Guild Wars 2

Hey Anet!

So today after the patch ot 28th January…I realised you nerfed the noise of the Greatsaw and the Chainsaw. Care to fix that ? Whats the point of having a chainsaws if they hit like wood sticks. Seriously…put that back

I love this new change, I honestly couldn’t use my chainsaw weapon because it kept going off over and over and over. I got so annoyed I had to turn the volume off. I dont mind the sound playing once in AWHILE, but every second was seriously irritating. I love the weapon and the look, the sound is cool to but only in moderation otherwise it makes me want to grind my teeth.

Thank you for fixing this – its sound effect is bearable again.

No way I enjoy the saw noise! It makes it fun to melee! Now there’s just no more sound! If people QQ then they can lower their music.

Ok I’m very dissapointed with this change.. for those of you who do not like loud weapons then do not use them. Also a chainsaw is sapposed to be loud it’s a chainsaw! the whole reason people get them is because they look cool and they make alot of noise that’s the point so please Anet change it back i bought two of them a while back just for the fun of having loud weapons and now it’s hardly noticeable. -.-

HungryWolf.4517:

Thank you for fixing this – its sound effect is bearable again.

There is not sound again. I think your definition of bearable is, none at all ? Get it right. We demand the sound back, maybe not as loud as it used to be but not to the point we hear nothing! It doesn’t even make a steel clash when you hit on mobs!

Wow… if I knew this was going to happen I would have sold mine for 100g… what a waste!

Came here to see this. I thought it was gone entirely or my sound was bugged until I was entirely alone with no other sounds, then and only then could I very faintly hear the old greatsaw sound.

It’s like it’s not even there any more. Sure the visuals are still nice but now it feels like just another greatsword.

Darksheep.4179:

Hey Anet!

So today after the patch ot 28th January…I realised you nerfed the noise of the Greatsaw and the Chainsaw. Care to fix that ? Whats the point of having a chainsaws if they hit like wood sticks. Seriously…put that back

Yes, because your right to have an obnoxious weapon that makes ears bleed(figuratively) overrides the general public’s right not to be annoyed relentlessly.

Yea sorry, I got the chainsaw because it was cool looking and the sound it originally made wasn’t obnoxious and made me want to turn the sound off. The original sound was a rumble of sorts, I liked that one. Then they switched it to a loud annoying one that members of my party would want to kick me because its the only greatsword weapon I have. They could just use the old rumbling sound x_x

I really don’t want to have this sound go:(

The first time a guardian came at me with this giant chainsaw in WvW I almost fell outta my chair! It was the surprise of hearing a RL sound in a medieval setting.

It burned into my memory because it struck instant fear into me and I panicked!

The huge norn was like “GRRRR!!!” charging at me and then I hear “whirrr whhiirrr” the sound of the chainsaw after which my warrior proceeds to get thrown around like a rag doll before I could use stability.

I’ll remember that scene forever, haha!=)

Drago.4158:

Darksheep.4179:

Hey Anet!

So today after the patch ot 28th January…I realised you nerfed the noise of the Greatsaw and the Chainsaw. Care to fix that ? Whats the point of having a chainsaws if they hit like wood sticks. Seriously…put that back

Yes, because your right to have an obnoxious weapon that makes ears bleed(figuratively) overrides the general public’s right not to be annoyed relentlessly.

You person you, should read more before posting! The sound is gone now, there is a difference between adjusting and making it gone! And as for as I know, they freaking holiday bell was not adjusted as well. /golfclap
Make sure read correctly.

I just had to max my speakers and in-game sound to hear it…

It’s gone from having 2-3 sound effects to just 1.. which fades quickly …“brr”…. is all I hear now.

I am also upset that the noise is totally lowered to oblivion. There has to be a better way to solve this.

Before it was too loud for most people but now its almost non-existent, its all white noise to me.

Perhaps we could adjust our own weapon noise? The public doesn’t have to hear my weapon but I would like to.

What gets me is the Legendary weapons made just as much noise but with loads of flashy visual effects.. you don’t see them getting nerfed.

