I wouldn’t say that GW2 stops for me at 80, but it stops offering a hook that gets me interested long-term. I’m an explorer in these RPGs, but not really in terms of game environments. I’m an explorer of mechanics, so I can still play a while past 80 as I experiment with different builds, acquire different gear to make each build work, but once I’ve exhausted build ideas I pretty much move on. Because ArenaNet hasn’t added much in the way of new mechanics (such as a new weapon set for each class, a new customization system, etc) I haven’t been drawn back into the game. Story is probably what I’m least interested in, especially in a MMO, so the Living World stuff hasn’t done anything for me.
Anyway, when I said “more things to do”, I wasn’t referring to a gear grind or anything. It’s mostly that the current content in GW2 doesn’t appeal too much to me. I was most looking forward to WvW but I didn’t like their implementation very much. “Battleground” style PVP lacks continuity and I can’t really get mentally engaged, and as I said the Living World / story elements just don’t do anything for me. That leaves me with very little to do, even if the urge to load up the game strikes me.
So, by more things to do, I guess a decent example (at least conceptually) I can point to is something like the Garrison in the latest WoW expansion. I’m not the biggest fan of their implementation in some cases, but I really like the idea. I like having a piece of turf that’s my own, building up a fortification, finding and attracting followers to populate it, constructing buildings on limited plots each which are providing bonuses, sending followers out on missions. I think it’s neat, it’s something that you can focus working on or pick at it here and there on the side while you’re raiding or doing PVP or whatever. The tricky part is making sure it ties into the rest of the game. I’m not really a big fan of “housing” that is just decorating a personal space that has little to no utility.
Another example of “things to do at max level” would be (again, conceptually) the territory control and that EVE online has. I really like how economics ties everything in the game together. Losing a ship costs a lot of money, so money becomes important. Controlling territory can give you access to making a lot of money by setting up industry but as people want to take your lunch money, it leads to PVP, which circles back to economy as yet more ships get blown up. I’m not a big fan of EVE, but this sort of thing is definitely something that falls under “things to do at max level” for me.
Ultimately, I’m just not interested in MMO story, I can’t get into WvW or sPVP, and I’ve never been an achievement whore (not a pejorative!) . So if they can add something new for me to do, it just might provide the hook to keep me playing the game. If it’s “just” a new class and some new abilities for the existing classes that gives me a little to explore, but I probably won’t stay for long.
