First off, heroes were introduced only for the sole reason that gw1 was loosing players. It has nothing to do with back to the classic days of RPG. GW1 isnt a RPG. from the very start to the start of when gw2 was released no one had any problems with getting players to do stuff together, like vanqing,missions,elite areas, not stupid cons until NF was released either.
Uhmm, that's incorrect. GW was not losing players when Nightfall released. It was peaking at that time, and continued to host a healthy population through Eye of the North. True they didn't do it in the spirit of the classic RPG, but it nonetheless helped those who played those games recapture the feeling. Arenanet took the bold step of introducing the Henchmen system into their MMO. They did so specifically so that people could use these NPC characters in lieu of real people, not only to round out groups, but to make being able to go out and explore and play the game a whole lot faster. The heroes came about because people who made use of the henchman had been asking for an upgrade to the system for the year and a half the game had been out. So Arenanet provided that to them, and then later enhanced it with the mercenary heroes.
MMORPG, or in the case of GW COOP-RPG as Arenanet called it. So yes, it very much is a Role-playing Game. To this very day, I see plenty of people still forming groups and even getting some PvP action going in Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry.
Gw1 isnt made for solo play, People only care for meta builds nowadays and they don't care to accept players because heroes are more reliable than human players and they want to only gw with the most OP heroes so they can breeze through gw1 without any resistance.
Guild Wars as made as a cooperative MMO. They designed it with group play in mind, but again, the henchman allowed for solo play in many areas. Certainly not as efficient as a full human party, but the bulk of the game allowed for complete solo play if one desired.
I got news for you - people have always cared about meta builds. Heroes have nothing to do with that. It's existent in any and every MMO out there. Henchmen and Heroes are still no substitute for a full human party. They literally cannot be more powerful than a full group of humans based on their design. So a full group of 8 humans of at least average skill level will always outperform 1 human of the same skill level and 7 heroes.
Heroes were never a thing at the beginning of gw so its laughable that you point to a concept of why NPC helpers were created in MMO's.
And lastly a designed mmo with defined roles so grouping has to be a thing to get stuff done is necessary, and I have never looked at gw1 grouping up is a forced thing. If you do feel that way,you should play something else than gw,go play gw2 instead or other casual noob friendly mmo's
Heroes were not a thing at the beginning, but henchmen were, and I explained why. And that is also why many MMOs began to use similar systems in their games, like SWTOR, Neverwinter, and Everquest. I never felt that grouping was a forced thing in GW either, precisely because of the Henchmen and Heroes. In fact that system and the lack of a monthly sub were the two primary reasons I bought the game in the first place. Socialization is part and parcel of the MMO experience. The best MMOs give players a wide variety on how to socialize. Grouping is but one of those ways. Previously, in the early days, it was necessary to group with people to progress through content. However, as time has gone on, the industry has matured and the games reflect the paradigm shifts that come with that. Solo play is very much part and parcel of MMOs, as it should be, so that players can choose how and when to be social in their MMO.
If that's something you dislike, then perhaps you should look to play one of those older games that still have a reliance on forced grouping. There are still several out there.
