Well, I don't know if the OP question is actually relevant, or at least as relevant as it would have been in a subscription based game, where retention matters.

If we focus on the one time payment method (lifetime subscription if you like), then unless you use the shop at various intervals you're a burdain for the company and they'd rather you stopped and come back with the next expansion.

If we focus on the cash shop aspect of GW2, then they need "some" of us to keep tthe illusion of vitality into the game (this is why all the F2P companies tolerate all those people who pay nothing), but not too many else they'll need to add more servers and thus maintenance costs.

Do I see myself playing? I hope not, I'm already bored and in the phase I as at one time with WoW (ie only the guild kept me logged, not the actual game). I'm actually looking forward to the release of X-com this Friday. Under normal circumstances, weekend would be mmorpg heaven, but not this time.

Longevity really depends on what ArenaNet does.

The game is boring as it is.  Very little character interaction.  no /who.  no /inspect.  limited emotes.  Very little bond to other characters in the game.

Guilds are pointless in a game called Guild Wars.  Join a guild for a glorified chat room, essentially.

Do stuff as a guild?  I can do everything solo.  Guilds are useless. (dungeons are useless and I don't bother, gear can be bought on the trader [AH], and gold is easy to obtain)

When I play, I end up just screwing around, but it's all pointless.  There is no player to player competition, no rivalries, no need to love or hate any other player.  Other players are just existing also for no reason.  They may as well be NPC's.  Everything is empty in this game.  No emotion.

Saddening, but it's up to ArenaNet to remedy this.  I don't see much longevity with this game.

Originally posted by CallsignVega

From a very experienced MMORPG player's perspective, the writing is already on the wall. This game will be dead by Christmas. 

Shallow game-play, no end game content, unplayable WvW with unbelievable lag and invisible armies of players. 

 

What are your thoughts on the topic and do you agree/disagree? Is GW2 not what you expected or do you think it's the greatest thing ever? Don't forget to vote!

Easily the best content wise for the casual to semi casual player so yes I see myself playing for years to come.

Honestly, very unlikely. It just wasn't a game I could really get into and ultimately I log in going "Ah lets play!" then lose that motivation within minutes of logging on. Even though I paid for it, I truthfully don't expect to get much play out of it in the future. It just wasn't a very fun game to me.

Leveling was boring (only gets worst after the 1st time. Hearts, cool at first but quickly get stale.) and exploration is boring (specially after first time)

Dungeon difficulty seems more based of cheapness then actual difficulty (skill REALLY doesn't do all that much, your group comp/weapon choice effect the way it will go more then skill does, worst being the fact TRASH is harder the most of the bosses.)

WvWvW is a bit of a mess (to be fair it can be fixed but it feels so under-developed to me and lacking on elements besides "Zerg, Zerg, Zerg" with guild 'claiming' quite trivial)

Events end up being just a zerg fest and get boring after seeing them a dozen times (though a welcome relief from getting away from doing hearts or doing it passively so I don't notice I am on one)

Combat... oh boy combat... probably the biggest killer. I feel LESS in control on this game then I do games like WoW where its click and spam buttons. Aiming would of made this FAR better I feel. Wouldn't of fixed the clunkiness of combat though thats part of the design choice feeling players shouldn't be penalized for spamming buttons. 

I just don't see myself. It upsets me a lot to because I'm usually one who can have a blast and no life a lot of games, and this one just struggled from day 1 to keep me for over a few hours, and I'm the no lifer that enjoys grinding games out 24 hour marathon on launch. Not my game and truthfully I just feel its lack luster over-all and I'm not one to buy into hype in the first place which makes me feel that much more 'eh' about it. 

Originally posted by Bladestrom
Karteli any game is going to be boring ultimately if you do it solo. Gw2 is meant to be a social game where you play with real people and enjoy grouping with your friends. Glorified chat room? Suppose you would look at it that way if you didn't care about anyone in the game.

Wha What?

I appreciate your concern, but GW2 is not a social game.  It is social only if you believe map chat is social, or guild chat is social.  There are no bonds holding players together so playing GW2 is about as social as striking up a conversation with someone on your local subway, then saying goodbye .. and meeting someone new soon after.

I see a lack of retention in GW2. its gonna have its hardcore community that play it constantly, just like every game. GW2 has no difficulty drawing people to the game. however alot of posts i've read have talked about the difficulty of holding onto said players.

TSW has the opposate problem. We can hold onto our players just fine, However with the Funcom Logo put on it. A large chunk of the MMO population wont even give the game the light of day.

Originally posted by Rayshe

I see a lack of retention in GW2. its gonna have its hardcore community that play it constantly, just like every game. GW2 has no difficulty drawing people to the game. however alot of posts i've read have talked about the difficulty of holding onto said players.

