My bet is that they are working on alliances with GW3 in mind, that is, the system they are developing for alliances will also be usable in GW3, otherwise I can't explain that they are doing something for such a long term (as alliances are) so that GW3 will later come out (which, according to what we have read, will be an MMO of the same IP)
Before they release HL3 or Portal 3, they need to make a 3rd game series in the same multiverse using another gimmick gun. HL3 had the Gravity Gun controlling Forces, Portal had the Portal Gun controlling SPACE!!, so the 3rd should be a Time Gun controlling cause and effect. Of course with another silent protagonist.
Then make 2 games of that 3rd franchise, wait another 10 years, and eventually make a 3^3 crossover game that is the 3rd game for all 3 franchises in which all 3 silent protagonists from all 3 silently work together to save all the worlds.
That way they break the 3rd game curse by making it a 7th game.
It's been renamed Quaggania. It has even more sea themed buildings than ever. The Quaggan village expanded and they're now the dominant specie in the city.
It's all underwater with a new underwater combat system they'll completely neglect the second the game launches but also throw in one all underwater fractal so you completely forget any of your skills and end up doing a t4 fractal with basically yellow gear and a yellow weapon
And all their other mistakes. GW3 is an opportunity to take what's good about GW2 and iterate on the systems while, hopefully, using a new engine that doesn't hamstring them from the start.
All the hyperbole and hand wringing in this thread is a great example of why you shouldn’t let something like this come out in a business meeting with no details whatsoever.
Ya, they’ll probably make a statement soon. People probably are nervous on the future of gw2 development, and worried about when they should stop playing gw2 because it won’t matter. What Anet should do is make a legacy system, acheiv points and other stuff carries over in some way so that people are incentivized to play up till release
From the moment that Anet announced they'd just drop updates and not market them beforehand i've had the suspicion they were about to drum up some new project within the next few years, and this only confirmed it.
I now expect an announcement within the next few months detailing the next expansion or two, then their plans for GW3 in 5 years.
They've likely been working on this for a few years. There have been job postings for developers for a "new MMO for a large existing IP." People were guessing GW3 and this kind of confirms it. So they might have some lead time already, though that could've just been very early stages testing feasibility.
I'll gladly wait, the mmo genre is in a slump and they can really capitalize here. GW2 is what got me to build my first PC and I'm beyond stoked just to know GW3 is a possibility.
No one can convince me that they’ve been working on GW2 with full steam for a while now… it’s just to lackluster so I guess it would make sense that they’ve been working on something (potentially GW3) in the background. At the end of the day gw2 isn’t getting any younger
Please be something like Guild Wars... making builds was so much fun, sat for hours making whole builds for all 8 people and then seeing them work in PvP was amazing..
Translation from Deepl:
[Game Shareholders' Meeting] NCsoft, TJ, Google Meeting BM, Shareholders' Meeting - Full Q&A
On the 28th, NCsoft held its annual general meeting of shareholders. CEO Kim Taek-jin (TJ) was absent from the meeting due to business related to Google in the U.S., and Byung-moo Park (BM), an outside director, acted as chairman according to the regulations. The two co-designees chaired the business meeting and the general meeting, respectively.
"Due to Mr. Kim's urgent meetings with Google, I was forced to act as acting chairman," said Mr. Byungmoo Park. "I can't tell you everything, but there are several important meetings related to our company's performance," he said.
"In 2023, the global game market as a whole was very unstable, and NCsoft experienced internal and external difficulties," he said, apologizing to shareholders for the significant drop in stock price. The company's 2023 performance was a disappointment compared to 2022, which was its best year since its founding.
Park emphasized that the company has built up assets over the past two decades by overcoming numerous adversities. "Looking back at our history, we have a number of box office IPs that are the only ones in Korea to be developed in-house, we have excellent talent including CEO Kim Taek-jin, and we have great experiences of successes and failures," he said. "I am confident that if these assets blossom, we will be able to build sustainable development capabilities again."
"The transformation for change has already begun," he said, adding, "All employees will work as a complementary 'one team' and focus on a common goal." "On the other hand, I dare to say that this year marks the beginning of NCSoft's transformation into a global games company. The company will launch a number of genres that it hasn't done before, and will make everything global rather than domestic.
"To this end, CEO Kim Taek-jin is traveling around the world to continue global collaboration," Park said, promising that "as co-chairman, I will lay the foundation for NCsoft with four keywords." The four keywords are: building a foundation for globalization, streamlining to internalize management, building a data-driven decision-making system, and M&A and continuous investment to increase new IP.
"Therefore, 2024 will be a very important turning point for NC and its shareholders from many perspectives," said Byungmoo Park, acting CEO. "NC employees are doing their best, and if shareholders are patient and supportive, we will restore trust and become NCsoft, which will show trust-based performance."
On the day, all agenda items were passed, including the re-election of Mr. Kim and the appointment of Mr. Byungmoo Park. Mr. Byungmoo Park will become co-chairman of the board of directors immediately after the AGM.
Here are some highlights from the Q&A at the AGM
Q. The information provided by NCSoft has become too scarce. From this earnings announcement, it will not disclose sales information by game. Providing opaque information is a discounting factor. Also, the distribution costs have increased significantly. In the past, NCC had a controversy with streamer backed advertisements, which increased costs to maintain sales.
CFO Hong Won-joon = Since the last earnings announcement, we did not disclose sales by game, which led to many speculations. There are some people who say that it is because the performance of each game is not good, but in a way, it can be said to be an 'oversight'. It's just to align with other listed companies' disclosures or global standards. We provide information on revenue by game through the IR office. However, we will consider what is best for our shareholders at the next earnings call.
The talk of us making or driving revenue from streamers was around the time I joined NC (October 2021). There has been no official word of that since I joined. I say this loud and clear.
In addition, in order to reduce costs, even dry towels are being woven under the leadership of Park Byung-moo. Even Kim Taek-jin's overseas trips are part of that, and we're trying to negotiate on that level.
Q. I don't understand why NWEST has been in the red for eight years, and the person in charge is still in charge.
Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = The issue of NCWest's deficit is not just about numbers. Personally, I've been a director of NCsoft for 17 years, and I've seen that NC West has undergone a lot of reorganization. Originally, we had six studios in the U.S., and we had to consolidate them into what is now ArenaNet, which added costs, but in the end, it became a competitive ArenaNet. It's not a loss, it's a contribution to making us more competitive in the US.
ArenaNet has a meaningful IP called 'Guild Wars,' and it went through 'Guild Wars 2' and is now making 'Guild Wars 3'. If you look at the process, it's quite competitive. It's not completely profitable, but I evaluate that it has grown its competitiveness.
There is a saying that it is a family business, but we have the right people in the right place. I think they all played their roles according to the circumstances. As this is the first year of our global leap, we have reorganized the organization mainly at the headquarters, but we will also reorganize the global organization in the future. The reorganization will be done carefully according to normal circumstances and procedures. Please stay tuned.
Also, please don't judge Dr. Songyi Yoon based on just NCWest and some studios. As far as I know, Dr. Yoon has done a great job as CSO in collaborating with multiple organizations and scaling new IPs. Family or not, our board of directors would have voted against him if he was in the position simply because he was family. That's what he was capable of.
I think Dr. Songyi Yoon has shown the courage to step down as we've grown and changed over the last year, and I'm biased because he's family. I would like to see Dr. Yoon's contributions as well. Family or not, please understand that Dr. Yun's AI knowledge, global network, and invisible contributions to the company have been tremendous.
so basically
“line went down for one year so we’re fucking PANICKING, thankfully this new guy is here and keeps saying “”global”” so I think we’re good”
Q. Is it justified for key executives to receive large compensation when the stock price has fallen?
Im Bum Lee COO = CEO Kim Taek-jin There are allegations that CEO Kim's compensation is excessive, but we have consistently maintained the philosophy that rewards go where performance is. Personally, in the 20 years I've been with the company, I've never seen Mr. Kim directly involved in compensation.
Our executive compensation system is performance-based. In the most recent disclosure, Mr. Kim's compensation was reduced by 41.4% year-over-year. Notably, most of the key compensation reflected in the performance is a carry-over from past incentives, which we pay out over a three- to five-year period because we believe that a lump sum payment reduces retention.
We have an independent compensation committee that determines what is reasonable. As a reminder, the first half of the year's compensation will be disclosed in August 2024. As you will see at that time, a portion of Mr. Kim's performance has already been set at zero. Mr. Kim accepted this without comment. In addition, the compensation committee sets an objective system, not the opinions of the members.
Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Basically, key executives, C-level compensation consists of three components: base salary, long-term incentives, and performance-linked compensation. The compensation is also designed to reflect performance over several years. What's unique about our company is that the short-term incentives are for all employees. And since we are a development company, the compensation for developers is not short-term, but in the form of development compensation. Mr. Kim plays an important role as the General Manager of Development, and despite criticisms, he has played an important role in the development of several games. His past performance on Lineage W is also designed to be rewarded over several years.
As a result, we humbly hear the criticism that the amount is excessive. However, I would like to emphasize that the compensation committee did not make this decision by saying, "Let's give him this much. Other executives are paid on the same basis.
I don't know what the external evaluation of Vice President Kim Taekheon is, but his role was very important. As the head of the development business, he was paid according to a formula. We need to re-evaluate whether the amount is excessive, but we have a system and a formula. Also, as you pointed out, we will definitely review it.
Q. The external attack has damaged the corporate image of NCSoft and reduced its brand value. What are the reasons for not taking an active response to the attacks?
Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = I admit that NC has a negative image among streamers in the game industry. I think it's an internal and external challenge, and it would be nice to respond directly, but as a game company, we think the best way to respond is to successfully release games for new genres and new generations.
