I took this screenshot last night around 8pm cst, but is it populated in the mid-level zones?  I subscribed about a month ago, but it was never this packed, so i'm guessing it's the Raptr promo, and it's going to be more busy when f2p officially launches.  BTW, i'm on Deepwood shard.

(click pic to enlarge)

"When game's can't develop under a subscription model, free-to-play gives them a second chance."

To be honest.  I would rather have them die, instead of letting them live with another chance.  They failed for a reason, and that's because players didn't want to support bad development, and bad game design.

Originally posted by Himshim
This is the exact reason as why I quit GW2 and went back to the dreadful WoW. NO matter when, where, and what happens, you can always find people logged in on WoW. So basically it's more of a leaning towards Social gaming over repetitive gameplay. 

This is not true.  I've been playing WoW since release, and i still play it, and the starter zones are just as populated as in any MMO (post-launch period).  There wasn't people everywhere in leveling zones.  Do you remember all the complaints from people during Cataclysm?  People were complaining because the zones felt dead and so they were saying "everyone is in Org", "WoW is a lobby game!", etc..

WoW's zones used to be less populated than they are now, and still are to some extent, but that's why blizzard implemented cross-realm technology in MoP, because their zones were less populated while leveling, due to the game being 8 years old and the majority being at max level.  This is what GW2 is currently like.  Everyone who still plays is at lvl 80, and making alts or doing something else.  Go play Swtor, because it's the same thing there.

Originally posted by itgrowls

It's amazing to me too. I think it's one of those things where people got so hyped about the thing that they just can't let go. When they don't deliver its time to move on imo. And that's what happened to me. Got tired of the vaporware bs they kept adding you know where it's for 1 month and then poof it's gone and the stuff they add can all be completed in a single day.

Nothing permanent you know, like they said they'd do prelaunch AND after people complained initially that they were ignoring the open world because their only additions were holiday stuff that was equally temporary and did nothing to the world.

But people seem to love spending money in their shop, thats the other reason why i left, absolutely nothing could be earned solo, you had to do something with a guidl for everything. Couldn't farm solo either, god forbid someone actualyl gets something more then a silver for their day's work in a game.

Just tired of people fooling the masses is all. 

This aside of all of the problems with PVE balance class bugs etc etc etc and it's almost the anniversary.

I'm also leery now of NCsoft. I don't want to put a clowd of gloom over wildstar but we'll see what people say about that especially when it comes to the economy.

Except that you haven't moved on.  Any chance you get, you state your views and opinions on GW2, and it's always the same.  I'll sum up your posts for you for every GW2 post you make.  "I don't like playing GW2, but i want to post about it."  Take your own advice, and move on.

The masses aren't fooled.  They simply enjoy the game.  People love spending money on gambling and bets, drugs, theaters, music, and other forms of entertainment, but this concept is too hard for you to understand.

The only one trying to fool anyone, is you, with your statement about: earning a silver for a day's work.

Originally posted by Homitu

I hate to be that guy, but here's a link to a thread I made discussing this very topic in context of content released over the same time period by one of the most successful MMOs of all time, WoW.  

People made many cases for both games, and there was no clear "winner."  The biggest debate about GW2 seems to center around the nature of temporary content, which has its own extreme pros and cons.  

A good comparison.  It's too bad people won't be objective though.  They just want to perceive which content is relevant to them, instead of realizing there is content for everyone.

Originally posted by itgrowls

Originally posted by Purutzil

I really feel GW2 if it wants to add content it has to actually give worth wild content to do, not just little 'events'. Having additional activities added to the normal stuff the game has gives something to enjoy. Give people that variety, change it up from just 'event: Kill this, kill that, finish event'. How about some interesting puzzles? Perhaps a special Rock Paper Scissor mini game to play with friends? Its really easy, even the smallest bit of flare can help give a sense of having more to the game and can fill in that time leaving players feeling less like they are getting practically nothing.