 

TSW has the opposate problem. We can hold onto our players just fine, However with the Funcom Logo put on it. A large chunk of the MMO population wont even give the game the light of day.

TSW would have been more successful if it didn't have EA smeared on it :-(

Originally posted by Karteli

Longevity really depends on what ArenaNet does.

 

The game is boring as it is.  Very little character interaction.  no /who.  no /inspect.  limited emotes.  Very little bond to other characters in the game.

 

Guilds are pointless in a game called Guild Wars.  Join a guild for a glorified chat room, essentially.

 

Do stuff as a guild?  I can do everything solo.  Guilds are useless. (dungeons are useless and I don't bother, gear can be bought on the trader [AH], and gold is easy to obtain)

 

When I play, I end up just screwing around, but it's all pointless.  There is no player to player competition, no rivalries, no need to love or hate any other player.  Other players are just existing also for no reason.  They may as well be NPC's.  Everything is empty in this game.  No emotion.

 

Saddening, but it's up to ArenaNet to remedy this.  I don't see much longevity with this game.

Guild are good if you need a group for dungeons,WvWvW, SPvP, tournaments and social activity. It is what you make it!

Dungeons are fun and rewarding. If you want cool gear, dungeons is for you. 

I've got 29% world completion, not lvl 80 story done yet, not PvPed, not maxxed craftings, no legendaries, no full dungeon set on my main character with 200 hours played....and i still have 5 other characters to play. 

This game is not for you, or you play it wrong.

Originally posted by InFlamestwo

Originally posted by Karteli

Longevity really depends on what ArenaNet does.

 

The game is boring as it is.  Very little character interaction.  no /who.  no /inspect.  limited emotes.  Very little bond to other characters in the game.

 

Guilds are pointless in a game called Guild Wars.  Join a guild for a glorified chat room, essentially.

 

Do stuff as a guild?  I can do everything solo.  Guilds are useless. (dungeons are useless and I don't bother, gear can be bought on the trader [AH], and gold is easy to obtain)

 

When I play, I end up just screwing around, but it's all pointless.  There is no player to player competition, no rivalries, no need to love or hate any other player.  Other players are just existing also for no reason.  They may as well be NPC's.  Everything is empty in this game.  No emotion.

 

Saddening, but it's up to ArenaNet to remedy this.  I don't see much longevity with this game.

Guild are good if you need a group for dungeons,WvWvW, SPvP, tournaments and social activity. It is what you make it!

Dungeons are fun and rewarding. If you want cool gear, dungeons is for you. 

I've got 29% world completion, not lvl 80 story done yet, not PvPed, not maxxed craftings, no legendaries, no full dungeon set on my main character with 200 hours played....and i still have 5 other characters to play. 

 

This game is not for you, or you play it wrong.

It makes no difference if this game is for me or not.  I paid my money to play.  I will play, or I will complain about features.  Making me go away won't happen.  I'll be understanding to others feelings, as I would expect them to be understanding to mine.

There is nothing fun or rewarding from dungeons, they are a major pain, and the rewards are nil.  I am already in full exotic gear (best in game).  Legendaries don't excite me, as there is nobody to show them off to, no living world, it's empty.

I'm also not an altaholic, I'd rather play and become good with one character.  GW2 seems like the easy solution for this, since every character can tank, dps, or heal regardless of any chosen class profession.

Originally posted by InFlamestwo

Originally posted by Karteli

Longevity really depends on what ArenaNet does.

 

The game is boring as it is.  Very little character interaction.  no /who.  no /inspect.  limited emotes.  Very little bond to other characters in the game.

 

Guilds are pointless in a game called Guild Wars.  Join a guild for a glorified chat room, essentially.

 

Do stuff as a guild?  I can do everything solo.  Guilds are useless. (dungeons are useless and I don't bother, gear can be bought on the trader [AH], and gold is easy to obtain)

 

When I play, I end up just screwing around, but it's all pointless.  There is no player to player competition, no rivalries, no need to love or hate any other player.  Other players are just existing also for no reason.  They may as well be NPC's.  Everything is empty in this game.  No emotion.

 

Saddening, but it's up to ArenaNet to remedy this.  I don't see much longevity with this game.

Guild are good if you need a group for dungeons,WvWvW, SPvP, tournaments and social activity. It is what you make it!

Dungeons are fun and rewarding. If you want cool gear, dungeons is for you. 

I've got 29% world completion, not lvl 80 story done yet, not PvPed, not maxxed craftings, no legendaries, no full dungeon set on my main character with 200 hours played....and i still have 5 other characters to play. 

 

This game is not for you, or you play it wrong.