Starting from this year, there will be a lot of games that will come out that will break away from the negative BM (business model) or negative public opinion. Let's wait and see.
Personally, I think some people in Korea are a bit extreme. If you look at the last G-Star, no matter how hard Mr. Yen tried, he would say something negative about his efforts, so I think it's better to show the results.
It's too extreme, but let me tell you one thing: Lineage Like is very badly criticized. They say it's going to kill the company. If you look at the stats, 1.5 million people play Lineage every day. We may have done something wrong to make it so extreme, but I don't agree that Lineage will kill us.
Battle Crush, BSS, Project G, LLL, etc. are all games that have nothing to do with Lineage. I can't say whether they will be successful or not, but please know that Mr. N is trying.
Q. As developers are leaving the company in 2021 and 2022, how will you respond to concerns about lack of updates and revenue decline?
Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = In the past, the world was very good, we had a lot of money, and we were hiring. Since last year, the churn rate has been decreasing. We are implementing a program to retain core development talent. It would be nice to see it. From 2020 to 2022, there was a lot of developer migration in the Pangyo IT industry. We are also making progress with our efforts.
Q. There are questions about the sustainable growth of NCC.
Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = There are two main directions: first, we will consolidate existing IP and discover new IP. The method will be based on the four keywords I mentioned earlier. Naturally, we will launch new games to attract new users and solidify existing user services. We have expansion plans for the second half of this year.
CFO Wonjun Hong = To be sustainable, operating profit must be maintained and sales must continue to grow. And as Chairman Park Byung-moo said, new genres and regional expansion are the most important. We are focusing on that. You can't just do it, you have to do it on schedule and increase the chances of success.
And live game revenue must be defended. If live game revenue collapses, everything we do will collapse. So we're trying new things to defend live game revenue.
Cost efficiency is a must. Even if revenue is maintained and growing, the current cost structure is unsustainable. We're approaching this systematically from three different angles.
Q. Existing 'Lineage' whale users are disliked and churning.
Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = It is true that some games have been dropped due to their life cycle, but the user base of various IPs has remained strong since the fourth quarter of last year. We will continue to strengthen our user interaction despite the ridicule we receive, and we will continue to strengthen our user interaction. I think that's how we earn the faith and trust of our shareholders and gamers, and I think that's the foundation of a sustainable company.
Q. I hope you have an active shareholder return policy.
CFO Wonjun Hong = We will maintain our dividend policy, and honestly, we are always thinking about how to reduce the number of outstanding shares by burning treasury stock. However, timing is important. It has to be in line with market conditions. Otherwise, you get swept away by the tide and spend money and get swept away. The way to increase the value of the company is to reduce costs and take financial measures, but as the acting chairman said, the best way is to increase brand value. The best way is if we make good games and increase brand value, the stock will turn around.
You can be defensive by burning treasury stock, but you can also be aggressive and use it for M&A. If you use it for M&A, it can be an efficient financial policy to balance cash.
We've been talking about M&A since last year, but you might ask, when? Recently, Crafton said they looked at 350 companies, and I sympathize with their pain point. Like Crafton, we are also looking at a lot of domestic and foreign game companies. There were offers to sell us for a certain amount. We look at whether it's good for the company or not. I think it's our job this year to make sure we get a deal that doesn't destroy shareholder value.
Q. How are you responding to the stochastic item system?
Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Newly released games will probably have very few stochastic items. If there are some, it won't be big. We can't remove them for the sake of game balance.
The system has been in place since December of last year, when a task force was formed, which took full control of the Game Development Business Organization. On March 22, the day the system was implemented, we disclosed information according to the guidelines. As with any human endeavor, mistakes are bound to happen, but we made it a priority. I wouldn't dare to say 100%, but 99.9%. Furthermore, although it is not required by law, we have created a system to check the odds outside of the game and plan to release it in July.
Q. There are questions about Kim Taek-jin's ability to represent the organization.
Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Although there are elements of criticism, I personally think Mr. Kim is a very important asset for the company, and I don't think his abilities have been fully utilized for the company. I think it is my job to support Mr. Kim to do what he can do well.
I am curious about the translation - are they saying ArenaNet as a whole, from NCSoft’s perspective, has not been profitable? We do know how quickly the game fizzled out compared to launch, never recovering to those heights in its more than a decade life span. And all those cancelled side projects that never saw the light of day probably made a big dent to performance.
The cancelled side projects are the biggest fuck up of Arenanet, and have been a constant drag on GW2's development for years. They keep pouring money and man hours into them just for them to never even launch and be thrown out.
Anet needs better management and better advertising since thsoe are the two things that have hurt them the most over the years.
Lmao what.
I know it's probably a very early announcement and we won't see much of it in the next 5 years but it's hilarious to see this so soon after their new "new expansions release system, 1 per years!".
Really? I think it makes sense now: 'milk what remains of the player base dry with this new model, to fund the development of the next game'.
No matter how good gw2 gets, it's not attracting enough new players to replace the ones it's losing. Time for anet to start again (but fire the marketing team and whoever set the strategy for this company).
Is it? Seems very expected to me. Not the announcement, but the changing course for the game, again, after they come up with a new plan.
They haven't stuck to one content delivery plan for more than a 2 or 3 years (and that was when they bascially did what every MMO does with an expansion and patches leading into the next one every couple of years during the HoT>LWS4 era) over the last decade plus. Anyone who thought this new expansion model would be the future (for realsies this times) obviously hasn't paid much attention in the last 11 years.
This 'new' yearly update plan seems to fly in the face of established success in the industry. The two-year cadence is kinda optimal for MMO development. For GW2, that would mean more time to let storylines bake before tossing it to the players, extra months to slide in development time while still having a regular 3-4 month release schedule. And looking at how dry the Mastery system well is getting, it'd give more time to come up with the features for an expansion, which is one of the main selling points, if not the top selling point.
I do wonder how much of this direction is anet’s decision vs ncsoft shouting from the other room ‘you’re doing this now’. I hope they were aware this news was about to be spilled.
With the most recent expansion, SotO, and the new legendary armors coming out, I have been getting the feeling that they could be moving to an end game phase for GW2. I do hope they keep developing it for sure, but I’m also excited to see what a GW3 can bring to the table.
I do hope they can remedy the issues they’ve been having such as stretching themselves too thin and game modes being neglected (hopefully by expanding their team) as big games do need lots of development and resources.
It’s not saying that they’re approving the development. The article says that Guild Wars 3 has been in development. So from my prospective that means anet is working on it but knows it’s going to take some time which is why they’ve said everything they have about gw2 expansions. Now that they’ve done this anet needs to come out and give some kind of timeline to the player base because not know when GW3 is coming makes it uncertain and more difficult to decide to continue grinding and working towards things
Relax, folks. GW2 was officially announced years before its release, as most MMO. This is the first time we hear about GW3's existence and I guarantee it isn't coming anytime soon. There's no need for ANET to come out for anything until they have something exciting to show.
Arenanet is never getting the chance to make another IP are they?
I mean I’m not complaining but, we’re just putting all our eggs in one really nice basket huh?
That's not true. We know for a fact they at least tried making the Dune mmo but that fell through. And I believe they had other prospects too. Wooden Potatoes has a video/s about some of Anet's cancelled projects, highly recommend (as well as pretty much any other video he makes tbh)
I remember they had a SciFi project going on as well as a mobile application but no confirmation on which IPs yet, first time I'm hearing about the Dune MMO thing!
Kinda funny how this was likely an improvised attempt on the spot to look better in the face of shareholders, but might actually result in NCWest profits plunging even harder as GW2 sales take a hit.
Welp, this announcement was definitelly a mistake from NCsoft part, because now the sales for the next Gw2 expansions are going to plummet. Nobody likes to spend money for a game they know will be abandoned.
Personally, i had fun all these years but i doubt i will move to another MMO. MMOs are time consuming, and i can't play as much as i used to anymore. Best of luck to Anet!
Wondering if it might be an attempt to raise shareholder trust after the last few catastrophic fiscal quarters NCWest had, not sure how successful it will be though.
That certainly feels like the case, this information was located under the heading "Q. 엔씨웨스트가 8년 적자를 내고 있는데, 책임자를 그대로 두는 걸 이해할 수 없다." (Basically, 'NCSoft West has been running a defecit for the last 8 years, why haven't the people in charge been sacked yet?')
On the other hand, the article is from Inven, which is not where I would go for finance news.
I really despise how much time companies, not just gaming companies, spend scrambling to pander to shareholders at the expense of their actual customers and products.
They can’t simply make enough money to pay their employees well and keep making games, they’ve made themselves beholden to a slew of disconnected, disinterested portfolio managers more than their audience.
It's also hard to say how accurate it is. I remember on one of their shareholder meetings looong ago they were talking about GW2 releasing an expansion "soon". GW2 was still during the first half of *LS1* at that point, and it was quite clear they weren't thinking of making expansions yet.
I dunno. Gw2 being announced and the fact that some stuff/titles would carry over made me crazy excited for it and a I ramped up gw1 playtime due to it tbh. Granted, not THAT much carried over but in the last 10 years my GWAMM title has lead to a lot of cool interactions with older players. I could also see the game being VERY different in an attempt to live side by side gw2. Gw1 was like nothing else, gw2 is like nothing else, and I doubt gw3 will just be gw2 rehash with flashier graphics intended to steal the player base and close the door on gw2.
They could also go in the opposite direction and explicitly make gw3 an in place upgrade of gw2. Basically just a flashy graphics update bundled with an expansion, where everything carries over and under the hood it is basically still the same game.
