Now that we’ve had some time to digest the confirmation that Guild Wars 3 is happening – something we knew, but there’s knowing and then there’s knowing – as well as time to mull over ArenaNet’s promises about the fate of Guild Wars 1 and Guild Wars 2, we need to do what we do here in Massively Overthinking and overthink it. This week, I’m asking our writers and readers for their not-quite-hot takes, their slightly chilled takes, on the new game and the rest of the franchise, now that we’ve had time to read and think. Will you play the new one? How fast did you sign up for that beta? Does it make you more or less willing to play the original games in this context? Do you really believe ArenaNet learned its lesson from GW1? Where do you stand on the Guild Wars situation?
Andy McAdams: I signed up for the beta approximately 3 seconds after the page went up. I’m excited to see what they do, but I am a little disappointed in the setting of 1,000 in the past. I’m sure it will be awesome, but Guild Wars in a true sci-fi setting sounds amazing. I am also disappointed that the Sylvari won’t be there for obvious reasons. They are my favorite fantasy race, and I love them, so it’s sad that they got the “one-and-done” treatment.
There’s not enough info on what the game will be for me to get properly excited for it, but I’m all about new blood in the MMO space, especially if the team is trying to do something different than “WoW clone, but with minor differences and a new coat of paint.”
Ben Griggs (@braxwolf): I’m just glad to see that a new AAA MMO is in development by someone other than Amazon. I might play it. I went through a season of enjoying GW2 quite a bit.
Brianna Royce (@nbrianna.bsky.social, blog): My slightly chilled take is that I don’t really feel all that different than I did before. I already knew Guild Wars 3 was coming eventually; I already knew from reading the investor reports that ArenaNet has been doing really well, better than I would’ve thought. It already seemed evident and obvious that the studio was reinvesting in the franchise as a whole, given the Guild Wars Reforged stuff.
So on the on hand, I’m glad that the genre is getting a big injection of hope and positivity and confidence. We all needed this, even if you don’t ever play it. And on the other, I’m glad ArenaNet is taking longevity seriously. I was one of those who was unhappy with the way Guild Wars and its fans were treated in the years before GW2 launched; the tiny content patches the team dangled in those last years were not enough. I don’t really have any fears about that repeating here now.
And I have to say, I’m impressed with NCsoft. That’s twice in two years NCsoft has deeply impressed me when it comes to how it’s letting its creative studios cook and how it’s listening to the western MMORPG fanbase. It’s obviously not the same company it was 15 years ago, and that’s a compliment.
But for now, I’m just gonna keep playing Guild Wars 2. I do hope HOM2 is enough to people to keep buying in the gap year, though. That makes me nervous.
Carlo Lacsina (@UltraMudkipEX, YouTube, Twitch): I’m wondering if it’s good enough to be a successor. Interesting choice setting it 1000+ years in the past. Will that mean players can only play humans at this point (are those bearkin in the pics)? It’ll be interesting to see this mythical time period of Tyria! But so much has changed since 2012. Will this game actually push the series and the genre forward? I hope so; it’s a respected franchise known for breaking MMO trends of each era, and hopefully this entry can do that.
Chris Neal (@wolfyseyes.bsky.social, blog): I mean, it looks neat? That’s about all I can really say. But I will elaborate. The thing is that while we got a trailer using game engine footage, we didn’t actually get gameplay or other hard details about classes or combat or movement, only the fact that movement and traversal is so super duper hyper-giga important you guys, h’omg. So I’m not really losing my absolute mind over here.
That’s not to suggest that I’m not excited, I should point out. Of course I’m eager to see what this one is all about and maybe get in on the ground floor when it does release in mid-2028 or early 2029. But I need to see much more than a very pretty trailer.
Also I do want to say that NCsoft’s chief business officer saying the game is about “segments of small groups playing” isn’t an immediate non-starter. I’m fine with this design idea. But, again, I need to see it in action. I mean actual action, by the way; please ANet I beg of you, don’t present combat or class actions in slow motion vignettes with Dutch tilts.
Colin Henry (@ChaosConstant.bsky.social): (Colin did an entire piece on this topic already!)
Justin Olivetti (@Sypster, blog): I’m not signing up for a beta or anything, but I’m sufficiently excited that it prompted me to get back into Guild Wars 2 and start chipping away at a mountain of untouched content. The Hall of Monuments 2.0 thing has me most engaged — I think that’ll be a really good onramp for new and returning fans.
Sam Kash (@samkash@mastodon.social): Um, does a quaggan taste good on a bed of rice? Hell yes! Well, I imagine yes. The sight and sound of them is truly the greatest misstep in GW2’s history. That and the handling of PvP. But yes, I’m absolutely going to be playing GW3 as soon as I can. I haven’t signed up for the beta, though. I think I will, but I haven’t yet. I’m a bit burnt out on early access and betas these days, but I will need to make room the GW3. Even my wife was excited about the announcement! That’s saying a lot, believe me.
There’s so much to love about GW2 that I really hope continues through to GW3. The combat really is so great. And I’ve always enjoyed the stories we’ve been given to play with. The sheer amount of different activities we have access to is great. One of the biggest letdowns for me is how many games don’t even try to branch out. They do one thing and even then it’s not that great! With GW there’s combat when I want it, stories and missions, PvP, and free-form group content.
So I hope we still have this breadth of content to choose from. I also hope the devs really learn some lessons from all wise words and tips I’ve provided them over the years (free of charge, even)! And I hope that results in some even further improved combat.
Tyler Edwards (blog): I think it’s still too early to have any strong feelings one way or the other. We still know next to nothing about GW3 beyond that it exists and when/where it’s set. I’m being particularly cautious because GW2 was one of the rare cases where I fully bought into the hype Kool Aid, and while it didn’t turn out bad by any means, it didn’t end up being something I wanted to stick with long term.
One thing I will say for GW2 is that it do to a lot to innovate and move the genre forward, and we can hope that GW3 will have a similarly positive impact on other games… though we’re probably waiting until some time in the 2030s before we’d start really seeing that come to fruition.
I like that we’re (apparently?) getting playable Kodan. Significantly non-human races are increasingly rare in MMOs these days, and bearfolk are underrated archetype, I think. Bears are cool.
While I do think ArenaNet is sincere in its intention to do right by GW2 players, I worry that the messiness of game development is going to throw a wrench in its plans. My prediction is that GW3 is going to be delayed, leading to a longer than expected content drought for GW2, leading to a lot of bitter fans.