 

 

ah, the old, your playing it wrong, argument.. which almost begs the question, is the lack of flexibility a game flaw, or a game mechanic, forcing players to play in a 'certain way' implies that the games combat mechanics are somehow stilted, and do not have the flexibility to cope with player 'innovation' . Perhaps thats an area that Arenanet should be looking at also, play styles are as unique a flavour to a game as the lack of ability to support it is a flaw.

Right now I'm logging in when I'm bored.

My husband and I are slowly getting through map completion. My interest was falling off before his, but now I see him lacking motivation to log in either. Our guild is almost dead as well.  It's a shame because I really want to like this game (and I do in small bursts), but I can see myself putting it down one day and forgetting about it. :(

At least things like Halloween and Christmas events are giving me something to look forward to.

Originally posted by InFlamestwo

.....

This game is not for you, or you play it wrong.

 

I see this issue alot, many people who need the WoW style carrot on a stick and the WoW style artificial conflict (horde/ally) to enjoy a game, because thats what they where trained to need/want/expect.

I grew up in a time pre-WoW, playing Ultima Online, a game where there where no factions, just other players, as such, I didnt have this "must hate XXX" crap trained into me.(i also didnt have the need for levels or achievements or uber gear thrust on me either) 

if a person cant step outside what they expect/are use to and learn a new way, they are better off sticking to the model they are use to.

I like the lack of conflict in the PVE world, I like the fact that im not forced to join a group to do anything, now, im not anti-social, unlike the fellow you quoted, I have friends who game with me, I also let people know in map chat when an event is up, and at times sit and talk with people in map chat about various things, its fun, and its far better then being forced to find 4 other people to party with to do anything fun.....

i want to see this fellow soly the champion cave troll 6 of us got wiped by tonight(in a cave under the sp at the onclave type place....cant remeber the name of the place.....), that sucker was a pain, hit hard, caused excessive bleeding, and his bodyguards kept respawning, 2 of us where 80's in full exotics and we all kept dropping.....i blame tight quarters and him being a bit over powered for the area....but it was fun......and all i did to get some help was /m "champ troll under {waypoing} is up, so is champ wyrm"   people came flooding in.....thats one great thing about this game, just let people know whats up and where, and they come flooding in :D

From time to time when bored.

Already two level 80, some tradeskills at 400 and other achievements.

I am not into sPvP and WvW got boring.

But I don't regret buying it for sure. Difficult to beat xxx hours of entertainment time for that price.

Can't wait for more PvE content.

Originally posted by Rayshe

I see a lack of retention in GW2. its gonna have its hardcore community that play it constantly, just like every game. GW2 has no difficulty drawing people to the game. however alot of posts i've read have talked about the difficulty of holding onto said players.

 

TSW has the opposate problem. We can hold onto our players just fine, However with the Funcom Logo put on it. A large chunk of the MMO population wont even give the game the light of day.

Not to derail the subject but you do realize TSW has lost over half its already meager population since it come out right?

Originally posted by AshenTech

Originally posted by InFlamestwo

.....

This game is not for you, or you play it wrong.

 

I see this issue alot, many people who need the WoW style carrot on a stick and the WoW style artificial conflict (horde/ally) to enjoy a game, because thats what they where trained to need/want/expect.

 

I grew up in a time pre-WoW, playing Ultima Online, a game where there where no factions, just other players, as such, I didnt have this "must hate XXX" crap trained into me.(i also didnt have the need for levels or achievements or uber gear thrust on me either) 

if a person cant step outside what they expect/are use to and learn a new way, they are better off sticking to the model they are use to.

I like the lack of conflict in the PVE world, I like the fact that im not forced to join a group to do anything, now, im not anti-social, unlike the fellow you quoted, I have friends who game with me, I also let people know in map chat when an event is up, and at times sit and talk with people in map chat about various things, its fun, and its far better then being forced to find 4 other people to party with to do anything fun.....

i want to see this fellow soly the champion cave troll 6 of us got wiped by tonight(in a cave under the sp at the onclave type place....cant remeber the name of the place.....), that sucker was a pain, hit hard, caused excessive bleeding, and his bodyguards kept respawning, 2 of us where 80's in full exotics and we all kept dropping.....i blame tight quarters and him being a bit over powered for the area....but it was fun......and all i did to get some help was /m "champ troll under {waypoing} is up, so is champ wyrm"   people came flooding in.....thats one great thing about this game, just let people know whats up and where, and they come flooding in :D

One of many reasons why this games community is the best since pre-WoW.  I find myself in this situation every single day and it never fails to deliver.

Yes. And to you, OP, I disagree.

The game is admittedly not for everyone. I've played absurdly priced online mud games pre-dating MMOs and this game gives me that same vibe I've felt in those games. It is solo-friendly in that your progress will not be blocked if you play solo. However, you will want to take a plunge and join a guild of like-minded people if you wish to really enjoy the game.