I enjoyed the game for the levling process, I know I've been negative lately but like Dontain said you become invested in a game when you buy it and the people who speak negatively about a game aren't always people who just hate it just to hate the thing. 

I don't hate the game I don't have the devs, I do think the ratio between what's wrong and what's right is way too skewed. There's so much wrong now nothing short of a major game patch or an expansion (I wouldn't pay for one unless they removed alot of problems open world pveers face) is going to fix it.

And people keep saying be patient, you know what, we've been plenty patient, it's almost the anniversary now. The time of patience is well beyond gone, it's time for them to pony up with what they told us this game would be, otherwise it really is a strong case for a bait and switch trial. That's how bad it is. LS was admitedly an experimentation on their part not an actual fix to the problem of them ignoring the open world content for 8 months. Anyone who claims otherwise is not being honest. That's on top of the minigames and activities not being added (those promised and those that have been ignored entirely).

For example. If they had actually delivered on their promise and just put forth 10 new DE's and 1 meta a month that would have been a huge score of content. They could do it too, they have the means, according to them doing DE's and metas were quick cheap and easily spit out in their system of putting together content like that. They even said it was faster then any dungeon building process. Add to that the huge profits they're supposedly making gotta ask yourself uhm where's the content? it certainly isn't this LS crap!

Then i suggest moving on.  If your patience is gone, and you feel this game will never improve, then why keep dwelling on it?  I don't visit the Lotro, AoC, Aion, or EQ2 forums anymore, because i've moved on, and i know those games will never improve to my own satisfaction.  You should do the same, otherwise your opinions will always be negative, and just like in real life, people don't like being around negativity.

Originally posted by ellobo29

Remember before the game was out...... they keep going on about, you wont just have a home instance. YOU WILL HAVE YOUR OWN PERSONAL BLOCK! where your decisions will effect what goes on inside it! 

Well i have been playing the game now for some time and believe me..... its no big deal.

Instead i have this large "home instance" that is barren with nothing to do inside and no reason to ever go back. I would love to have some way to truly customize that space.

Its like they had all these big ideas and they forgot about some of them, or just put them on the back burner for other things because they think nobody cares about them?

 

I remember that too.  It's been very underwhelming.  I never liked that a whole section was instanced though.  I would prefer if they did it like EQ2, if it had to be instanced.

Originally posted by Abrraham
What should I play...Aahhh, keep playing SW:TOR or coming back to Rift for good. The combat feeling of Rift is the only thing which keeps me away right now :l

I agree.  That's one of my major complaints about Rift.  The combat and animations are too slow for me.

The server i was on had a decent population, but i only made it to level to 30 i think before i stopped playing.  The dungeon queues were quick too, even as dps.  This game will definitely be more crowded when Rift goes f2p officially.

Originally posted by stevebombsquad

Originally posted by Gaia_Hunter

How many subs did SWTOR had during the years of development?

The subscriptions only pay the infrastructure and the live and support team, the rest goes to cover the development costs.

Game development is paid by investors money and past profits.

Do you think Anet has all of its studio working on gw2 live?

They have like 50 pp. on it that is paid by gem revenue. The rest is working in other stuff.

SWTOR didn't pay for its development cost on the other hand, so no point keeping developing it like they were doing it before.

 

Business model:

Get money from investors (or your own)-> develop your product-> sell your product and payback what you promised to your investors plus profit for yourself (if you didn't promised all the revenue in exchange for your salary).
 

It is a myth that subs are there to develop future content.

And your source for your numbers is.......

And where is your source for claiming GW2 is not growing?  I want official reports, and not pseudo ones like Xfire numbers.

Originally posted by Ikonis
When the fans cone in to a thread and claim they see people everywhere,what hey really mean is they see people in those few large events that are on a timer that they farm for rares and exotics. 

