The no-gear-grind philosophy of Guild Wars 2 has been called into question, so developer ArenaNet has responded on Reddit.
Brief recap: a brand new Ascended armour type statistically more powerful than other end-game armours has been added to the game. ArenaNet said hardcore players needed more to do and more progression to chase.
But the Guild Wars 2 community interpreted this as signs of an end-game gear grind – a mechanic ArenaNet chastised in the lead up to Guild Wars 2’s launch. Did ArenaNet contradict itself?
“I hope we’ve been clear that GW2 is not a game with virtually no stat progression in it like GW1 was,” ArenaNet co-founder and boss Mike O’Brien wrote on Reddit. “That’s why GW2 shipped with a higher level cap, and with a hard separation between PVE and PVP.
“In GW1 we never advanced the level cap through four campaigns/expansions. The game design didn’t allow for it. But GW2 was designed without those restrictions, and we’ve always expected that we will someday raise the level cap in GW2.”
I put that last part in bold because it’s the first I’ve heard of plans to increase the Guild Wars 2 level cap.
“That’s why we’ve always said that GW2 rewards players through both progression and collection,” O’Brien went on, “whereas GW1 primarily rewarded through collection. Presumably players aren’t shocked that GW2 rewards through progression, since it has a level 80 cap.