PoF feels like an extension of the main base game. If you didn't like HoT you will likely find PoF much more accessible. HoT is like some weird big dungeon. The HoT maps are interesting but rely too much on meta events...too blocked off due to meta events. I do find more people still in HoT maps compared to PoF..I don't entirely understand why though. I think AN would do well to have the next expansion be 70% PoF (open world accessibility) with 30% HoT (challenge, group content etc). The specializations are also better with PoF.
I enjoy the HoT maps much more with mounts. Overall, the game is in a very good spot and I hope they focus on the next expansion more than living story. I do not agree that MMO's should be pushing "story" in what is supposed to be a living breathing world in which you make your own story.
Dakeru I agree with you, and ty for the advice. I actually ejoyed playing with the lfg groups in the map and exploring with friends during Hot first year of life, but I still kinda believe that arena guys shoulded improved the design of the meta of the map, because most of the time s(at least in the server where I play), there was a giant mess in the lanes with the ppl who knwed the stuff and the ppl who don t, which in most of the cases leaded to a ragequit of the group leaders and the major part of the ppl, which was frustating for the time waisted.
People didn't like HoT because parts of the maps were locked off and they're basically mazes, also running around by yourself was rough. They jumped the difficulty up quite a bit from the base game. In the base game you could kill normal mobs with auto attacks pretty easily..but not in HoT, you were blowing CDs and dodge spamming just to kill a normal mob. Those packs of raptors were no joke lol. They've nerfed it since then, so the mobs are better now but the maps are still annoying.
Dakeru I agree with you, and ty for the advice. I actually ejoyed playing with the lfg groups in the map and exploring with friends during Hot first year of life, but I still kinda believe that arena guys shoulded improved the design of the meta of the map, because most of the time s(at least in the server where I play), there was a giant mess in the lanes with the ppl who knwed the stuff and the ppl who don t, which in most of the cases leaded to a ragequit of the group leaders and the major part of the ppl, which was frustating for the time waisted.
I can imagine what kind of shit show it must have been in the beginning with missing masteries (keyword: instant death in the swamp area) as well as missing strategies. I waited some months before I really gave the last area a go and love the big scale interaction now.
HoT didn't FAIL, it just didn't quite live up to its potential. PoF was better simply because the devs learned from the mistakes they'd made with HoT (aside from the general lack of meta content). Comparing the two, yeah, PoF was a clear triumph, but in context, it's like comparing high school ball to pro ball.
That's generally what people call a failure. Not talking total failure, as with all things there's a spectrum, but still a failure.
I have a problem with this article to some extent, why POF is nice, more polished etc, I took away that a huge part of the issue that they could not solo the content and had to rely too much on HP/META trains in HOT..I am quite sick of the anti social, wanna be single player in an MMO game attitude where everything has to be given to everyone. Oh that is Raid gear? I don't want to learn a fight or coordinate with others, give me a way to get that stuff solo...It happens all too much. You don't need 30 people to do Vampire beast..3 or 4 can do it, especially if they don't go all in willy nilly full DPS. Have proper CC, have proper skill setup, if you only DPS, glass cannon etc..well that is on you.
I try to play through the major storylines but I couldn't get past HoT so I never bought PoF.
Skip HoT, play PoF, then come back to HoT if you want to give it a try, it's easier with mounts.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
2015 (HoT launch) - 101 billion won 2016 (HoT) - 77 billion won 2017 (PoF launch) - 83 billion won
The impact of PoF launch was weaker than the impact of HoT launch.
Conclusion: neither HoT failed nor PoF succeeded (meaning: surpassed it's previous expansion in revenue generated on the launch year).
Adding a new class and additional specializations probably had a lot to do with it.
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
2015 (HoT launch) - 101 billion won 2016 (HoT) - 77 billion won 2017 (PoF launch) - 83 billion won
The impact of PoF launch was weaker than the impact of HoT launch.
Conclusion: neither HoT failed nor PoF succeeded (meaning: surpassed it's previous expansion in revenue generated on the launch year).
No one said anything about revenues. It's purely an opinion piece on the quality of the two expansions.
Less people bought PoF expansion than HoT expansion. Sales are an objective measure of success, a much better tool of assessment than some subjective opinion.
Let's see how GW2 will perform throughout this year, it needs at least to beat 2016 in order to offset the fact it didn't beat 2015 HoT's launch in 2017 PoF's launch.
NC 1Q 2018 earnings will come next week, it will be interesting to compare how GW2 performed on the first quarter of 2018 with the same period of 2016.
