My favorite part of Guild Wars is Ascalon City (Pre Searing). Now that Guild Wars 2 has been delayed, I think it's important that ArenaNet release new content for the original series. Expanding the Pre Searing area is a great way to do that. With very little development time, ArenaNet could have a product that many players would enjoy.
Here's what I suggest...
- Guild Hall Zone - accessable by Pre Searing Characters. (There are lots of doors in Ascalon City, what if you could walk inside - into your own Guild Hall?)
- Defend the Wall mission - Kill High Level Charr for bonuses, rank guilds with the longest duration. Make it a group mission with 16 or more players. (This will allow players to reach level 20 - honorably - a true Defender of Ascalon.)
- Add Level 20 Pre-Searing Armor Sets - Defending the wall will let you get better gear as rewards.
- Add Two New Charr Killing Missions - We don't have to rewrite history, but I think there's room for more missions to the north of Ascalon City.
- Exclusive Ascalon City Expansion Emote - Add an emote for players that buy this expansion... like "Blow Kiss" or "Shrug".
Now, there are obviously going to be some complaints.
Problem #1 - Hey, I don't own Prophecies. I can't play.
Solution #1 - Offer the Original Guild Wars as part of the package. Say the Ascalon City expansion is $10, Exisiting Nightfall or Faction players could get Propecies and the bonus for $20 at the online store.
Problem #2 - Hey, I got my title. I worked hard for it. Why do you want to cheapen it?
Solution #2 - It was stupid of ArenaNet to reward players for exploiting the system. Death Leveling is an exploit. They should not have a title. However, they do - so ArenaNet should not go backwards. Players who reach level 20 in pre-searing - without the expansion - should get a special effect, similiar to divine aura. For players in the middle of death leveling, they simply wait until they're finished before buying the Pre-Searing expansion... or ArenaNet could simply post a deadline.
The Logic - This is a minimal amount of development time. ArenaNet probably has some spare artwork around. It shouldn't be too hard for them to come up with two emotes, a new guild hall, six new armor sets, and three maps. A small team could turn around such content in a few months. Yet, the expansion could easily make a million dollars. It would add life to the newbie zone, encouraging new players and giving incentive for other players to return to Guild Wars. This would create a surge, allowing old and new Guild Wars players to grind out titles together.
Do you like the idea? Sign the petition!
