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Guild Wars 2 | Year One By The Numbers

Jira

Member
gw2yearone6jkfp.png


For a more detailed look at each update, please visit http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Releases.

For a summary of the Living World story, please visit: http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Living_World_Summary
 

Retro

Member
Just wanted to take a moment and talk about the state of GAF's in-game presence in Guild Wars 2 as well...
bannergaf2l0x97.png

Origins...
The first rumblings of a GAFGuild began in early 2012. Community regulars began to organize almost immediately, establishing the GAFGuild website, Mumble server and even a few informative podcasts before the game even launched. A spreadsheet was compiled to keep track of everyone who volunteered their username so they could be quickly invited; this list capped out at 535 members before the game even launched.

When the head-start first began on August 25, Gaming Age Force [GAF] was established on Stormbluff Isle and quickly swelled to the 500 member cap; a second “overflow” guild “[GAFO]” was created to handle the excess members. At one point, this second guild was almost halfway full, bringing our numbers to about 750 GAFers, their family and friends.

Post-Launch...
Not surprisingly, GAFGuild quickly became one of the largest guilds on the server (certainly the largest that doesn’t publicly recruit). Though the initial crush of members at launch has since fallen off, the guild continually flirts with the 500 member cap (at least four ‘cullings’ have been performed) and the guild still sees ~50 active members during prime time.

Looking Ahead...
A year later, GAFGuild remains strong; there have been no radical shifts in leadership and the guild remains open to everyone. Gaming Age Force is one of, if not the longest lived GAF-based guilds, and very likely the largest as well. We run the gamut from World vs. World warriors to top-rated PVP players, casual PVE members to hardcore dungeon delvers.

As we enter our second year as a close-knit community, the same familiar faces intermingle with new faces invited every week. Our mumble server is still supported by donations from our membership and we’ve taken up donations to pay for four members to transfer servers (approximately $100 in real-world money, including two $25 gem cards from Arken).​
 

Ashodin

Member
Happy birthday Guild Wars 2!

I remember the first time I learned of the game, and started getting interested in it. It was about two years ago, and I had heard of the game, but I was too deep into WoW's Cataclysm to really care about anything else. After a while of playing, I became disillusioned with the gameplay. I wanted to be able to actually dodge my enemies' attacks, and also not have to play as a tank or healer if I didn't want to and do raid content. When I learned about how Guild Wars 2 was going to abolish this, I was intrigued. How could they do something so against current MMO trends and be successful.

After that, I resolved the next year to follow the game with fervor, and it's been a wild ride ever since.
 
I hope there's still activity in the gaf-guild a year from now when I get a new computer that can actually run recent games.
 

Valnen

Member
I've started playing again recently to scratch that MMO itch while I wait for FFXIV, they still haven't made PvE fun or added native controller support =/.
 

Retro

Member
Good for them I think, I was hyped but I couldn't get into it. Got tired of it after 2 weeks.

Any particular reason? The Infographic there is mostly the big-ticket items, but there's a lot of smaller Quality of Life changes. If we actually made a post with everything they've changed, it'd take multiple posts.

And how many active players?

Quite a few:
jEtL2FP.jpg

That's the crowd at a world event (Claw of Jormag) at around midnight Pacific (3am on the east coast).
They just recently released some player data in advance of the game launching in China; There are 2.5 million active players per week. On average 508,428 hours of GW2 are played every day (3.5 million hours per week).

Anecdotally, the GAF Guild in game gets about 40-50 active players each night (more on the weekends, of course) and sits at 378 members (after hitting the 500 member camp 3 or 4 times since launch).
 

Grayman

Member
I guess I should get involved in GW dungeons and see if something makes the game click for more than a few days.
 

Ashodin

Member
I guess I should get involved in GW dungeons and see if something makes the game click for more than a few days.

Even if you don't play EVERY DAY, that's totally fine. That's the model the game is subscribing to. They want you to come back when YOU want to.
 
Game got stale really fast for me. Something off about it that I couldn't enjoy and it didn't help I started a necro and half the skills didn't work or minions would even attack at all.

But that's the nice thing about this game, I might go back in to check out the changes and fixes.
 

Ashodin

Member
Game got stale really fast for me. Something off about it that I couldn't enjoy and it didn't help I started a necro and half the skills didn't work or minions would even attack at all.

But that's the nice thing about this game, I might go back in to check out the changes and fixes.

You're in for a surprise, because the Necro class has been buffed significantly from when you played.
 
I got really bored quick with this title. I don't even know why either... Probably because of Dota 2 lol.

I went back recently, created a new toon and the whole starting area was pretty much empty...
 

TheWriter

Member
Never was so hyped about a game. Couldn't partake in the beta, but played during the headstart by preordering it from their website. Was one of the best experiences I had on the PC during the first two weeks. Had to stop playing after that because I had to move to a new location but still miss it sometimes.

I did make it to (first GW2 book spoiler)
Killeens
grave. Was the personal accomplishment I wanted to attain before I had to stop playing. Beautiful location surrounded by death and despair. Can't wait to return to this game every now and then.

Can you kill Logan yet? I hope so.
 

Retro

Member
What about Elementalist? They felt horrible at release. So did my Thief.

Every class got a nice pass a few months back, definitely worth checking out. If you already have the game, the only thing it will cost you to see is bandwidth (granted, there's a lot of content you missed that you'll need to download).

