Division by expansion

No this has nothing to do with “new math”. I have mentioned before that I have been playing Guild Wars some with mixed opinions on the game. This week the “Factions” expansion was shipped and gone live which I opted not to buy. Now I find that most of my guild mates are off exploring the new area and I’m left to struggle in missions by myself. I know that I could directly ask for help, I don’t want to take away from my friends fun/time by helping me in something they have done already. I had experienced this to a certain degree with UO from the other side, were I was the person that went out exploring and then had someone without the expansion ask for help.

So what is my point? While expansion help the company’s profits and maybe even draw in some new players, what does it do to those players that are on the fence? Also what impact does it have on drawing in new players when you consider how much they will have to spend so much to buy all the expansions just to get up to speed? I would be interested in finding out what type of numbers that a game like EverQuest II in truly new players, but I’m sure those numbers are well guarded and will not be released any time soon. This isn’t meant as attack on EverQuest II (I have never played it, I just know that they have had a large number of expansions over the years) or Guild Wars (given the lack of subscription fees, having to buy a expansion once in a while could be viewed as the fee).

In close I’m not going to say if expansions are good or bad. I just think that it’s worth remembering that they can create divides within the communities that occupy them and could have a long term impact on drawing in new players.