it's predecessor had; I say they're apples to oranges because I still to this day do not think the original was a MMO, but rather an online game with a lobby and 8 players per map.
The writing (in GW2) was horrible by any standards, the story was laughable and predictable, and the way they handled updates was a joke. The fact that 90% of the content they added was not permanent was also -- by personal opinion and by me seeing the majority of posts on the topic (I.E. a small pool of overall players) -- one of the worst directions they could've taken the game. In addition, the failure to provide reliable information on an Expansion -- something expected from the first Guild Wars players -- as well as Guild Housing and their words of Player Housing at start for temporary content was just a kick in the teeth.
Not enough lands are opening up with their minor updates -- I was hoping to see the entirety of the Crystal Desert and other locales from the Original Guild Wars by now. I was expecting to see Cantha or Elona being released within two years of the base game. Revitalize the community with new players, reminding them that the game is still of the Guild Wars universe. But Alas, we get a gorgeous game of wasted potential, small two week updates that only exist to sell items in the cash shop, and the tears of the many who had such high hopes for the game.
It is only recently that they have actually done something that I'm happy about -- and that's permanent living story content. As well as the possibility of bringing the first season into the log as well. Though still, this pales in comparison to an expansion -- as any who played the first game would understand -- and the 25+ new zones such would bring, new races, new classes, continents, lore, learning what happened to people in the past and overall fulfillment for the Guild Wars universe as a whole. The life that it breathed into the game; the influx of new players, friends logging off for the first time in ages, the new sights to see and systems to master. The way it changed up PvP and the meta game; the new difficulty with great writing and perils that really challenged you. No zerging since only 8 people were allowed in an area, no outleveling or ourgearing, hard modes, vanquish campaigns. Unlocking and learning all those new skills. Enough things that would take you a year to complete all of simply because you got wrecked at every corner of the game.
I'm also sad they cancelled one of the last Guild Wars Beyond campaigns and expansions for Guild Wars 2 in hindsight. Though that really has no barrings on their post-production on the game, just that it's creation halted work on Guild Wars when they said they would always have a small time working on such before the second was officially released.
As a whole it's an orange that I was comparing to an apple, and I made myself sad. Granted, though, fruits of all types can be rotten if left out too long or bruised if mismanaged. In general, the core game was worth the price of admission. 10/10 in terms of cost versus value as a video game. Though as an MMO or predecessor to the original? I'd rather not say. They're showing some signs of being a competent developer once more with their recent update. Maybe the game will improve -- though I believe an expansion would boost numbers and interests and have it so people give the game another chance.
As a whole it just seems like Guild Wars and Guild Wars II had the same effect that Skyrim and ESO is having; the MMO part of it is ruining what the game was/is known for by it's fans. Granted, though, most of the fault in terms of GWII have been it's decisions on where to take the game since it's release. They probably got the hint with the new changes that were made, but will it be enough without something incredibly large to bring back those that have given up hope?
Would you like to see guild halls in Guild Wars 2?
Why not? If done right (something ArenaNet is not really known for) this could add well to the game. But it is just another cosmetic. The game lacks content. But guildhalls could be a part of a good sound expansion.
Good for you. I like the game, I play the game, and I want an expansion. I actually want to see the world, as beautifully crafted as it is, expanded. Face it, the game has gotten shallow updates. I'd buy an expansion - as in new zones (emphasis on plural), new dungeons (not just one path), and new WvW maps. You know. The actual game. LS2 is an improvement but I highly doubt we'll see more than one zone added this season. But hey, there's always cool new cosmetic items in the cash shop!
I feel the game was great at launch and had so much potential. Had they not thrown the baby out with the bathwater, and kept some of the PVP types from the first game, it'd have been better. I feel like they're purposely trying not to make a deep game. That's fine for some people, but I can't support them anymore on it.
What amazes me is that some people are now arguing that expansion isn't well defined, creating this grey area. For me, it's black and white. What you mentioned is an expansion. What you mentioned should the direction of the game. ArenaNet doesn't see it that way sadly and this game will never mean as much as the first one because of it. Sadly, the fulfillment of seeing more of Tyria is a missed opportunity for them - and us.
Guild Halls: Another feature that GW2 will likely never see because the Living Story is sucking all energy from the company.
Fire Mike O'Brian and save this game! Maybe Colin too.
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
I really wanted Guild Halls at release and when I still played. And also GvG form of PVP. I really missed that kind of team play we had back in GW1's GVG. But other changes and the general direction of the content releases in GW2 meant that I am kind of done with GW2. I am just not interested anymore in this game that turned out to become a gimmicky ride with its achievements bonanza, sparkly gear skins, jumping puzzles and fastfood PVP/dungeons. It is disneyland, not a virtual world. So meh, not really interested anymore.
I also wonder if Guild Halls and housing even still fit in the MMO that GW2 has become. Would seem a bit unusually persistent
Yes I'm still not over the fact why it is still called "Guild Wars".
Yes I want the guild halls back and with vengeance!
In addition:
Yes I want to be able to re-arrange my weapon skills the way I like.
Yes i want more weapon skill variaty
Don't get me wrong.. I'm still playing GW2 (rarely) and i'm not as in love with it as I was the original GW.
That’s why adding a guild hall instance is so much more important than just personal housing.
I could not disagree more. In Guild Wars 2 the guilds are a joke. Nobody talks, nobody helps you, and you can be in more than one guild.
It seems to me that housing would benefit more players than a guild hall.