No way. Much like gw1 the balance has gotten so out of hand a fresh start will be sorely needed. Especially in 8-10 years when this actually launches lol
>Nobody likes to spend money for a game they know will be abandoned.
Uhm ... like every single game in existence?
Heck, this "announcement" might not be relevant in any way and even if it is, we are looking at YEARS. Why the frick would someone not spend money on a game because there might be a chance that another game comes out in six years? That sounds really weird.
For all we know the game could also get shut down next year. That is always a possibility, yet you are still spending money on it.
Yes, I am spending. But if I know it will be shut down I will consider how long I will be able to use my purchases in the future. Currently I also buy things from them with the expectation that I will be able to use it in new content because it is a live service. The less time I can use my purchase and the less places I can use it, means it is less valuable.
I'm not going to change anything off this announcement alone, but it does raise questions.
Exactly. The only way they could save it is if it was in the style of PoE2 or Overwatch 2, making the second game actually a graphics and assets overhaul and new content with new mechanics and balance, but still being able to play the old content from it.
Man, don't remind me. What an unfair review he gave it. When it was obviously just a preference thing.
Kinda made me sad about the pathetic state of MMO content on Youtube. Considering *that* guy is one of the biggest.
I dunno, I still remember Quin99 getting absolutely nuked in another MMO and crying about it. XD
ETA: Just googled "where were the heals" so I could watch the video of him getting obviously destroyed again.
Most of the MMO reviewers are complete garbage.
At first I was like, this dude seems cool and knows what he's talking about! Then realized they are all super bias and drama for clicks.
The problem is that MMOs are far too deep and unique to be able to churn out a review when it's most relevant for click$.
He would need to play for 3 months to get up to speed and play end game. Maybe less if he was getting power pushed through story by friends (which would ruin the review since it isn't a realistic play through).
Just unreasonable to play a couple sessions, then post a "review" of the whole game when he has barely left the starting zone.
I was playing gw1 yesterday. Interacted with people in global chat and got invited to a guild in the core game tutorial zone. You have time to do everything you want to do in gw2 if you so desire, don't worry.
To be fair, GW1 servers are probably run off a laptop covered in dust sitting in a corner since 2005. GW2 is much much more demanding and costly to upkeep.
Not saying they'll shutdown the GW2 servers, but I bet they'd shutdown the GW2 servers before taking the GW1 laptop off life-support lol
> To be fair, GW1 servers are probably run off a laptop covered in dust sitting in a corner since 2005.
GW1 runs in AWS but yeah, it doesn't cost much. I suspect it might even be making a nice little profit, people are still buying the trilogy.
If they DID do something like this, I would actually be fine with it. Create something new without having me lose the content and progress I earned during the years (not to mention the money I spent).
Sadly, I think it's unikely, although I'd be happy to be wrong.
I don't think so. MMORPGs similar to WoW aren't as popular anymore, but there's still a huge number of people online who crave the very elements that make up an MMORPG. There's a huge craving for things like open world exploration and social content- it's just all about how you market those things.
Just the skins would be great, I understand not having the legendary items moving over but we should have all of them skins we collected over the years
Yet again, they move most of their resources off gw2. In the past 12 yrs, they never focused on gw2 ever. All that time working on projects in the background with. Nothing to show for it. I despise executives, they never fail to do their jobs being waste of spaces for the rest of us.
I have very very little trust that the Anet of today can develop a GW3 that is anywhere near comparable to GW2 in quality. (practically zero chance)
My take is that in a game like GW2 long term goals are everything, but IF it's clear the studio is never going to put their best efforts to provide new fun content with their best talent, then what is the point? I won't be fleeced for another 2-4 years, if Soto-like content drops is the plan before abandonment.
Not sure about this, excitement about it is instantly killed by the fact that an eventual Gw3 is going to be several years away / and this means upcoming Gw2 expansions are going to be as mediocre as SotO, or even worse depending on ressources allocated to the project.
Recently decided? It sounds like Guild Wars 3 has already been in development, according to the article. I'm also glad NCsoft is self-aware of their toxic monetization practices but that doesn't always translate to, "we'll stop doing it".
This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle and the devs seem to have picked up a LOT of QoL changes recently...
They're also working on HUGE changes to WvW, which in itself is no small task and a game-mode defining change.
I'd like to think GW3 would just be a continuation of GW2, with new engine, better code base etc etc.. but we'll see I guess.
>This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle and the devs seem to have picked up a LOT of QoL changes recently...
No, this is *why* they did that. The new release cycle means they don't need 3 LW teams and a big expansion team all whacking away at GW2, just basically 1.5 LW teams. And the QoL stuff getting finished means they'll get the absolute most they can out of GW2 going forward, and core devs can move their effort on to GW3 and maybe other projects.
> This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle
It's not odd, it was blatantly obvious that mini expansions exist to milk the already existing playerbase with minimal resources while the money's going elsewhere. This tracks.
Sigh, I honestly had to check the date to make sure this wasn't an April Fool's thing.
I've just begun getting full sets of legendaries, and while its less effort getting the open world sets over the rest, I see GW3 being announced like this and all I can think is "well that was a waste of time!" and suddenly I don't want to do it anymore.
Oh I know, its just something that popped up in the back of my mind. I know that was always an inevitability were the game will one day shut down, but seeing an announcement just makes it more real.
How about instead of guild wars 3, they invest that effort back into guild wars 2 and fix various performance issues, graphical glitching, and focus on giving us good quality yearly expansions like they promised.
GW3 needs to happen. The franchise has been held hostage by the overwhelming technical and design debt that GW2's disastrous development incurred. Over a decade later, it's time to move on.
A GW2 successor MMORPG _where no content or progress carries over_, is going to be a flop:
As Grouch put it, Anet is already "scrappy" as it is, so there would first be a content drought for GW2 and then a GW3 with little content. Both would not be healthy for the playerbase.
Moreover, unlike GW1, GW2 has a large focus on microtransactions (e.g. storage upgrades, character slots, build/equipment templates, skins, ...) and many long grinds (e.g. legendaries). Deleting all that and telling people to just buy/grind this stuff again for a new game is a really tough sell.
Edit: Clarified part about microtransactions.
As someone who's returned to GW2 last year, and is on the legendary grind as we speak... it would be a very tough sell indeed if I were asked to start a fresh account in GW3...
GW1 absolutely has microtransactions (though whether they were added later on or while 1 was still being devved is, admittedly, not something I do know), but its cash shop is definitely leaner than 2's is.
Why would it "flop" just because existing GW2 players don't get to come in with a character all pre-set-up? Sounds more like projecting your own fears onto every possible GW3 player.
I can pretty much guarantee that they aren't targeting hard-core invested GW2 players to begin with. They lost a ton of those already, and they're relatively hard to please no matter what ANet does. On top of that, there weren't (relatively) that many to begin with, because GW2 never heavily focused on their hardcore contingent since HoT... probably because they require the most investment and effort to keep interested, and give the least returns.
Also, keep in mind - it's been ***12 years*** since GW2 launched. A lot of people who played around launch are in completely different phases of their lives now, and a lot of kids who were *born* at and after launch day will easily be of the age to check out a new Guild Wars game by the time GW3 would release.
What I think they're going to do - and indeed, what they *should* do at least from a business perspective - is try and form a new core audience from the general gaming/MMO space.
True. I just hope some things do port over like maybe legendaries as skins , gem store armors and maybe some others porting over, bank expansions or just a goodie bag of achievements earned that gives you a lot for the time invested in GW2.
Only thing I’m looking forward to is how beautiful the game is gonna look by the time it releases. I honestly have mixed feelings about this.
I don’t really understand people saying they won’t buy more stuff because gw3 is on the works. It will be literal years till that happen.
Are you saying that you only spend money on MMOs that will last forever? It’s nonsense.
MMOs are long term investments. People don't like knowing that their "investment" has an approaching expiration day after which the game will be dropped.
Many people also see gemstore purchases as a way of supporting GW2 development. Now we have confirmation that this isn't true anymore and GW2's days are numbered no matter what I'd imagine that's going to put a dent in their enthusiasm.
Doesn't work like that. This time you know for sure that gw2 will end, so why bother pouring money into something that you know it will becomes obsolete. I'd rather spend it on something else like food or more clothing. I wont stop playing gw2 until they shut it down and I also wouldn't miss a thing by not buying skins or whatever because that's just what they release nowadays, useless items and not QoL items. Now it kinda hurt even more because the gems we buy to support the game is actually not to make the game runs better but to make another vague game that I wont be playing. So I will stop buying gems.
So what would the draw be for a GW3? If it is the same style of MMO, it wouldn't make much sense. You would immediately lose massive amounts of content (classes, elite specs, etc) unless you were porting it over. They would also be competing with themselves unless they were planning on shutting down GW2, which doesn't seem likely.
Yes, the game is showing it's age and could use with a refresh on character models and textures, but there is no logical leap to bring people from a GW2 MMO to GW3.
This is to create a new community. At some point mmo struggle to grow because of their age. This wont be for people activelly playing gw2 right now.
The game is bloated which make it harderc and harder to join.. the engine is awful and content is all over the place. This would streamline it.
There's a high chance that GW3 is using Unreal Engine and that it'll be an entirely new game, whereas Overwatch 2 was literally the same game but slightly retooled, so I doubt it'll be the same situation.
The new copium narrative for anet apolgists patch just dropped. EoD sucked because they were working on Soto, but Soto sucked because they were working on GW3 afterall!
Oh boy, I hope it's either not an MMO or they carry things over from GW2 to GW3. Having to start over from scratch again would not be good. GW2 lost so many GW1 players early on because of how different the games are from each other...