This isn't true at all.  I always announce a DE in map chat and people show up to do it.  Does it happen every time? No, but it does happen, just not the frequency people expect it to.

Let's take Swtor or Rift for examples.  Ask for help on a Heroic Quest in Swtor, and you'll have to wait awhile before someone finally joins with you.  You will eventually get a group though while questing.

I was just playing Rift a couple weeks ago, and the 2nd zone seemed dead one day, but the next day, there were at least 6 people doing a rift event next to me.

The populations fluctuate in every MMO.

Why do people expect GW2's population to be 100% filled to capacity in every zone?

As someone who loved WOW for several years with that being the only game that I played more than 1 full year non stop, you just lost any credibility. I do agree however that SWTOR feels even more single player than WOW, but they BOTH have a single player feel for 95%+ of the content.

That 95% figure is laughable.  There is plenty of group content throughout both games, and most MMOs for that matter.  God forbid that MMO devs want to let others solo while leveling.  Forced grouping as the only progression path is a terrible idea.  This complaint always comes  up when people equate leveling with group content.

Originally posted by DocBrody

Hello,

so I tried out SWTOR for some time. Let these videos show you what is missing in SWTOR in my opinion:

PVP OFF-RAILS SPACE COMBAT

This would be nice.

SPACE EXPLORATION

Also would be nice.

STAR SYSTEMS

Would be amazing.

SPACE TRADING

Smuggler's and Bounty Hunter's paradise.

SPACE MINING

ATMOSPHERIC FLIGHT

OPEN WORLD

LESS INSTANCING

DAY / NIGHT / WEATHER CYCLES

PLAYER HOUSING

CAPITAL SHIPS

DEATHSTAR

PLAYER CITIES

 

Cheers

Doc B

 

There's too many things in this list.  It would be unrealistic for Bioware to do most of these.  The current game is designed with major flaws, that it would take years to implement these, and in that case, they might as well shut down SWTOR, save money, and rebuild another Star Wars MMO from scratch.

Nice digs at Swtor.

"Anyone who has ever subscribed to RIFT in the past will have access to the full suite of features that they have had.  We are not taking any bag slots or bank slots from folks that were or are subscribers - in other words their Veteran accounts won't be subject to the limitations of a brand new free account."

and

"and no we are not jacking up the exp curve for free players or penalizing them."

Originally posted by bubaluba
Wait a sec!  SWTOR is now most popular mmo after wow ! Nice job :)

It was such a nice job alright.  They went from dozens of servers to just 8,  went f2p, added a cash shop, and released a very shallow expansion that should really be considered a DLC.  All this in around a year too.

The fact that they mentioned "doubled" doesn't mean anything, because it's too vague.  Doubled from what exact number?

Originally posted by nerbon

gw2 is like 10% of wow content

but its free

after lvl 80 you can only grind for legendary weapons or grind WvW title with each char

sPvP is pretty crap compared even to GW1

 

so GW2 is wow ersatz for ppl who cant afford monthly fee

GW2 isn't a year old.  WoW is almost 8 or 9 years old.

It's not free.  It's buy to play.

After 80, there is many activities to do.

SPvP isn't the best, but it's not crap.

Your opinions are not convincing anyone that you know what you're talking about.

Originally posted by Manolios

played 2 months with the release. i couldn't go further. i tried  it again before a couple of months and i can say its way better than it was a year ago. i wont continue to play because the f2p of EA sucks and i don't want to pay a sub for swtor, but all in all is a very good game anymore (if you play it as a sub player and not as a f2p).

btw if i was to choose between the much hyped b2p gw2 and the ''catastrophic'' subbed swtor then i ll gladly  pay a sub :)

Do you always have to take a swipe at GW2?  Get over it already.  It's as if you've been wounded emotionally by it.

Swtor's basic concepts/mechanics are still the same, so i don't see how you can say it's better.  The only significant changes they've added is the LFG tool, and the adaptive gear system.