I realize that most, if not all, Anet employees play this game. But how many of the developers actually play on normal computers? Not the high-end monsters that I’m sure the company as a whole use, but off-the-shelf mid-to-low end computers?
Many of the problems I see posted in this game are from those who use ordinary computers, off the shelf, as is. Those people who can’t afford top-end gaming rigs make up a large portion of the GW2 playerbase.
I think that you devs should get some off-the-shelf computers. Those that run $600 or so, and try playing the game on them. Do so BEFORE making changes, do so with new content tests, and so on. Then, maybe, you can understand the frustration many of the people in your player base feel.
As an example, right now, this game is basically ruined for my husband and me. We have what is considered a high-mid-range computer set up for us (each have our own), and we now get to run around seeing pink uniforms and the green blob of names. Yes, there is a work-around of turning the model limit and model quality up to be able to fix these things, but then our frame rate drops to below 10 usually. Now, I don’t know about most people, but I can’t see you devs playing this game with a fps of 10 or less (about 3 in a zerg).
Maybe you need to do something to see how a normal player plays? The frustrations we deal with, and just how hard it is for us to enjoy such an amazing and beautiful game, when you do things for the gamers with good rigs, and leave the rest of us behind.