29 replies to this topic

[pjomofo]

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it. I've played my share of games and I'm hoping for an awesome launch when the time comes.  I've been reading the forums for D3 and their launch and it hasn't been pretty.  I'm putting my faith in the team at ANet to deliver on launch day. While I know what most people think I feel that ANet can deliver here and make two things happen - change the genre and change expectations for launching a new title to the masses.

Now, where did I put that external 9600 baud modem.....hmmm.

[Wayshuba]

I think they are going to be fine. The improvements over the first BWE weekend from Friday to Sunday were good and there was great improvements in the first stress test weekend.

I have faith they will pull off the launch just fine.

[Red_Falcon]

I know that feel OP.

I'm 25 and in the last 10 years I played pretty much everything on the market, yet GW1 was the only thing that I kept coming back to.
I really hope GW2 will be as good.

[Dream Thrum]

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it. I've played my share of games and I'm hoping for an awesome launch when the time comes.  I've been reading the forums for D3 and their launch and it hasn't been pretty.  I'm putting my faith in the team at ANet to deliver on launch day. While I know what most people think I feel that ANet can deliver here and make two things happen - change the genre and change expectations for launching a new title to the masses.

Now, where did I put that external 9600 baud modem.....hmmm.

The stress test using the first public beta client ran smoother than Diablo 3's launch, so no worries there.  It won't be the first mmo to have a smooth launch, there have been plenty that have done that.

[pjomofo]

I've only played GW when it comes to MMOs.  I wasn't part of the initial launch of GW so I don't know how that went down.  Still, when you consider the resources and experience of Blizzard and how they have failed to many consumers. Let's hope Anet is paying attention here (I'm sure they are).

[Jaehan]

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it. I've played my share of games and I'm hoping for an awesome launch when the time comes.  I've been reading the forums for D3 and their launch and it hasn't been pretty.  I'm putting my faith in the team at ANet to deliver on launch day. While I know what most people think I feel that ANet can deliver here and make two things happen - change the genre and change expectations for launching a new title to the masses.

Now, where did I put that external 9600 baud modem.....hmmm.

You said it like age is a bad thing. Some of my best online-friends are older than I ( and I am 22 ) and we've gone through a lot together.

Anyway, I have an MMO resume that is longer than the MMO list at mmorpg.com and mmohut.com. I'm not kidding. I've tried literally hundreds of online games, from browser to kongregate games to AAA MMO's to crappy MMO's that die out in two weeks to indie MMO's ( Xsyon ) and what not.

I always play EVE, though. I've played EVE since launch. And I will continue to do so.

As far as Guild Wars 2 is concerned? I'm pretty happy overall with it. Cash Shop. Gameplay. Design. I think Greatswords should be bigger, though. Not embellished enough at all.

Ah, that reminds me. Guild Wars 1 had a pretty decent launch. We had 5 "Beta" events prior to the release of GW1.

I still remember Gaile Gray, randomly popping up in Lion's Arch when things were all going up and down. " Hey guys, ArenaNet are doing maintenance. Servers might be wonky. "

......meh. I miss "the good old days".

Edited by Jaehan, 16 May 2012 - 08:45 PM.

[MkMarshal]

I'm 25 myself and started playing games back when I was 13ish, starting with a game called The Realm.

Besides that though, it's people like you guys who have stuck with GW1 that make me hopeful for GW2.  Granted, I fell in love with the game before the first BWE and even more so since I've played the game.  I played WoW for years but I kept taking breaks from the game for extended periods (6 months to a year a times) because I got tired of the "dangle the carrot" business model Blizzard seemed to use.

Back to what I said about a devoted following since GW1, it definitly makes me feel good.  In my limited experience with GW2 I've seen how Anet really listens to players.  I also like how they level the playing fields so that true skill comes through (such as having equal gear in PvP, sans WvWvW).

I think Anet and the launch will be fine.  My only fear is that GW2 gets too popular and Anet starts to cater more to money than to a truly unique and genre-changing game.

[pjomofo]

I moved into GW after my days of playing Diablo, Diablo 2, etc.  I found out that the crew from Anet originated from Blizzard and gave GW a chance because of it.  They didn't disappoint.  My earlier days of Diablo included playing online via modem with my brother-in-law and using a null modem cable (LAN party).  That was back in 96 I think.

We now have a small crew that continues to game once a week or so.  We played GW for years and have been waiting for the successor.  We're all looking forward to it.  Hey, with wives, kids, jobs, etc., it's nice to get lost in these worlds...right??

Edited by pjomofo, 16 May 2012 - 09:08 PM.

[mbelcikuwh]

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it. I've played my share of games and I'm hoping for an awesome launch when the time comes.  I've been reading the forums for D3 and their launch and it hasn't been pretty.  I'm putting my faith in the team at ANet to deliver on launch day. While I know what most people think I feel that ANet can deliver here and make two things happen - change the genre and change expectations for launching a new title to the masses.