Any chance we could get a response from ANet on whether this was intentional? Prior to the Nov 19 patch, the hum was okay…thereafter it was fantastic! That seemed to be a very deliberate move; now it disappears again with no patch notes. I’m very sad, as are my friends who crack up every time they hear it.

Thanks!

Surely there’s a happy medium to be found between the pre and post Wintersday levels? Admittedly the sound was a bit too intrusive after Wintersday but at the moment there really might as well not be any sound at all.

Cody Crichton.7516:

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact.

I hate to be the one to point this out Cody but it’s a sword, pretty much the only time you draw it is during “intense combat” at which point you can maybe hear a background purr if you’re really listening for it, as I was when I thought the sound had been removed entirely.

The sound levels of the weapon need to be raised a bit so that it is audible (but not overpowering) during “intense combat” otherwise the only time we can hear it is by brandishing it outside of combat … which seems pretty odd to me … unless I’m doing gardening.

As Abovem a happy medium would be nice. It’s extreemly quiet now. If it was a little louder but only procd once in a while. Once every minute or 30 secs, I dunno. It was very obnoxious when everything I did made it go crazy, but as others I barely hear it, only when Ihave a headset on and am really listening.

I say bring back the pre-patch sounds but just turn it down a little (not as low as this patch).

I loved that it played 2-3 different sounds, yes it was a little loud but I figured that was the point.. but I’m all for reducing the sound SLIGHTLY but not to this level.

Cody Crichton.7516:

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact. That said, if you know of a way that the sounds for this weapon can be reliably and consistently shown to not cue, we are interested in that—please let us know with a detailed reply in this thread!

Cody, thank you very much for the response. To be honest, neither I nor my guildmates can hear the saw at all now. I can swing it around in LA or some other area, and we hear nothing. We’ve verified our sounds are up/etc.

Is this intended? Am I testing this incorrectly? I can try recording a video or something, but any feedback would be most appreciated! Thanks again.

Cody Crichton.7516:

Hello everyone. Thank you for bringing up your thoughts about the chainsaw sounds for the Great Saw and Chain Sword weapon skins from Halloween.

Due to a bug, the sounds for this weapon were not playing originally, and this was fixed after the Wintersday content update. However, due to very popular demand, these sounds were turned down. See this thread for an example of some feedback that we received.

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact. That said, if you know of a way that the sounds for this weapon can be reliably and consistently shown to not cue, we are interested in that—please let us know with a detailed reply in this thread!

We hope you agree that erring on the side of caution is for the best.

As always, we thank you for feedback about issues like this which concern you, the players!

Review your testing cause it’s barely existent anymore. And yet to say, if you’re to nerf or remove noise. Start with the Wintersday’ Bell you made. Then what else bugs a lot ? The guardian scepter, yes it does make lot of noice! Then the rifles and pistole, hearing pew pew pew pew pew in a whole fractal is sure annoying too.

I can’t hear the sound on my greatsaw anymore either. It was a little too loud before, but now it is inaudible.

Cody Crichton.7516:

Hello everyone. Thank you for bringing up your thoughts about the chainsaw sounds for the Great Saw and Chain Sword weapon skins from Halloween.

Due to a bug, the sounds for this weapon were not playing originally, and this was fixed after the Wintersday content update. However, due to very popular demand, these sounds were turned down. See this thread for an example of some feedback that we received.

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact. That said, if you know of a way that the sounds for this weapon can be reliably and consistently shown to not cue, we are interested in that—please let us know with a detailed reply in this thread!

We hope you agree that erring on the side of caution is for the best.

As always, we thank you for feedback about issues like this which concern you, the players!

Just to clarify. Are you saying there is no way the volume is going to be adjusted back up so as to be audible? Because it isn’t audible at any reasonable volume setting on my PC. To hear the sounds, whether it is the normal rumble when the weapons is drawn or the chainsaw growl effect when an attack is made requires cranking up the volume to a point where the volume overall is so loud as to be painful.

This weapon required a significant investment for a lot of the people who have it. It isn’t fair to us to completely remove an aspect of it. If you’re going to remove every sound somebody doesn’t like, the game will be completely silent. There is no reason these sounds shouldn’t be audible at all at any tolerable volume setting.