2015 (HoT launch) - 101 billion won 2016 (HoT) - 77 billion won 2017 (PoF launch) - 83 billion won
The impact of PoF launch was weaker than the impact of HoT launch.
Conclusion: neither HoT failed nor PoF succeeded (meaning: surpassed it's previous expansion in revenue generated on the launch year).
No one said anything about revenues. It's purely an opinion piece on the quality of the two expansions.
Less people bought PoF expansion than HoT expansion. Sales are an objective measure of success, a much better tool of assessment than some subjective opinion.
It's also a really poor measurement tool when accounting for the fact that the expansions were two years apart and priced differently.
I have a problem with this article to some extent, why POF is nice, more polished etc, I took away that a huge part of the issue that they could not solo the content and had to rely too much on HP/META trains in HOT..I am quite sick of the anti social, wanna be single player in an MMO game attitude where everything has to be given to everyone. Oh that is Raid gear? I don't want to learn a fight or coordinate with others, give me a way to get that stuff solo...It happens all too much. You don't need 30 people to do Vampire beast..3 or 4 can do it, especially if they don't go all in willy nilly full DPS. Have proper CC, have proper skill setup, if you only DPS, glass cannon etc..well that is on you.
That's fine if that's how you feel... but I've soloed the Vampire Beast before, I've soloed every (hero point) boss in HoT, and let me tell you, it's not good design to lock away necessary points for your specializations around group content.
As the game changes and grows, more content will thin the population, you already don't have trains running as often as you once did, and I think it's pretty ridiculous to say that people who want to be able to solo HP and Mastery content want "hand holding" or "easy mode" or "don't want to group", yet their answer is literally to join a HP train which is the easiest, most hand holding thing you could do in a game.
It's quite literally "you go here and get a few hits on this thing, now follow me over here and get a few hits on this thing".
The fact of the matter is, in group content, you can't guarantee that others around you will be of your same skill level, or be using a "good build". Not to mention, some classes are just not good for some of these boss fights, and even in some cases, like with an evasion daredevil, which can pretty much solo any boss given enough time, they are all on time limits, so you can't just fight until it dies, you have to do so under a time limit.
It's not saying that group content like Metas should be completely thrown out the window, or that there shouldn't be group content, in fact the article praises GW2 for group content, just not when tied to Masteries and/or Hero Points.
Comments
I enjoy the HoT maps much more with mounts. Overall, the game is in a very good spot and I hope they focus on the next expansion more than living story. I do not agree that MMO's should be pushing "story" in what is supposed to be a living breathing world in which you make your own story.
I waited some months before I really gave the last area a go and love the big scale interaction now.
THE WORLD SHALL SUFFER FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!
I feel like this article caters to the gamers who just want their hand held every step of the way......
Limited gliding killed me so many times when starting....frustrating.
That said, I realm feel that this zones were absolute masterfully done. Some of the best zones of any mmo I have ever played.
I hope gw2 has some vertical zones like that again...
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
Be the Ultimate Ninja! Play Billy Vs. SNAKEMAN today!
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
2015 (HoT launch) - 101 billion won
2016 (HoT) - 77 billion won
2017 (PoF launch) - 83 billion won
The impact of PoF launch was weaker than the impact of HoT launch.
Conclusion: neither HoT failed nor PoF succeeded (meaning: surpassed it's previous expansion in revenue generated on the launch year).
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
NC 1Q 2018 earnings will come next week, it will be interesting to compare how GW2 performed on the first quarter of 2018 with the same period of 2016.
As the game changes and grows, more content will thin the population, you already don't have trains running as often as you once did, and I think it's pretty ridiculous to say that people who want to be able to solo HP and Mastery content want "hand holding" or "easy mode" or "don't want to group", yet their answer is literally to join a HP train which is the easiest, most hand holding thing you could do in a game.
It's quite literally "you go here and get a few hits on this thing, now follow me over here and get a few hits on this thing".
The fact of the matter is, in group content, you can't guarantee that others around you will be of your same skill level, or be using a "good build". Not to mention, some classes are just not good for some of these boss fights, and even in some cases, like with an evasion daredevil, which can pretty much solo any boss given enough time, they are all on time limits, so you can't just fight until it dies, you have to do so under a time limit.
It's not saying that group content like Metas should be completely thrown out the window, or that there shouldn't be group content, in fact the article praises GW2 for group content, just not when tied to Masteries and/or Hero Points.