Now, where did I put that external 9600 baud modem.....hmmm.

cheers for ANet!!may ANet deliver this game to us, players, friends, customers, fans, fellow gamers...with hope and love

[leos]

I'm not sure about Blizzard for D3, but I believe Anet has already planned its launch for GW2 very well.  Pre-purchasers start 3 days ahead of everyone.  We already saw during the beta, that Anet did better than Blizzard so with more Betas, I am sure the launch for pre-purchasers will be great.

Pre-orders start 1 day ahead.  Not sure how many pre-orders there are but you can start seeing the plan here.

Launch for GW2 is stratified.  It's not one big launch where everyone rushes and all servers go down.  There will be a group that start 3 days ahead, another 1 day ahead and then the 'big' official launch.  All this means that by the time of official launch, a big chunk of the population will already be past starter maps.  Hence Anet is planning well for launch.

In addition, the stress test is a good indication Anet takes server crashes seriously.  We have no idea when launch is and yet, Anet is focusing on server issues.  So far, I think GW2 launch will kick ass.

Edited by leos, 16 May 2012 - 09:09 PM.

[Jaehan]

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 09:00 PM, said:

I moved into GW after my days of playing Diablo, Diablo 2, etc.  I found out that the crew from Anet originated from Blizzard and gave GW a chance because of it.  They didn't disappoint.  My earlier days of Diablo included playing online via modem with my brother-in-law and using a null modem cable (LAN party).  That was back in 96 I think.

We now have a small crew that continues to game once a week or so.  We played GW for years and have been waiting for the successor.  We're all looking forward to it.  Hey, with wives, kids, jobs, etc., it's nice to get lost in these worlds...right??

Once, one of my girlfriends accused me of abandoning her for EVE. I was, " More interested in that world than this world". I told her, " Yes. You're the reason why, too. Nag, nag, nag. "


....yeah that conversation went badly after that.

In hindsight, I probably should have invited her to play with me. But that was just inconvenient.

Although this new girlfriend has potential. She's not a n00b.

Most of my friends and I are looking forward to Guild Wars 2. We talk about it on a daily basis. Compare videos. Demand proof of why X profession is better than Y profession. Etc.

If a game not even released yet makes us argue, when we've been together since DAoC, well....good times.

[Moldy_Gravespawn]

I am getting ready for the launch of GW2.  I am building a new computer to play it on.  I have all the parts coming from Amazon.  I first heard of the Naga mouse while watching one of the live streams of the BWE and have ordered one of those too.  I am going to buy the game when Amazon has it in stock.  I played GW1 for over 5 years and I hope to play GW2 just as long.  I am sure the launch will go smoothly.  I don't want to start playing the very first day the game is released.  I'll let the crowd get in the game and out of the way before I begin.

[Jibas]

Moldy_Gravespawn, on 17 May 2012 - 12:02 AM, said:

I am getting ready for the launch of GW2.  I am building a new computer to play it on.  I have all the parts coming from Amazon.  I first heard of the Naga mouse while watching one of the live streams of the BWE and have ordered one of those too.  I am going to buy the game when Amazon has it in stock.  I played GW1 for over 5 years and I hope to play GW2 just as long.  I am sure the launch will go smoothly.  I don't want to start playing the very first day the game is released.  I'll let the crowd get in the game and out of the way before I begin.

If you are going to buy the game for sure anyways mise well just pre purchase, you will get the hero band and can at least play on launch day if you want to, at least thats what I will do.

[Salidin]

It is a MMO so issues will occur but we can't tell how severe or how long said issues will last. But that is the norm for MMO's either it be connection errors or account errors yet to see a MMO yet to kick off without a hitch.

[4arsie4]

Being 40 just means you spent more of your life playing games than younger people. Remember, you do not stop playing games when you grow old, you grow old when you stop playing games.

If GW1 launch is anything to go by, I would be very very happy indeed. Only concern is World caps splitting up guilds, which I wrote a thread about http://www.guildwars...population-cap/

But that has nothing to do with launch but more of expectation management and planning.

[Moldy_Gravespawn]

Jibas, on 17 May 2012 - 12:17 AM, said:

If you are going to buy the game for sure anyways mise well just pre purchase, you will get the hero band and can at least play on launch day if you want to, at least thats what I will do.

No, that's all right.  I'll start to play 3 or 4 days after launch.  I'll probably explore the city for a week and then make my way out into the countryside.  I plan on taking it slow and easy.

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it.

I'm 60 and I'm excited too.  It'll probably take a while to get used to all the running, dodging and jumping, but I'll be playing 10 hours a day everyday.  I'll figure it out eventually.  Launch day will be a bit hectic, so I'm going to start 3 or 4 days after launch.  Sorta wait for the dust to settle.

[Coooturtle]

ANet is being pretty smart about launch, splitting up the date into 3 technical launch dates. One for pre-purchase, one for pre-order, and the standard one.

[otherarrow]

I'm guessing their launch system is a bit like TOR. They let pre-orders in over the cause of a few days and as far as I can recall the servers were working well and were not too over-populated.