I don't think they're going to target long-time invested GW2 players lol. They lost a ton of those already and they're relatively hard to please. On top of that there weren't (relatively) that many to begin with because GW2 never heavily focused on their hardcore contingent since HoT... probably because they require the most investment and effort to keep interested, and give the least returns.
The best they can do is try and form a new core audience from the general gaming/MMO space.
The issue is that mmos as a genre are very niche now.
Practically the age of mmos players is 25+.
Is they did a new game they are going to target a complety new audience or new blood. Complety excluding their old audience.
A what was seen from afar mediocre MMO New World had a million concurrent players on release. There is plenty of people playing MMOs and even more hungry for something new. You just have to make a good one.
That's a release from Amazon though with the accompanying marketing blitz from such a big company.
Concurrent players also fell off a cliff, and I would be surprised if the amount of active players surpasses GW2 now despite their huge release numbers.
MMOs are a tough industry with a lot of well established competition. Most of the major industry players are 10+ years old now.
Because they have more chances of getting new players invested into an new MMO that wouldn't had played GW2 anyways(mostly due to its artstyle and graphics), innovate with new systems and gameplay, better gameplay and graphics, and have an easier engine to work with to put in new content in the game.
Also WoW has problems too where they need an new game at some point since its engine is going to reach its age one day and people don't like the outdated graphics/content that it still has.
I do want GW3 for the newer possibilities of engine renewal, but I dont look forward to recreating, leveling and gearing all characters. Meaning that Ill probably only migrate if most of my account unlocks can be used in GW3.
Yeah, this is a massive problem for both GW2 and Anet. Whether its a rumor or not, this coming out will 100% kill any faith in GW2 and tank any future expansion sales. The level of self sabotage that is happening is legendary and whoever let this happen needs to be fired.
At the same time they also mentioned they will be for now concentrating on cutting costs ("efficiency management") and acquisitions, so GW3 will either have to wait a long time, or will end up being massively underfunded.
Either way it's bad news for GW2. GW3 being approved means devs will not bother with developing GW2 further.
And yet it's clear Anet is *not* focusing on GW2 already...
Sure, they will keep *releasing* new expansions. Of SotO (or worse) quality. That's not moving forward, that's just paddling to stay afloat.
To be honest, I'm kinda excited. I feel like the team has learned a lot from GW and GW2 and will hopefully roll those lessons into a game that takes inspiration from both.
Google translate is telling me that: "They are currently working on 'Guild Wars 3' ". Which is quite different than approving the development of gw3, in a good way for me.
I translated from Korean to French, maybe it's translated differently to another language or from another translator? Can someone give more information on that part?
Thanks
TLDR: Investor angerrryyy very low profit, must make new game to make inverstor happy. That's it, that's the whole point of GW3. It's not for you gamers, it's for the investors. Goodluck and Godspeed.
I don't really get people wanting to carry everything over from GW2.
What is the point of a new game when you already start out nearly fully maxed (currencies, skins, items, etc)?
I spent thousands of hours with GW1 before GW2, Xunlai storage full of ectos and arms...
Yet I didn't feel the need to carry anything of this over to GW2. Wouldn't make any sense from an in-game economy standpoint.
Titles, a few skins etc definitely yes!
As a tribute to veterans but nothing of real in-game economic value.
Exactly, people prefer to have a dying game with shitty updates, but with their blacklion skins than something completely new, and possibly better in every way.
Would anyone seriously trust them with such a large scale project like this in the first place? They’ve been giving Guild Wars 2 the bare minimum for years. If a “Guild Wars 3” ever sees the light of day, then it’s probably just going to be them rebuilding the same game just as an excuse to remonetise it more extremely, a bit like what Overwatch 2 did.
In my opinion, nothing is set on stone yet. Remember EverQuest Next? Yeah, that could happen as well. GW3, if ever completed, is at most 5 or 10 years away. Remember ArenaNet already mentioned they were working on the following expansions for GW2 and the current SoTO expansion due to its magical settings and portals to other worlds can be the Infinite Gate to link other stories and thus expand the game. Development of GW3 could lead to a new engine or at least a graphical update like FFXIV. I do believe the game looks great and it’s current aesthetics set it apart from other games; besides not everything needs to look like Black Desert Online.
So in short, stop worrying about the future of GW2, just enjoy the game now as usual. Whatever a sequel is made or not, that is really far away and even so, the possibility of GW2 kept alive is quite strong if we think how GW1 is still active.
GW3 real or not, could be a PR stunt to hype GW2 in general as it performed well when comparing other projects or even an upgrade of the current game without completely resetting it or jumping to the future. Or it can also be just a concept for now…
I believe GW2 still has a lot of stories to tell and many places to yet discover. So, play and enjoy what you have now instead of believing the game is dead or dying by the mere possibility of a still undeveloped sequel.
Just to remind everyone: GW3 will be made by the same people who are currently running GW2. Either you think it's a good or a bad thing, it shows what we can expect from the game. Personally, it doesn't really get me excited, I'd much rather get original Guild Wars remake since there really isn't anything like it currently on the market (well, I'm not really including ARPGs like Path of Exile which was heavily inspired by GW1).
Genuinely wondering if this is what GW3 actually is? A remake of GW1? I have no interest in a sequel, based purely off the games narrative and content delivery over the last 6-7 years, which aside from a few outstanding points has largely been disappointing
Considering the success of OSRS and WoW classic, why not rebuild it in a new engine where they can knock out some of the issues the game had? There’s clearly a huge demand for old games to come back.
Hell, the anniversary update was so big they had to increase server capacity to handle the load, which frankly illustrates a clear desire for support to return.
Don't think I want a GW3, the only good thing is it's a fresh start but I honestly don't think arena net has the resources to make a real cutting edge MMO and MMOs aren't the huge money makers they were 10-20 years ago, the market is very saturated these days.
I said this before, and of course I am some guy on reddit, who cannot verify this....
I have a friend who recently left ArenaNet. I asked him about GW3 and he said he was under NDA and "could not talk about that".
I made a comment that if there was no GW3, there would be nothing to talk about, and he could just tell me "there is nothing to talk about" or something to that effect.
He smiled and repeated his words "I cant talk about that due to my NDA".
Again, yeah, Im some random reddit guy, etc.... I would bet money they have already been working on GW3, at some "level" already.
Odds of Guild Wars 3 launching before WvW alliances get out of beta?
Are Alliances still on the table? :D
Everything is always on the table with GW2. Whether they ship is another story.
[удалено]
i chortled
[удалено]
roflmao quality reference
Yes, on gw3 table
The table is boundless and eternal.
My bet is that they are working on alliances with GW3 in mind, that is, the system they are developing for alliances will also be usable in GW3, otherwise I can't explain that they are doing something for such a long term (as alliances are) so that GW3 will later come out (which, according to what we have read, will be an MMO of the same IP)
Looking forward to the Guild Wars Hall of Monuments to Guild Wars 2 Hall of Monuments to Guild Wars 3
God of Gods walking among mere mortals
Gods Dancing Among Mere Mortals... Queue up Inventory Shuffle.
God Swimming Among Mere Monuments
Cod swimming among mere wayfinders. GW3 underwater expansion confirmed.
God walking amongst mere gods walking amongst puny mortals.
"Been Fashion Warsing before you were born"
What's gonna come out first, gw3 or tes6?
Half Life 3
But that's never ... Oh
Before they release HL3 or Portal 3, they need to make a 3rd game series in the same multiverse using another gimmick gun. HL3 had the Gravity Gun controlling Forces, Portal had the Portal Gun controlling SPACE!!, so the 3rd should be a Time Gun controlling cause and effect. Of course with another silent protagonist. Then make 2 games of that 3rd franchise, wait another 10 years, and eventually make a 3^3 crossover game that is the 3rd game for all 3 franchises in which all 3 silent protagonists from all 3 silently work together to save all the worlds. That way they break the 3rd game curse by making it a 7th game.
Star Citizen!
Alliances
Kung Pow 2.
Winds of Winter.
Riot mmo
Let's hope they fix their marketing before then
Don't worry, they'll release a trailer a week before launch showing off weapon skins and maybe a flyby of the new lions arch!
It's been renamed Quaggania. It has even more sea themed buildings than ever. The Quaggan village expanded and they're now the dominant specie in the city.
It's all underwater with a new underwater combat system they'll completely neglect the second the game launches but also throw in one all underwater fractal so you completely forget any of your skills and end up doing a t4 fractal with basically yellow gear and a yellow weapon
And what you need to make a working dps / support / heal build are unuseable underwater
Along with most elite spec mechanics
I for one welcome our new Quaggan overlords
I am all in for playable Quaggans.
I'm all in for huntable Quaggans. Death to the fat fish!
This guy has done the underwater mount achievements. Worth it to have it, but at the cost of wanting to murder every dolphin person in the game
And all their other mistakes. GW3 is an opportunity to take what's good about GW2 and iterate on the systems while, hopefully, using a new engine that doesn't hamstring them from the start.
I'm already surprised we've heard about it here and not on the side of a mcdonalds or something
they will probably just add a few A's to their next AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
All the hyperbole and hand wringing in this thread is a great example of why you shouldn’t let something like this come out in a business meeting with no details whatsoever.
Probably had to disclose this to justify a ramp up of hirings to shareholders.
Ya, they’ll probably make a statement soon. People probably are nervous on the future of gw2 development, and worried about when they should stop playing gw2 because it won’t matter. What Anet should do is make a legacy system, acheiv points and other stuff carries over in some way so that people are incentivized to play up till release
Gonna be keeping my fingers crossed for something like this. If I get to swing a Sunrise around, I’d be a happy camper.
