(As posted at Guildwars2.com Forum)
Vayne.8563:
Sir Vincent III.1286:
The Manifesto 1.0 holds true up until the point of sale on its initial release date. Everything else that happened after that have diverted away from Manifesto 1.0.
If we are to look at the recent game updates, one can loosely conclude that Anet is following a Manifesto 2.0.
Based on what? What part of the manifesto has changed.
The only argument people can/will come up with (after the clarification) is that the game does in fact have grind. In spite of the fact that Anet said pre launch there was stuff to grind for and there was stuff to grind for in Guild Wars 1. It’s still voluntary grind.
And the lines about grind in the manifesto don’t refer to gear grind. As long as people think it does (with no evidence whatsoever) they’ll continue to be incorrect.
Fractal of the Mist did not exist in Manifesto 1.0 and this is the main source of grinding for gear, Ascended gears to be exact.
Living Story did not exist in Manifesto 1.0 and this one brought forth a lot grinding most of which under the 2-4 weeks deadlines.
Achievement reward did not exist in Manifesto 1.0 either, also a source of gear grinding because reaching certain point in the achievements grants Badges that you can exchange for gears in WvW.
Champion dropping exotics did not exist in Manifesto 1.0 and now I see players camping champions because they either want the gear or the skin of the weapon. In my server, there’s a whole bunch of players camping the Bandit Champion for a chance to pick up the new Rapier skin.
As I said in my previous post;
If we are to look at the recent game updates, one can loosely conclude that Anet is following a Manifesto 2.0.
Traditional MMOs has grinding that GW2 now also have. Tradition MMO has spawn camping that GW2 now also have.
If the Manifesto 1.0 is to be believe now, then Anet is diverting from their own philosophy. Manifesto 1.0 is only true when they were describing GW2 before launch. Everything else that is happening after launch follows a different set of beliefs, so it’s hard to believe that Anet still hold on to the philosophy shown in Manifesto 1.0.
What part of the Manifesto 1.0 that is no longer true now?
Colin Johanson: “We just don’t want players to grind in Guild Wars 2. No one enjoys that. No one finds it fun. We want to change the way that people view combat.”
Per my examples above, this is no longer true. One example that completely falsified this statement from Colin is the recent boss fights starting from Molten Facility. These boss fights are grindy because these boss has the ability to insta-kill players and most of them are based on luck.
Are the boss fights grindy? Yes.
Is it enjoyable and fun? No.
Ree Soesbee: “As a structure, the MMO has lost the ability to make the player feel like a hero. Everybody around you is doing the same thing you are doing. The boss you just killed respawns ten minutes later. It doesn’t care that I’m there.”
In the Personal Story, it is arguable who the real “hero” is. Sure other players are not there to take the glory from me but Traherne and the Destiny’s Edge was there and has taken the glory. I was simply Traherne’s personal bodyguard. Even in the core structure of the game Ree has described something that did not came true in the Personal Story.
Probably the extent of my heroic deeds are only up until I was branded the “Hero of Shaemoor” :/
Ree Soesbee: “We do not want to build the same MMO everyone else is building, and in Guild Wars 2, it’s your world. It’s your story. You affect things around you in a very permanent way.”
This is true in Manifesto 1.0 but no longer true today. As I have written above, GW2 now has grind and spawn camping just like the “MMO everyone else” had built.
Ree Soesbee: “…The most important thing in any game should be the player…”
In Manifesto 1.0, I can believe this to be true, but the recent updates seems to suggest that other things are more important that the players.
ANet’s philosophy has shifted and evolved. Manifesto 1.0 was a good starting point but it’s evident looking at the recent updates that they no longer hold on to many of those beliefs.