Only thing was that the people that were let into the game on the last day were absolutely furious (until they were let in). So apart from empty threats, this system should work without any major problems.

[Licentia]

ANet is doing the testing right for GW2.  They're handling the testing the same way Trion handled the testing for Rift, and Rift had one of the smoothest launches of any MMO in recent history.  (It doesn't matter if people actually liked the game or not...they just can't say it had a poor launch.)

Every time ANet conducts a stress test or runs a BWE, they're getting practical experience with their systems that allow them to fine tune everything so that when the "official" day comes, they've already done what needs to be done several times.  As Trion put it, after 7 beta events, their team had basically launched the game 7 times before official launch so they knew exactly what to watch for when the official day came.  It's one of the benefits of doing multiple beta events instead of one extended test session.

[Black Metal]

[quote] name='4arsie4' timestamp='1337222046' post='1451467']
Remember, you do not stop playing games when you grow old, you grow old when you stop playing games.
[/quote]

wow, that's pretty profound, and I must say, I approve

I'm 38 btw, been gaming since Colecovision

[Krazzar]

There will be issues on day 1 of the headstart, expect it. By the official release date at the latest everything should be sorted out. It's simply not practical to add all the additional resources to have a 100% smooth launch when those resources won't be needed hours later.

[Licentia]

Krazzar, on 17 May 2012 - 05:33 AM, said:

There will be issues on day 1 of the headstart, expect it. By the official release date at the latest everything should be sorted out. It's simply not practical to add all the additional resources to have a 100% smooth launch when those resources won't be needed hours later.

I agree that it's wise to anticipate issues at launch.  We would all like the game to run flawlessly from the first day of headstart and every day thereafter until we all get tired of the game or fall over dead, but most of us should know better by now.  We can be sure that ANet wants the launch to go flawlessly just as much as we do, but there should be a line drawn between what we hope for and what we can reasonably expect.  Lag, unanticipated downtime/maintenance, etc are all things nobody wants to see but it's entirely possible that it could happen and there's not much point in getting worked up over it.  Plenty of others will rush to the forums to have temper tantrums and emotional meltdowns over it if it happens...I don't need to be one of them.

[4arsie4]

Black Metal, on 17 May 2012 - 05:33 AM, said:

wow, that's pretty profound, and I must say, I approve

I'm 38 btw, been gaming since Colecovision

Haha, a wiser head than mine came up with that. I just cut & paste where appropriate.

[justaguy]

I have a lot of faith in ArenaNet. Mostly, its based on the years of stable servers on Guild Wars 1 and the stellar way they responded to issues during the first beta weekend event.

It is inevitable that there will be issues on launch day - no matter how much they prepare. What is important is how fast and effectively they can deal with those issues. The speed at which they dealt with instances not launching and server lag during the first BWE gives me a lot of hope.

and Im 41 - been playing video games for as long as I can remember. At least one person I will be playing regularly with is 60+. Its good to see an older community taking interest in this game.

[grey_foxx082]

My plan is to make the most out of the 3 day headstart (which will prolly be smoother than launch) and expect the worst on launch, which would be the time I take a break from my 3 day GW2 marathon.

Edited by grey_foxx082, 17 May 2012 - 02:34 PM.

[pjomofo]

justaguy, on 17 May 2012 - 01:32 PM, said:

I have a lot of faith in ArenaNet. Mostly, its based on the years of stable servers on Guild Wars 1 and the stellar way they responded to issues during the first beta weekend event.

and Im 41 - been playing video games for as long as I can remember. At least one person I will be playing regularly with is 60+. Its good to see an older community taking interest in this game.

Wholeheartedly agree with you there.  We might be older but we certainly appreciate how things have changed in our lifetime when it comes to gaming.

[Timothy Paradox]

pjomofo, on 17 May 2012 - 02:34 PM, said:

Wholeheartedly agree with you there.  We might be older but we certainly appreciate how things have changed in our lifetime when it comes to gaming.

I sure hope I'll live long enough to see full-VR games become a reality.

[Linfang]

You are old school when this was your first console game

[grey_foxx082]

Timothy Paradox, on 17 May 2012 - 02:37 PM, said:

I sure hope I'll live long enough to see full-VR games become a reality.

whatever happened to those vr helmets in the 90s? In highschool I was so sure that would be "the future of gaming" LOL

[Menehune]

pjomofo, on 16 May 2012 - 07:34 PM, said:

I'm about to turn 40 and I'm excited about GW2.  There, I said it. I've played my share of games and I'm hoping for an awesome launch when the time comes.  I've been reading the forums for D3 and their launch and it hasn't been pretty.  I'm putting my faith in the team at ANet to deliver on launch day. While I know what most people think I feel that ANet can deliver here and make two things happen - change the genre and change expectations for launching a new title to the masses.

Now, where did I put that external 9600 baud modem.....hmmm.

I get the feeling that the majority opinion, which includes mine, ist that while GW2's launch probably won't be perfect, it will still beat the socks off of recent game launches.

I got you beat by a few years. Want to borrow my 300 baud acoustic coupler?