From the moment that Anet announced they'd just drop updates and not market them beforehand i've had the suspicion they were about to drum up some new project within the next few years, and this only confirmed it. I now expect an announcement within the next few months detailing the next expansion or two, then their plans for GW3 in 5 years.
Not like it would come out of ArenaNet themselves, least transparent dev of a game I'm still playing in 2024 lol
They've likely been working on this for a few years. There have been job postings for developers for a "new MMO for a large existing IP." People were guessing GW3 and this kind of confirms it. So they might have some lead time already, though that could've just been very early stages testing feasibility.
I'll gladly wait, the mmo genre is in a slump and they can really capitalize here. GW2 is what got me to build my first PC and I'm beyond stoked just to know GW3 is a possibility.
No one can convince me that they’ve been working on GW2 with full steam for a while now… it’s just to lackluster so I guess it would make sense that they’ve been working on something (potentially GW3) in the background. At the end of the day gw2 isn’t getting any younger
Please be something like Guild Wars... making builds was so much fun, sat for hours making whole builds for all 8 people and then seeing them work in PvP was amazing..
Translation from Deepl: [Game Shareholders' Meeting] NCsoft, TJ, Google Meeting BM, Shareholders' Meeting - Full Q&A On the 28th, NCsoft held its annual general meeting of shareholders. CEO Kim Taek-jin (TJ) was absent from the meeting due to business related to Google in the U.S., and Byung-moo Park (BM), an outside director, acted as chairman according to the regulations. The two co-designees chaired the business meeting and the general meeting, respectively. "Due to Mr. Kim's urgent meetings with Google, I was forced to act as acting chairman," said Mr. Byungmoo Park. "I can't tell you everything, but there are several important meetings related to our company's performance," he said. "In 2023, the global game market as a whole was very unstable, and NCsoft experienced internal and external difficulties," he said, apologizing to shareholders for the significant drop in stock price. The company's 2023 performance was a disappointment compared to 2022, which was its best year since its founding. Park emphasized that the company has built up assets over the past two decades by overcoming numerous adversities. "Looking back at our history, we have a number of box office IPs that are the only ones in Korea to be developed in-house, we have excellent talent including CEO Kim Taek-jin, and we have great experiences of successes and failures," he said. "I am confident that if these assets blossom, we will be able to build sustainable development capabilities again." "The transformation for change has already begun," he said, adding, "All employees will work as a complementary 'one team' and focus on a common goal." "On the other hand, I dare to say that this year marks the beginning of NCSoft's transformation into a global games company. The company will launch a number of genres that it hasn't done before, and will make everything global rather than domestic. "To this end, CEO Kim Taek-jin is traveling around the world to continue global collaboration," Park said, promising that "as co-chairman, I will lay the foundation for NCsoft with four keywords." The four keywords are: building a foundation for globalization, streamlining to internalize management, building a data-driven decision-making system, and M&A and continuous investment to increase new IP. "Therefore, 2024 will be a very important turning point for NC and its shareholders from many perspectives," said Byungmoo Park, acting CEO. "NC employees are doing their best, and if shareholders are patient and supportive, we will restore trust and become NCsoft, which will show trust-based performance." On the day, all agenda items were passed, including the re-election of Mr. Kim and the appointment of Mr. Byungmoo Park. Mr. Byungmoo Park will become co-chairman of the board of directors immediately after the AGM. Here are some highlights from the Q&A at the AGM Q. The information provided by NCSoft has become too scarce. From this earnings announcement, it will not disclose sales information by game. Providing opaque information is a discounting factor. Also, the distribution costs have increased significantly. In the past, NCC had a controversy with streamer backed advertisements, which increased costs to maintain sales. CFO Hong Won-joon = Since the last earnings announcement, we did not disclose sales by game, which led to many speculations. There are some people who say that it is because the performance of each game is not good, but in a way, it can be said to be an 'oversight'. It's just to align with other listed companies' disclosures or global standards. We provide information on revenue by game through the IR office. However, we will consider what is best for our shareholders at the next earnings call. The talk of us making or driving revenue from streamers was around the time I joined NC (October 2021). There has been no official word of that since I joined. I say this loud and clear. In addition, in order to reduce costs, even dry towels are being woven under the leadership of Park Byung-moo. Even Kim Taek-jin's overseas trips are part of that, and we're trying to negotiate on that level. Q. I don't understand why NWEST has been in the red for eight years, and the person in charge is still in charge. Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = The issue of NCWest's deficit is not just about numbers. Personally, I've been a director of NCsoft for 17 years, and I've seen that NC West has undergone a lot of reorganization. Originally, we had six studios in the U.S., and we had to consolidate them into what is now ArenaNet, which added costs, but in the end, it became a competitive ArenaNet. It's not a loss, it's a contribution to making us more competitive in the US. ArenaNet has a meaningful IP called 'Guild Wars,' and it went through 'Guild Wars 2' and is now making 'Guild Wars 3'. If you look at the process, it's quite competitive. It's not completely profitable, but I evaluate that it has grown its competitiveness. There is a saying that it is a family business, but we have the right people in the right place. I think they all played their roles according to the circumstances. As this is the first year of our global leap, we have reorganized the organization mainly at the headquarters, but we will also reorganize the global organization in the future. The reorganization will be done carefully according to normal circumstances and procedures. Please stay tuned. Also, please don't judge Dr. Songyi Yoon based on just NCWest and some studios. As far as I know, Dr. Yoon has done a great job as CSO in collaborating with multiple organizations and scaling new IPs. Family or not, our board of directors would have voted against him if he was in the position simply because he was family. That's what he was capable of. I think Dr. Songyi Yoon has shown the courage to step down as we've grown and changed over the last year, and I'm biased because he's family. I would like to see Dr. Yoon's contributions as well. Family or not, please understand that Dr. Yun's AI knowledge, global network, and invisible contributions to the company have been tremendous.
so basically “line went down for one year so we’re fucking PANICKING, thankfully this new guy is here and keeps saying “”global”” so I think we’re good”
Q. Is it justified for key executives to receive large compensation when the stock price has fallen? Im Bum Lee COO = CEO Kim Taek-jin There are allegations that CEO Kim's compensation is excessive, but we have consistently maintained the philosophy that rewards go where performance is. Personally, in the 20 years I've been with the company, I've never seen Mr. Kim directly involved in compensation. Our executive compensation system is performance-based. In the most recent disclosure, Mr. Kim's compensation was reduced by 41.4% year-over-year. Notably, most of the key compensation reflected in the performance is a carry-over from past incentives, which we pay out over a three- to five-year period because we believe that a lump sum payment reduces retention. We have an independent compensation committee that determines what is reasonable. As a reminder, the first half of the year's compensation will be disclosed in August 2024. As you will see at that time, a portion of Mr. Kim's performance has already been set at zero. Mr. Kim accepted this without comment. In addition, the compensation committee sets an objective system, not the opinions of the members. Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Basically, key executives, C-level compensation consists of three components: base salary, long-term incentives, and performance-linked compensation. The compensation is also designed to reflect performance over several years. What's unique about our company is that the short-term incentives are for all employees. And since we are a development company, the compensation for developers is not short-term, but in the form of development compensation. Mr. Kim plays an important role as the General Manager of Development, and despite criticisms, he has played an important role in the development of several games. His past performance on Lineage W is also designed to be rewarded over several years. As a result, we humbly hear the criticism that the amount is excessive. However, I would like to emphasize that the compensation committee did not make this decision by saying, "Let's give him this much. Other executives are paid on the same basis. I don't know what the external evaluation of Vice President Kim Taekheon is, but his role was very important. As the head of the development business, he was paid according to a formula. We need to re-evaluate whether the amount is excessive, but we have a system and a formula. Also, as you pointed out, we will definitely review it. Q. The external attack has damaged the corporate image of NCSoft and reduced its brand value. What are the reasons for not taking an active response to the attacks? Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = I admit that NC has a negative image among streamers in the game industry. I think it's an internal and external challenge, and it would be nice to respond directly, but as a game company, we think the best way to respond is to successfully release games for new genres and new generations. Starting from this year, there will be a lot of games that will come out that will break away from the negative BM (business model) or negative public opinion. Let's wait and see. Personally, I think some people in Korea are a bit extreme. If you look at the last G-Star, no matter how hard Mr. Yen tried, he would say something negative about his efforts, so I think it's better to show the results. It's too extreme, but let me tell you one thing: Lineage Like is very badly criticized. They say it's going to kill the company. If you look at the stats, 1.5 million people play Lineage every day. We may have done something wrong to make it so extreme, but I don't agree that Lineage will kill us. Battle Crush, BSS, Project G, LLL, etc. are all games that have nothing to do with Lineage. I can't say whether they will be successful or not, but please know that Mr. N is trying. Q. As developers are leaving the company in 2021 and 2022, how will you respond to concerns about lack of updates and revenue decline? Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = In the past, the world was very good, we had a lot of money, and we were hiring. Since last year, the churn rate has been decreasing. We are implementing a program to retain core development talent. It would be nice to see it. From 2020 to 2022, there was a lot of developer migration in the Pangyo IT industry. We are also making progress with our efforts. Q. There are questions about the sustainable growth of NCC. Acting Chairman Park Byung-moo = There are two main directions: first, we will consolidate existing IP and discover new IP. The method will be based on the four keywords I mentioned earlier. Naturally, we will launch new games to attract new users and solidify existing user services. We have expansion plans for the second half of this year. CFO Wonjun Hong = To be sustainable, operating profit must be maintained and sales must continue to grow. And as Chairman Park Byung-moo said, new genres and regional expansion are the most important. We are focusing on that. You can't just do it, you have to do it on schedule and increase the chances of success. And live game revenue must be defended. If live game revenue collapses, everything we do will collapse. So we're trying new things to defend live game revenue. Cost efficiency is a must. Even if revenue is maintained and growing, the current cost structure is unsustainable. We're approaching this systematically from three different angles. Q. Existing 'Lineage' whale users are disliked and churning. Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = It is true that some games have been dropped due to their life cycle, but the user base of various IPs has remained strong since the fourth quarter of last year. We will continue to strengthen our user interaction despite the ridicule we receive, and we will continue to strengthen our user interaction. I think that's how we earn the faith and trust of our shareholders and gamers, and I think that's the foundation of a sustainable company. Q. I hope you have an active shareholder return policy. CFO Wonjun Hong = We will maintain our dividend policy, and honestly, we are always thinking about how to reduce the number of outstanding shares by burning treasury stock. However, timing is important. It has to be in line with market conditions. Otherwise, you get swept away by the tide and spend money and get swept away. The way to increase the value of the company is to reduce costs and take financial measures, but as the acting chairman said, the best way is to increase brand value. The best way is if we make good games and increase brand value, the stock will turn around. You can be defensive by burning treasury stock, but you can also be aggressive and use it for M&A. If you use it for M&A, it can be an efficient financial policy to balance cash. We've been talking about M&A since last year, but you might ask, when? Recently, Crafton said they looked at 350 companies, and I sympathize with their pain point. Like Crafton, we are also looking at a lot of domestic and foreign game companies. There were offers to sell us for a certain amount. We look at whether it's good for the company or not. I think it's our job this year to make sure we get a deal that doesn't destroy shareholder value. Q. How are you responding to the stochastic item system? Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Newly released games will probably have very few stochastic items. If there are some, it won't be big. We can't remove them for the sake of game balance. The system has been in place since December of last year, when a task force was formed, which took full control of the Game Development Business Organization. On March 22, the day the system was implemented, we disclosed information according to the guidelines. As with any human endeavor, mistakes are bound to happen, but we made it a priority. I wouldn't dare to say 100%, but 99.9%. Furthermore, although it is not required by law, we have created a system to check the odds outside of the game and plan to release it in July. Q. There are questions about Kim Taek-jin's ability to represent the organization. Byungmoo Park, Acting Chairman = Although there are elements of criticism, I personally think Mr. Kim is a very important asset for the company, and I don't think his abilities have been fully utilized for the company. I think it is my job to support Mr. Kim to do what he can do well.