I agree that the original sound was too loud/too often. After the nerf, you can hardly hear it at all. My opinion is that the nerf took it from one extreme to the other. Was there no middle ground? I am rewarded with this awesome greatsaw skin during the Halloween event only to have it reduced to an electric weedeater. I too would have sold it for 150gold if I had known this would happen.

Please tale another look at this.
Add a combat sound effects volume slider or something…

My character as an elementalist, maybe someday as an elementalist can be able to attach the chainsaw to the staff. Maybe that would make everything interesting, just by swinging the chainsaw/staff while in combat. LOL

Make an option to turn off or make a slider for “weapon sounds” in game. Problem solved.

Murmur.4312:

Make an option to turn off or make a slider for “weapon sounds” in game. Problem solved.

We’ve been asking for sliders/toggles for all kinds of annoying sounds since the BWE’s. I don’t think they’re going to do it.

Murmur.4312:

Make an option to turn off or make a slider for “weapon sounds” in game. Problem solved.

We’ve been asking for sliders/toggles for all kinds of annoying sounds since the BWE’s. I don’t think they’re going to do it. I have no idea what they have against it, but it seems to be the case.

Cody Crichton.7516:

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact…

We hope you agree that erring on the side of caution is for the best.

As always, we thank you for feedback about issues like this which concern you, the players!

I do agree that erring on the side of caution is best. For anyone who’s ever had kids who play a gaming system, you know that the sounds can drive you bonkers after awhile. When in doubt, no sound is better. Although I don’t understand why this game is so opposed to customization.

Chuo.4238:

I do agree that erring on the side of caution is best. For anyone who’s ever had kids who play a gaming system, you know that the sounds can drive you bonkers after awhile. When in doubt, no sound is better. Although I don’t understand why this game is so opposed to customization.

Effectively removing the sounds isn’t erring on the side of caution. Erring on the side of caution would be making a reasonable reduction in the volume of the sound. What they’ve done is called going overboard. The sound is no more annoying than any other at a proper volume. The only reason it was objectionable was that it was louder in comparison to the other effects in the game.

Every sound in the game is annoying to someone.

Cody Crichton.7516:

Due to a bug, the sounds for this weapon were not playing originally, and this was fixed after the Wintersday content update. However, due to very popular demand, these sounds were turned down. See this thread for an example of some feedback that we received.

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact. That said, if you know of a way that the sounds for this weapon can be reliably and consistently shown to not cue, we are interested in that—please let us know with a detailed reply in this thread!

We hope you agree that erring on the side of caution is for the best.

1. It is either feast or famine on this issue. First, no sound, bad. Then sound, good. Then NO sound, very bad. Please note I did say NO sound. Contrary to the outcome on your Dev. Servers, I can not hear the sound at all…ever, no matter if I am in battle or not. I was standing next to someone that I never met before who said “Man, that sword is Rad”, so I took it out and swung it for effect in a very quiet spot and they responded with “Shame they removed the sound thou”.
It is even more a shame that, “due to very popular demand” opinion of people who most likely do NOT own the 140gp skin in question, can ruin the experience of the actual people who do.

2. While I do agree that it was somewhat loud when the sound was first turned on, it was no more excessive then the Mes Skill: Phantasmal Duelist or Spatial Surge, the Ele Skill: Meteor Shower or the Eng Skill: Flame Jet. BTW please don’t mess with these now that I mentioned them.

3. So I propose lets find a happy medium, how about we try half way between the current No Sound setting and the Wintersday patch 100% sound.

4. As for in-combat sound vs. non-combat… My ranger uses the GreatSaw skill 3 and dives into combat when my longbow skills exhaust, at which point I continue to use the GreatSaw untill the mob is no more. So the differentiation between combat and non-combat options is a moot or mute point if you wish.

5. The reason that this skin costs 140gp(a bit low IMHO) is because it was an awesome concept. Let’s not shoot ourselves in the foot by removing HALF of the GreatSaw’s awesomeness.

