Today’s news is, in my opinion, a blessing to the game I love that was ruined due to bad decisions. GW2 was first introduced with a world plagued with dragons waking up from their slumber only to be taken for an insane ride that is the Scarlet Fiasco. To my joy, the person who I believe is responsible for this mess has left the development team.
That is Chris Whiteside. He was the one who posted in the GW2 forum insisting that GW2 will continue with Living World despite the player’s protest against it. Not only that, trying to monetize the episodes as a form of a punishment for not logging in during when the episode is live. Bad decisions after bad decisions have cost them their credibility that spawned articles after articles around the internet criticizing the stupidity of the Living World path. With 2 seasons of this mess, I am really glad that not only they are going away with the Living World path by introducing the Heart of Thorn expansion, but also getting rid of the person who stubbornly insists that Living World is the right way to go.
When HoT was announced, not once, not a single one mentioned that there will be anything liken to Living World in the expansion. Not one. And that is a very good thing indeed. Living World is but a marketing ploy to bring in more money at the risk of those players who are left behind. When more and more players are left behind, they make less and less money. I mean it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that when players feel like they can no longer keep up that they will simply stop playing. Not only that the episodes comes in every two weeks, but they also come with a steep learning curve. Take the Marionette or the Wurm fight for example, nobody know what they are doing and nobody there to guide them. Those aren’t fun at all. Now compare that to the Claw of Jormag fight…it’s like light and day. Marionette and Wurm fights were badly designed and were buggy because they were rushed. Claw of Jormag, Shatterer, and Shadow Behemoth are brilliantly designed — the very definition of fun. These are good design that the Living World team just tossed out of the window — but I digress.
Good luck with your endeavors Chris and please stay away from my games. Don’t apply to BioWare, Creative Assembly, Blizzard, or ArenaNet. Thank you.