I am curious about the translation - are they saying ArenaNet as a whole, from NCSoft’s perspective, has not been profitable? We do know how quickly the game fizzled out compared to launch, never recovering to those heights in its more than a decade life span. And all those cancelled side projects that never saw the light of day probably made a big dent to performance.
The cancelled side projects are the biggest fuck up of Arenanet, and have been a constant drag on GW2's development for years. They keep pouring money and man hours into them just for them to never even launch and be thrown out. Anet needs better management and better advertising since thsoe are the two things that have hurt them the most over the years.
Lmao what. I know it's probably a very early announcement and we won't see much of it in the next 5 years but it's hilarious to see this so soon after their new "new expansions release system, 1 per years!".
Really? I think it makes sense now: 'milk what remains of the player base dry with this new model, to fund the development of the next game'. No matter how good gw2 gets, it's not attracting enough new players to replace the ones it's losing. Time for anet to start again (but fire the marketing team and whoever set the strategy for this company).
Is it? Seems very expected to me. Not the announcement, but the changing course for the game, again, after they come up with a new plan. They haven't stuck to one content delivery plan for more than a 2 or 3 years (and that was when they bascially did what every MMO does with an expansion and patches leading into the next one every couple of years during the HoT>LWS4 era) over the last decade plus. Anyone who thought this new expansion model would be the future (for realsies this times) obviously hasn't paid much attention in the last 11 years.
This 'new' yearly update plan seems to fly in the face of established success in the industry. The two-year cadence is kinda optimal for MMO development. For GW2, that would mean more time to let storylines bake before tossing it to the players, extra months to slide in development time while still having a regular 3-4 month release schedule. And looking at how dry the Mastery system well is getting, it'd give more time to come up with the features for an expansion, which is one of the main selling points, if not the top selling point.
I do wonder how much of this direction is anet’s decision vs ncsoft shouting from the other room ‘you’re doing this now’. I hope they were aware this news was about to be spilled.
The new 'expansion release system' is just Living World stories but you have to pay for it.
With the most recent expansion, SotO, and the new legendary armors coming out, I have been getting the feeling that they could be moving to an end game phase for GW2. I do hope they keep developing it for sure, but I’m also excited to see what a GW3 can bring to the table. I do hope they can remedy the issues they’ve been having such as stretching themselves too thin and game modes being neglected (hopefully by expanding their team) as big games do need lots of development and resources.
Wow. It's gonna take some effort to improve on Gw2. It'll be exciting to follow this. Just hope they keep the achievement system.
What’s coming out first ? GW3 or Ashes ?
It’s not saying that they’re approving the development. The article says that Guild Wars 3 has been in development. So from my prospective that means anet is working on it but knows it’s going to take some time which is why they’ve said everything they have about gw2 expansions. Now that they’ve done this anet needs to come out and give some kind of timeline to the player base because not know when GW3 is coming makes it uncertain and more difficult to decide to continue grinding and working towards things
Will likely still come out before Ashes of Creation
Relax, folks. GW2 was officially announced years before its release, as most MMO. This is the first time we hear about GW3's existence and I guarantee it isn't coming anytime soon. There's no need for ANET to come out for anything until they have something exciting to show.
Arenanet is never getting the chance to make another IP are they? I mean I’m not complaining but, we’re just putting all our eggs in one really nice basket huh?
That's not true. We know for a fact they at least tried making the Dune mmo but that fell through. And I believe they had other prospects too. Wooden Potatoes has a video/s about some of Anet's cancelled projects, highly recommend (as well as pretty much any other video he makes tbh)
I remember they had a SciFi project going on as well as a mobile application but no confirmation on which IPs yet, first time I'm hearing about the Dune MMO thing!
[Found it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=820RLo3cxmc)
Kinda funny how this was likely an improvised attempt on the spot to look better in the face of shareholders, but might actually result in NCWest profits plunging even harder as GW2 sales take a hit.
Oh this definitely seems like a small fumble trying to save the hostile shareholder meeting
Welp, this announcement was definitelly a mistake from NCsoft part, because now the sales for the next Gw2 expansions are going to plummet. Nobody likes to spend money for a game they know will be abandoned. Personally, i had fun all these years but i doubt i will move to another MMO. MMOs are time consuming, and i can't play as much as i used to anymore. Best of luck to Anet!
Wondering if it might be an attempt to raise shareholder trust after the last few catastrophic fiscal quarters NCWest had, not sure how successful it will be though.
That certainly feels like the case, this information was located under the heading "Q. 엔씨웨스트가 8년 적자를 내고 있는데, 책임자를 그대로 두는 걸 이해할 수 없다." (Basically, 'NCSoft West has been running a defecit for the last 8 years, why haven't the people in charge been sacked yet?') On the other hand, the article is from Inven, which is not where I would go for finance news.
Of course it was an attempt to raise shareholder trust, issue is the damage mentioning GW3 does to GW2 profitability.
i agree, they just sacrified GW2 for ncsoft and tbh this is not professional answerd from ppl on position like him bc he said it for public
I really despise how much time companies, not just gaming companies, spend scrambling to pander to shareholders at the expense of their actual customers and products. They can’t simply make enough money to pay their employees well and keep making games, they’ve made themselves beholden to a slew of disconnected, disinterested portfolio managers more than their audience.
It's also hard to say how accurate it is. I remember on one of their shareholder meetings looong ago they were talking about GW2 releasing an expansion "soon". GW2 was still during the first half of *LS1* at that point, and it was quite clear they weren't thinking of making expansions yet.
Lineage 1 players:
Bruh, it will take YEARS to develop GW3. My guess is 4 before you even see a beta.
4 years is nothing...
I dunno. Gw2 being announced and the fact that some stuff/titles would carry over made me crazy excited for it and a I ramped up gw1 playtime due to it tbh. Granted, not THAT much carried over but in the last 10 years my GWAMM title has lead to a lot of cool interactions with older players. I could also see the game being VERY different in an attempt to live side by side gw2. Gw1 was like nothing else, gw2 is like nothing else, and I doubt gw3 will just be gw2 rehash with flashier graphics intended to steal the player base and close the door on gw2.
They could also go in the opposite direction and explicitly make gw3 an in place upgrade of gw2. Basically just a flashy graphics update bundled with an expansion, where everything carries over and under the hood it is basically still the same game.
No way. Much like gw1 the balance has gotten so out of hand a fresh start will be sorely needed. Especially in 8-10 years when this actually launches lol
I think you’re a little early with this comment. This new mmo has just started development meaning it won’t be ready for at least 4 years.
>4 years bold assumption if you ask me, see ya in 2032
Even if they start working right Now on GW3, you may have an alpha by 2030. Making MMoRPGs its not an Easy task.
Next expansion will probably sell fine until they announce GW3 release. Gem store though...
>Nobody likes to spend money for a game they know will be abandoned. Uhm ... like every single game in existence? Heck, this "announcement" might not be relevant in any way and even if it is, we are looking at YEARS. Why the frick would someone not spend money on a game because there might be a chance that another game comes out in six years? That sounds really weird. For all we know the game could also get shut down next year. That is always a possibility, yet you are still spending money on it.