Talon.3189:

Ok I’m very dissapointed with this change.. for those of you who do not like loud weapons then do not use them. Also a chainsaw is sapposed to be loud it’s a chainsaw! the whole reason people get them is because they look cool and they make alot of noise that’s the point so please Anet change it back i bought two of them a while back just for the fun of having loud weapons and now it’s hardly noticeable. -.-

I agree with you 100%. I bought mine, partially for the sound effects, and this nerf has ruined it for me all together.
Why can’t we have control over effects like the chainsaw? Please, at least bump it up a little bit!

Cody Crichton.7516:

Hello everyone. Thank you for bringing up your thoughts about the chainsaw sounds for the Great Saw and Chain Sword weapon skins from Halloween.

Due to a bug, the sounds for this weapon were not playing originally, and this was fixed after the Wintersday content update. However, due to very popular demand, these sounds were turned down. See this thread for an example of some feedback that we received.

There have been concerns in this thread that the sounds are gone in their entirety, but internal testing has shown that this is not the case. While they are quieter now, they are audible at default volume levels except during intense combat, and the impact sounds for the weapon are also intact. That said, if you know of a way that the sounds for this weapon can be reliably and consistently shown to not cue, we are interested in that—please let us know with a detailed reply in this thread!

We hope you agree that erring on the side of caution is for the best.

As always, we thank you for feedback about issues like this which concern you, the players!

Cody, I appreciate your reply, however, I am unable to hear my chainsaw anymore, I have fiddled with everyone of my sliders.
incorrect cuing does not matter to me, I don’t care how often it triggers, just as long as I can at least hear my saw. Why not add an option where we can set this level, and then everyone should be happy? At least bump it up a little to at least make it audible for some of us that enjoy the sound.
I tried to reset to defaults as you suggested, but I am still unable to hear it.
Surely, there must be a way that this can be fixed as to satisfy everyone.
I purchased my Greatsaw because I liked it more than the legendarys, however one of my biggest reasons for purchase, was because I heard someone using one of these, and I fell in love with its sound and awesome looks.
Please give us some kind of fix, so that is audible again.

Thank you for your time.

Dungorthb.3281:

I am also upset that the noise is totally lowered to oblivion. There has to be a better way to solve this.

Before it was too loud for most people but now its almost non-existent, its all white noise to me.

Perhaps we could adjust our own weapon noise? The public doesn’t have to hear my weapon but I would like to.

I 100% agree, I would like to enjoy the weapon that I purchased, not what it has become now.
If people had options of controlling this, it would not be an issue for anyone. Personally, I would leave the option on to hear other peoples chainsaws, because I think it adds a great effect to the game, that is what sold me on getting one in the first place.

Magnus Robotfighter.9678:

I agree that the original sound was too loud/too often. After the nerf, you can hardly hear it at all. My opinion is that the nerf took it from one extreme to the other. Was there no middle ground? I am rewarded with this awesome greatsaw skin during the Halloween event only to have it reduced to an electric weedeater. I too would have sold it for 150gold if I had known this would happen.

Please tale another look at this.
Add a combat sound effects volume slider or something…

Yes, please add a slider, this would solve this and other issues once and for all.
And, like you, I never would have spend almost every penny that I had to get this if I had known that the sound would be eliminated.

GreatSaw users: Continue to fight the good fight.

There may be a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and this time… it is Not a train. I spent a substantial amount of time with Cody C, Anet’s QA Audio specialist last evening, doing Production Server testing on the Great Saw functionality and Audio variances amongst different players. You may have seen us doing some testing on Stormbluff Isle server outside the Asura Lab near Tequatl spawn. We tested both in and out of combat and without going into too much detail, here are the results:

1. There IS an acknowledged problem.
2. The problem is not universal with all GreatSaw users (there are different audio decibel levels that the users of the sword experience.
3. The surrounding players may hear different volume levels then the sword user.
3. Cody said this issue will be reevaluated with the Audio Team.
4. There was also some discussion on increasing the volume across the board. Now the way the statement was made, it was not Guaranteed to be raised, but it was inferred.

Hope Springs Eternal

Thank you Yalora! You are awesome!