Can you kill Logan yet? I hope so.

No, but you're not alone in that sentiment... though I think his line is shorter than Trehearne's...
JUWnj.gif
 

Hedge

Member
Ah GW2. I so want to keep loving you. I've played a year and my love is ever so slowly drying up. Political conflicts, speeches, votings, oppressed workers and futuristic cyper-punk air pirates was just too much for me. I think I'll come back when that particular arch is over. Which I guess is in 6 months or so.

Good combat for a MMO though. Loved every second of it - having played around 1200 hours. :)
 
THe game is really cool, but having the same weapon attacks for 80 levels got boring, and I dont like how the characters dont actually feel attached to the ground, it just feels floaty and loose.
 

Jira

Member
What about Elementalist? They felt horrible at release. So did my Thief.

The list of changes for any one class would span many pages. The simple answer is yes every class has had lots of changes and will feel different than they did at launch.
 
This game is the only thing I play these days and it is awesome. Even though I've played this game for 1400 hours, looking at the OP makes me wow at all the things they have added and I only payed 60$.

Played GW1 like crazy back in the day and I was going to play this game no matter what but I don't think I would have played it as much or as often if it wasn't for the awesome community of people in the GAF Guild.
 

Parakeetman

No one wants a throne you've been sitting on!
Ah the memories of us almost dying in various dungeons. Good times with the GAF guild lol
 

Hedge

Member
Also - just because it irks me - 58 new armours added.. all of which has buttcapes, or are backpieces. Alas.
 
Been a busy year. Despite taking a six month break from the game after november, I stand at four lv 80's, a lv 28, and some 3000 achievement points.

Love the game. Looking forward to the next year.
 

Ashodin

Member
THe game is really cool, but having the same weapon attacks for 80 levels got boring, and I dont like how the characters dont actually feel attached to the ground, it just feels floaty and loose.

I actually think the same weapon attacks is a genius move on their part, and it's to promote muscle memory. The more you remember what your weapons do, the less likely you're going to have to look at the bar to remember what they do. Everything becomes natural, like learning how to use a sword in real life. Once you know, you just go.
 
1400 hours played and counting (mainly pvp and WvW).

The new updates keep on delivering, i just hope they put more effort (read ressources) in the stuctured pvp part of the game.
 

Trey

Member
Happy (early) Birthday, Guild Wars 2. Congrats Arenanet. For one year, you've had our curiosity. Now you have our attention.
 

Orayn

Member
GW1: 6 million in four years, spread among 3 campaigns and one expansion.
GW2: Over 3 million in around 4 months. (They hit that milestone in January.)

Well deserved! GW2 is a fantastic game and I love ANet's forward thinking design and brisk schedule for new content. The lack of monthly fee is a game changer, since it makes it super easy to jump back in and start enjoying everything that's been added.

THe game is really cool, but having the same weapon attacks for 80 levels got boring, and I dont like how the characters dont actually feel attached to the ground, it just feels floaty and loose.

Well, having the same basic attacks for each weapon set isn't really any different from other action-RPGs like Monster Hunter or Demon's Souls. They're the basic tools that establish how your character fights, and they have different uses depending on your choice of glyphs, traits, and the other five skills.
 
I started playing in late February, over 700 hours in. Haven't been bored yet.

Guild members are the best too. This is personally my first game where I actually feel like a part of a community.
 

Rootbeer

Banned
Bought it at launch and even at full price it's easily been the best value in a pc game I've ever bought... and it's still got a lot of life left in it.
 
Damn, it's already been a year? I really enjoyed my time. Will probably go back in a bit once summer is over.

EDIT: Can't speak enough for how nice and informative the GAF Guild was during my time. Always helping others, great leadership and very welcoming to newcomers.
 
GW2 is still my biggest gaming disappointment ever. I spend thousands of hours in GW1, but GW2 seens to have removed everything that made the first game interesting (mission-based storyline, thousands of skills to select, dual-classing, energy system, class-specific armor, etc.). And besides that, the game uses the despicable system of lockboxes, for which reason alone I have to shun the game.
 

daveo42

Banned
I played GW2 a good bit when it came out last year and really scratched that MMO itch. I kind of got burned out around Wintersday and haven't been back since. I did make it through the giant world event, which was fun.

Good to hear that the game is still going strong.
 

zulfate

Member
I dont really play much anymore....i wish they would add more varied enemies, im so so tired of wurms and fucking birds lol. In fact all the enemy types annoy the fuck out of me. It is still a great game for the value, they add new content all the time i just dont know its missing something and i cant quite put my finger on it.
 

Jira

Member
GW2 is still my biggest gaming disappointment ever. I spend thousands of hours in GW1, but GW2 seens to have removed everything that made the first game interesting (mission-based storyline, thousands of skills to select, dual-classing, energy system, class-specific armor, etc.). And besides that, the game uses the despicable system of lockboxes, for which reason alone I have to shun the game.

ANet specifically said they already made GW1, they had no intentions of making it again. And honestly those black lion boxes are only worth opening for the chance at some skins which you don't even need unless you REALLY like the look. It's not like the boxes have items in it that are a requirement in order to play the game or something. That and you can just convert gold to gems really makes it a non issue.
 
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