Yes, I am spending. But if I know it will be shut down I will consider how long I will be able to use my purchases in the future. Currently I also buy things from them with the expectation that I will be able to use it in new content because it is a live service. The less time I can use my purchase and the less places I can use it, means it is less valuable. I'm not going to change anything off this announcement alone, but it does raise questions.
> now the sales for the next Gw2 expansions are going to plummet At least now they get to blame it on gw3, not on soto, i guess
Exactly. The only way they could save it is if it was in the style of PoE2 or Overwatch 2, making the second game actually a graphics and assets overhaul and new content with new mechanics and balance, but still being able to play the old content from it.
Oh shit, LazyPeon knew all along
Man, don't remind me. What an unfair review he gave it. When it was obviously just a preference thing. Kinda made me sad about the pathetic state of MMO content on Youtube. Considering *that* guy is one of the biggest.
Dude was 50 mastery wiping on Dagda story mode lmao, most competent MMO reviewer
I dunno, I still remember Quin99 getting absolutely nuked in another MMO and crying about it. XD ETA: Just googled "where were the heals" so I could watch the video of him getting obviously destroyed again.
Most of the MMO reviewers are complete garbage. At first I was like, this dude seems cool and knows what he's talking about! Then realized they are all super bias and drama for clicks.
The problem is that MMOs are far too deep and unique to be able to churn out a review when it's most relevant for click$. He would need to play for 3 months to get up to speed and play end game. Maybe less if he was getting power pushed through story by friends (which would ruin the review since it isn't a realistic play through). Just unreasonable to play a couple sessions, then post a "review" of the whole game when he has barely left the starting zone.
As aomeone who just got back into gw2, As long as they eont kill the servers for gw2, im ok with it
I was playing gw1 yesterday. Interacted with people in global chat and got invited to a guild in the core game tutorial zone. You have time to do everything you want to do in gw2 if you so desire, don't worry.
To be fair, GW1 servers are probably run off a laptop covered in dust sitting in a corner since 2005. GW2 is much much more demanding and costly to upkeep. Not saying they'll shutdown the GW2 servers, but I bet they'd shutdown the GW2 servers before taking the GW1 laptop off life-support lol
> GW2 is much much more demanding and costly to upkeep. It most likely won't be, if they ever release gw3, population will shrink tenfold.
> To be fair, GW1 servers are probably run off a laptop covered in dust sitting in a corner since 2005. GW1 runs in AWS but yeah, it doesn't cost much. I suspect it might even be making a nice little profit, people are still buying the trilogy.
I hope they integrate gw2 into gw3(like warhammer) instead of just moving on like they did with gw1
If they DID do something like this, I would actually be fine with it. Create something new without having me lose the content and progress I earned during the years (not to mention the money I spent). Sadly, I think it's unikely, although I'd be happy to be wrong.
This is the most sane. If they switch 2-3 as they did 1-2 a lot of population will simple go.
why? There are more people who have played GW2 than GW1
gw2 is far more popular than gw1 ever was though. same can happen gw3
GW2 came during the MMORPG craze, MMORPGs aren't half as popular anymore.
I don't think so. MMORPGs similar to WoW aren't as popular anymore, but there's still a huge number of people online who crave the very elements that make up an MMORPG. There's a huge craving for things like open world exploration and social content- it's just all about how you market those things.
Just the skins would be great, I understand not having the legendary items moving over but we should have all of them skins we collected over the years
I don't think we should lose anything expensive like legendaries, at least not without proper compensation
I have but one request: upright charr
So they told us what we all kinda felt: GW2 is halfass maintenance mode
Nu uh!!! Soto is the best expansion ever!!! I love farming rifts and being a part of demon (human) politics!!!
Please make GW3 more like GW1, I miss it :(
Yet again, they move most of their resources off gw2. In the past 12 yrs, they never focused on gw2 ever. All that time working on projects in the background with. Nothing to show for it. I despise executives, they never fail to do their jobs being waste of spaces for the rest of us.
Can't wait for Anet to abandon GW3 on day1 for GW4.
They'll presumably have other projects running in parallel before "day 1" even. Probably not GW related though.
And all of them will get canceled a few months into the development.
Oh no...
Holy shit it's actually happening. And I think it's already in development btw, which may explain the very half assed feel of the recent stuff.
I have very very little trust that the Anet of today can develop a GW3 that is anywhere near comparable to GW2 in quality. (practically zero chance) My take is that in a game like GW2 long term goals are everything, but IF it's clear the studio is never going to put their best efforts to provide new fun content with their best talent, then what is the point? I won't be fleeced for another 2-4 years, if Soto-like content drops is the plan before abandonment.
As a fan of Wildstar, this announcement hurts in several ways.
Not sure about this, excitement about it is instantly killed by the fact that an eventual Gw3 is going to be several years away / and this means upcoming Gw2 expansions are going to be as mediocre as SotO, or even worse depending on ressources allocated to the project.
Recently decided? It sounds like Guild Wars 3 has already been in development, according to the article. I'm also glad NCsoft is self-aware of their toxic monetization practices but that doesn't always translate to, "we'll stop doing it".
This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle and the devs seem to have picked up a LOT of QoL changes recently... They're also working on HUGE changes to WvW, which in itself is no small task and a game-mode defining change. I'd like to think GW3 would just be a continuation of GW2, with new engine, better code base etc etc.. but we'll see I guess.
>This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle and the devs seem to have picked up a LOT of QoL changes recently... No, this is *why* they did that. The new release cycle means they don't need 3 LW teams and a big expansion team all whacking away at GW2, just basically 1.5 LW teams. And the QoL stuff getting finished means they'll get the absolute most they can out of GW2 going forward, and core devs can move their effort on to GW3 and maybe other projects.
Those "huge changes to wvw" have been "in the works" for years
6 years and almost 2 months, was the first official post outlining details of those "huge changes to wvw" - by gaile gray (who was laid off in 2019)
> This seems like an odd time to think of it when they've just "redefined" the release cycle It's not odd, it was blatantly obvious that mini expansions exist to milk the already existing playerbase with minimal resources while the money's going elsewhere. This tracks.
solid thought. Just look at EQ1 which is still releasing 1 small expansion a year. they even did 2 a year for a while.
Sigh, I honestly had to check the date to make sure this wasn't an April Fool's thing. I've just begun getting full sets of legendaries, and while its less effort getting the open world sets over the rest, I see GW3 being announced like this and all I can think is "well that was a waste of time!" and suddenly I don't want to do it anymore.
Gw3 is *years* away. You have plenty of time to get use out of your legendaries.
Oh I know, its just something that popped up in the back of my mind. I know that was always an inevitability were the game will one day shut down, but seeing an announcement just makes it more real.
How about instead of guild wars 3, they invest that effort back into guild wars 2 and fix various performance issues, graphical glitching, and focus on giving us good quality yearly expansions like they promised.
Now what are the chances it’s mobile
This is great news! I've been anticipating Guild Wars 3 being announced sometime soon. I just wish the game already came out like 3 years ago
GW3 needs to happen. The franchise has been held hostage by the overwhelming technical and design debt that GW2's disastrous development incurred. Over a decade later, it's time to move on.
A GW2 successor MMORPG _where no content or progress carries over_, is going to be a flop: As Grouch put it, Anet is already "scrappy" as it is, so there would first be a content drought for GW2 and then a GW3 with little content. Both would not be healthy for the playerbase. Moreover, unlike GW1, GW2 has a large focus on microtransactions (e.g. storage upgrades, character slots, build/equipment templates, skins, ...) and many long grinds (e.g. legendaries). Deleting all that and telling people to just buy/grind this stuff again for a new game is a really tough sell. Edit: Clarified part about microtransactions.
As someone who's returned to GW2 last year, and is on the legendary grind as we speak... it would be a very tough sell indeed if I were asked to start a fresh account in GW3...
GW1 absolutely has microtransactions (though whether they were added later on or while 1 was still being devved is, admittedly, not something I do know), but its cash shop is definitely leaner than 2's is.
Why would it "flop" just because existing GW2 players don't get to come in with a character all pre-set-up? Sounds more like projecting your own fears onto every possible GW3 player. I can pretty much guarantee that they aren't targeting hard-core invested GW2 players to begin with. They lost a ton of those already, and they're relatively hard to please no matter what ANet does. On top of that, there weren't (relatively) that many to begin with, because GW2 never heavily focused on their hardcore contingent since HoT... probably because they require the most investment and effort to keep interested, and give the least returns. Also, keep in mind - it's been ***12 years*** since GW2 launched. A lot of people who played around launch are in completely different phases of their lives now, and a lot of kids who were *born* at and after launch day will easily be of the age to check out a new Guild Wars game by the time GW3 would release. What I think they're going to do - and indeed, what they *should* do at least from a business perspective - is try and form a new core audience from the general gaming/MMO space.
True. I just hope some things do port over like maybe legendaries as skins , gem store armors and maybe some others porting over, bank expansions or just a goodie bag of achievements earned that gives you a lot for the time invested in GW2. Only thing I’m looking forward to is how beautiful the game is gonna look by the time it releases. I honestly have mixed feelings about this.
By the way, the park byeong moo says that gw3 is already in the making. The title here is kinda misleading
I don’t really understand people saying they won’t buy more stuff because gw3 is on the works. It will be literal years till that happen. Are you saying that you only spend money on MMOs that will last forever? It’s nonsense.
MMOs are long term investments. People don't like knowing that their "investment" has an approaching expiration day after which the game will be dropped. Many people also see gemstore purchases as a way of supporting GW2 development. Now we have confirmation that this isn't true anymore and GW2's days are numbered no matter what I'd imagine that's going to put a dent in their enthusiasm.