Thanks for the replies all, glad I’m not the only one who misses this. Almost put this puppy in the bank for a Volcanus, but I think I’ll hold out.

Currently can’t hear over a waypoint, even.

If it helps in the troubleshooting or even matters – my GS was transmuted onto a skybringer.

Brave Sir Ryan.1240:

Thanks for the replies all, glad I’m not the only one who misses this. Almost put this puppy in the bank for a Volcanus, but I think I’ll hold out.

Currently can’t hear over a waypoint, even.

If it helps in the troubleshooting or even matters – my GS was transmuted onto a skybringer.

That is the same sword that I put mine on, I doubt though that it could be the cause.

Thanks for keeping this alive. I would love to have some sound back on my Greatsaw. I’m glad to see they are at least looking at it.

WTB combat sound volume slider.

Hopefully, we’ll get a fix in tomorrow’s patch…

Thanks guys/gals! Great job!

The GreatSaw is now audible.

I can now hear it slightly above the ambient background noise of the environment. This is a step in the right direction and I thank you for that, but let us not mark this down in the win column and close the ticket just yet.

Thou I am pleased to now be able to hear the Saw sound, it still remains more quiet then the other sounds around me.

As compared to the Ranger Great Sword skill # 2(Maul), I would say it is about 25% of that volume level. Even the pew, pew, pew of my Longbow is still louder than the GreatSaw.

Just as a comparison of dB levels in Real Time:
Threshold of pain – 130 dB
Threshold of discomfort – 120 dB
Real Time Chainsaw @ 1m distance – 110 dB
Diesel truck @ 10m – 90 dB
Vacuum cleaner @ 1m – 70 dB
Conversational speech – 60 dB
{GreatSaw, in game @ 1m – 50-55 dB}
Quiet Library – 40 dB
Rustling leaves @ 10m – 10 dB
Hearing threshold – 0 dB

So put into perspective:
When the GreatSaw first came out it was below hearing threshold. When the sound was first turned on it was at the sound level of a Real Life chainsaw. When it was turned down it was the sound of Rustling Leaves in the distance. And now it is the level of sound slightly below conversational speech.

Since the Gem Store does not currently sell dB reducing Bunny Ears, I believe that having the sound at a normal Chainsaw 110 dB level, is clearly too loud for the game. But let’s move it up a few more notches to at least Vacuum Cleaner level before we call it a day.

Let’s face it…A combustion Chainsaw is Loud, period. Maybe you want to take the Audio team out in the woods for a teambuilding exercise and cut down a tree or three, to put things in the proper sound perspective for everyone.

Until you folks come up with a new JackHammer weapon to usurp the ChainSaw’s lofty audio status, the ChainSaw should, IMO be the loudest weapon in the game.

Please feel free to contact me again in game for Production server or QA testing.

Cody, has any testing involved speaker configuration? I use a Cambridge Soundworks Four Point Surround speaker set (4.1) on a Creative Soundblaster X-Fi Titanium card. I was wondering if the issues some of us are/were experiencing were related to the sound being to 2.0 vs. 2.1 vs. 4.0 vs. 4.1 vs. 5.1 vs 7.1 or speakers vs. earphones/headset.

It is audible when attacking when alone or against a single mob, a little on the quiet side, but I can live with it. But I can’t hear it at all in something like Pen/Shelter events.

The idle sound is still kind of hard to hear when wandering around.

I do appreciate you guys putting the time in and making the change you did. It was so bad before that I couldn’t enjoy playing the character that I use the greatsaw (and chain sword/warhorn switch) on.

It is now just audible, I can finally hear it, however, if there is any fighting at all, the sound can’t be heard at all. What good is a weapon sound if we can’t hear it in battle? If you won’t increase it on a global level, why not give each user the option to increase it on his/her end? Just listen to some of the other weapon sounds, like necro staff and many others, those are loud enough to drive you nuts, why is the chainsaw any different?
I don’t care if it is not done globally so others can hear it, but please let me hear it when I am fighting, that’s what it is for.

Well, hope is better than no hope, so I will keep my fingers crossed.

Please let this skin be availible next Holloween! :P