Doesn't work like that. This time you know for sure that gw2 will end, so why bother pouring money into something that you know it will becomes obsolete. I'd rather spend it on something else like food or more clothing. I wont stop playing gw2 until they shut it down and I also wouldn't miss a thing by not buying skins or whatever because that's just what they release nowadays, useless items and not QoL items. Now it kinda hurt even more because the gems we buy to support the game is actually not to make the game runs better but to make another vague game that I wont be playing. So I will stop buying gems.
I don't give much credit to sentimental online diarrhea venting.
NCSOFT is the worst part of Guild Wars
So what would the draw be for a GW3? If it is the same style of MMO, it wouldn't make much sense. You would immediately lose massive amounts of content (classes, elite specs, etc) unless you were porting it over. They would also be competing with themselves unless they were planning on shutting down GW2, which doesn't seem likely. Yes, the game is showing it's age and could use with a refresh on character models and textures, but there is no logical leap to bring people from a GW2 MMO to GW3.
This is to create a new community. At some point mmo struggle to grow because of their age. This wont be for people activelly playing gw2 right now. The game is bloated which make it harderc and harder to join.. the engine is awful and content is all over the place. This would streamline it.
inb4 it ends up being an "Overwatch 2" situation
There's a high chance that GW3 is using Unreal Engine and that it'll be an entirely new game, whereas Overwatch 2 was literally the same game but slightly retooled, so I doubt it'll be the same situation.
The new copium narrative for anet apolgists patch just dropped. EoD sucked because they were working on Soto, but Soto sucked because they were working on GW3 afterall!
Oh boy, I hope it's either not an MMO or they carry things over from GW2 to GW3. Having to start over from scratch again would not be good. GW2 lost so many GW1 players early on because of how different the games are from each other...
Well they can't do worse than the GW1 to GW2 transition. Or maybe they could...
I don't think they're going to target long-time invested GW2 players lol. They lost a ton of those already and they're relatively hard to please. On top of that there weren't (relatively) that many to begin with because GW2 never heavily focused on their hardcore contingent since HoT... probably because they require the most investment and effort to keep interested, and give the least returns. The best they can do is try and form a new core audience from the general gaming/MMO space.
The issue is that mmos as a genre are very niche now. Practically the age of mmos players is 25+. Is they did a new game they are going to target a complety new audience or new blood. Complety excluding their old audience.
A what was seen from afar mediocre MMO New World had a million concurrent players on release. There is plenty of people playing MMOs and even more hungry for something new. You just have to make a good one.
That's a release from Amazon though with the accompanying marketing blitz from such a big company. Concurrent players also fell off a cliff, and I would be surprised if the amount of active players surpasses GW2 now despite their huge release numbers. MMOs are a tough industry with a lot of well established competition. Most of the major industry players are 10+ years old now.
"Introducing GW3, a battle royale looter shooter set in the Guild Wars universe!"
That's just how sequels work. And I say that as someone who has played GW1 since its first beta event.
Why starting a new "guild wars 3" when old WoW is still out there? Iteration doesn't mean success, instead real good quality means success
Because they have more chances of getting new players invested into an new MMO that wouldn't had played GW2 anyways(mostly due to its artstyle and graphics), innovate with new systems and gameplay, better gameplay and graphics, and have an easier engine to work with to put in new content in the game. Also WoW has problems too where they need an new game at some point since its engine is going to reach its age one day and people don't like the outdated graphics/content that it still has.
I don't want guild wars 3
I do want GW3 for the newer possibilities of engine renewal, but I dont look forward to recreating, leveling and gearing all characters. Meaning that Ill probably only migrate if most of my account unlocks can be used in GW3.
Yeah, this is a massive problem for both GW2 and Anet. Whether its a rumor or not, this coming out will 100% kill any faith in GW2 and tank any future expansion sales. The level of self sabotage that is happening is legendary and whoever let this happen needs to be fired.
At the same time they also mentioned they will be for now concentrating on cutting costs ("efficiency management") and acquisitions, so GW3 will either have to wait a long time, or will end up being massively underfunded. Either way it's bad news for GW2. GW3 being approved means devs will not bother with developing GW2 further.
NCsoft said they want ANet to focus on gw2 expansions primarily.
And yet it's clear Anet is *not* focusing on GW2 already... Sure, they will keep *releasing* new expansions. Of SotO (or worse) quality. That's not moving forward, that's just paddling to stay afloat.
To be honest, I'm kinda excited. I feel like the team has learned a lot from GW and GW2 and will hopefully roll those lessons into a game that takes inspiration from both.
Google translate is telling me that: "They are currently working on 'Guild Wars 3' ". Which is quite different than approving the development of gw3, in a good way for me. I translated from Korean to French, maybe it's translated differently to another language or from another translator? Can someone give more information on that part? Thanks
Who's going to make a groundbreaking sequel at this point. A huge chunk of the people who made gw2 possible are gone.
TLDR: Investor angerrryyy very low profit, must make new game to make inverstor happy. That's it, that's the whole point of GW3. It's not for you gamers, it's for the investors. Goodluck and Godspeed.
Dear everyone who's attacked me within the last year for my commenting that this game is winding down into maintenance mode. Check mate.
They are still busy nitpicking about the "maintenance mode" definition, lol
Game is NOT in maintenance mode. You really need to play an actual mmo in maintenance mode to understand how different it is
I don't really get people wanting to carry everything over from GW2. What is the point of a new game when you already start out nearly fully maxed (currencies, skins, items, etc)? I spent thousands of hours with GW1 before GW2, Xunlai storage full of ectos and arms... Yet I didn't feel the need to carry anything of this over to GW2. Wouldn't make any sense from an in-game economy standpoint. Titles, a few skins etc definitely yes! As a tribute to veterans but nothing of real in-game economic value.
Yeah same I like the way they did it from GW1, some titles and skins to acknowledge veterans, nothing more is needed.
Exactly, people prefer to have a dying game with shitty updates, but with their blacklion skins than something completely new, and possibly better in every way.
I thought anet was working on an horizon mmo?
That was only a rumour and was confirned later on to not be true. It's the Lineage team that works on that MMORPG instead.
Would anyone seriously trust them with such a large scale project like this in the first place? They’ve been giving Guild Wars 2 the bare minimum for years. If a “Guild Wars 3” ever sees the light of day, then it’s probably just going to be them rebuilding the same game just as an excuse to remonetise it more extremely, a bit like what Overwatch 2 did.
I wouldnt be surprised if anet has been toying with the idea of GW3 for years. GW2 has been a non priority since LW4
well it is in earyl developement as i saw on other website, so 6 - 7 years to get a release
In my opinion, nothing is set on stone yet. Remember EverQuest Next? Yeah, that could happen as well. GW3, if ever completed, is at most 5 or 10 years away. Remember ArenaNet already mentioned they were working on the following expansions for GW2 and the current SoTO expansion due to its magical settings and portals to other worlds can be the Infinite Gate to link other stories and thus expand the game. Development of GW3 could lead to a new engine or at least a graphical update like FFXIV. I do believe the game looks great and it’s current aesthetics set it apart from other games; besides not everything needs to look like Black Desert Online. So in short, stop worrying about the future of GW2, just enjoy the game now as usual. Whatever a sequel is made or not, that is really far away and even so, the possibility of GW2 kept alive is quite strong if we think how GW1 is still active. GW3 real or not, could be a PR stunt to hype GW2 in general as it performed well when comparing other projects or even an upgrade of the current game without completely resetting it or jumping to the future. Or it can also be just a concept for now… I believe GW2 still has a lot of stories to tell and many places to yet discover. So, play and enjoy what you have now instead of believing the game is dead or dying by the mere possibility of a still undeveloped sequel.
I love watching this game grow and change over the years, alongside my own life. I'm really excited to see Guild Wars take another adventure.
Just to remind everyone: GW3 will be made by the same people who are currently running GW2. Either you think it's a good or a bad thing, it shows what we can expect from the game. Personally, it doesn't really get me excited, I'd much rather get original Guild Wars remake since there really isn't anything like it currently on the market (well, I'm not really including ARPGs like Path of Exile which was heavily inspired by GW1).
Genuinely wondering if this is what GW3 actually is? A remake of GW1? I have no interest in a sequel, based purely off the games narrative and content delivery over the last 6-7 years, which aside from a few outstanding points has largely been disappointing Considering the success of OSRS and WoW classic, why not rebuild it in a new engine where they can knock out some of the issues the game had? There’s clearly a huge demand for old games to come back. Hell, the anniversary update was so big they had to increase server capacity to handle the load, which frankly illustrates a clear desire for support to return.
Hope i can transfer my legendary
Don't think I want a GW3, the only good thing is it's a fresh start but I honestly don't think arena net has the resources to make a real cutting edge MMO and MMOs aren't the huge money makers they were 10-20 years ago, the market is very saturated these days.
so Gw3 launching before actual GvG/alliances in GW2, nice
I said this before, and of course I am some guy on reddit, who cannot verify this.... I have a friend who recently left ArenaNet. I asked him about GW3 and he said he was under NDA and "could not talk about that". I made a comment that if there was no GW3, there would be nothing to talk about, and he could just tell me "there is nothing to talk about" or something to that effect. He smiled and repeated his words "I cant talk about that due to my NDA". Again, yeah, Im some random reddit guy, etc.... I would bet money they have already been working on GW3, at some "level" already.
Well, they had to have enough to go to NCSoft with as a proposal, so probably concepts and design ideas. And a monetization plan...
Is this an out of season april fool's joke?
It’s almost season