Guild Wars 2

garraeth.3267:

Why are you ignoring the list of questions ‘Samuraikitten86’ compiled from the community and instead spending the short AMA time answering: “What games do you like to play besides Guild Wars 2?”

They know very well the community compiled that list. Hell, all they need to do is come here and see that we’re responsible for that list. And yet they’re evading it like a stink bomb ready to go off. Sad and disappointing.

Karizee.8076:

Azjenco.9425:

arabeth.2361:

Serious question: why do mainstream companies like Anet use Reddit to answer questions like this, when Reddit is most famous for being a site that people use to post creepy pictures of underage girls? Also: it’s a horrible site for organizing any kind of information. It seems like the sketchy nature and poor structure of the site would be a terrible match.

My thoughts exactly. Using reddit is a seriously stupid move on ANet’s part.

They have always used reddit for their AMA’s. Since before the game launched.

And it is a horrible decision that excludes the majority of players. And only gives them incite from the 1%-ers who have GW2 and Reddit accounts, and even know what Reddit is. If they truly wanted to know what their players were doing, they would ask people who were not in the internet echo chamber.

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Mistake me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t legendary weapon’s have the same stat/damage value as exotic’s? And if so how is bringing out another tier of gear gonna help? Won’t the same people that say there is nothing to do say the same thing after getting all the new gear?

As far as I know Legendary weapons will be increased in strength so that ascended fits in between them and exotic.

Yeah I know, Legendary’s used to be an optional grind but now if you want BiS gear you need to grind for a legendary…..

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13lio6/prepare_for_the_chris_whiteside_ama_here/

he should just answer all these questions.
all would be happy odr not.
but all would know whats going on.

zippo burntfur.9307:

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Mistake me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t legendary weapon’s have the same stat/damage value as exotic’s? And if so how is bringing out another tier of gear gonna help? Won’t the same people that say there is nothing to do say the same thing after getting all the new gear?

As far as I know Legendary weapons will be increased in strength so that ascended fits in between them and exotic.

Yeah I know, Legendary’s used to be an optional grind but now if you want BiS gear you need to grind for a legendary…..

Or you could get the ascended weapons? You didn’t “need” to grind legendaries when exotics were the best stats?

Lothair.8942:

Hi Joiry,

Really interesting question. Our intention is to deploy ascended components and gear across the whole of the game rather than focus it in one particular location. This was a a mistake and one that we will not be making moving forward. We do hope to find a balance and ensure that the world of Guild Wars 2 is as accessible and populated as possible and moving forward you will be able to see how we intend to execute on this goal.

I think with the support of the community we can continue building a world that does satisfy lots of different types of players in a fashion where everyone feels part of the same community and whose activities impact and interplay with those of differing player types.

This is somewhat encouraging, but only if I’m optimistic enough to believe they mean it when they say they realize doing it this way was a mistake.

If they do really understand it was a mistake then from now on the gear will always be released in such a way that WvW players, crafters, and open world PVE players can all earn it in approximately the same amount of time played and also at the same time. No more, here it is for the dungeon runners, everyone else will have to wait.

But if they don’t understand, they might use the order in which the gear becomes available to different play styles to funnel players into specific areas, activities, or worst of all, gem store purchases. For example, by always giving the dungeon runners first access. So hopefully they really realize why this was a mistake and that it wasn’t just an access mistake but a preferential treatment of a certain playerbase mistake as well.

I thought he hit the big question straight up. Good enough for me.

Maybe a 2-finger typer who failed keyboarding class?

From the Reddit AMA:

Hey Chris, thanks for coming. My question is about home instances and personal story. From your promo material prior to release I was led to believe these would be key features in pve. As of release, it seems like these, specifically home instances, have been largely ignored.
The pitch on how awesome home instaces would be: pve progression via characters and things added to your personal world, was the reason I bought this game. Are there plans to bring these features in line with the marketing material or is your game focus going to be primarily dungeons and pvp (both things I don’t care for).

Thanks for taking the time to post your question. Both personal story and home instances are ares that i wish we had spent more time on already in terms of content since release. However we will be building on them as we move forward and would love to hear more of your thoughts in regard to the direction you would like to see them move in. In short you can expect to see big things.

Does this sound like guild housing?

So far I have read:
Ascended shouldn’t have rolled out like it was – they intended to put more ascended items into non-fractal areas of the game – Time: Unkown
They don’t think they have grind
They are not opposed to vertical progression: "[–]ArenaNetTeam[S] 31 points 51 minutes ago:

I would also like add that we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

They plan on further development of the island nobody goes to (ok this one is kind of loaded on my part).

So in essence Vertical progression is here to stay – deal with it.

Why did they choose an Anet employee who doesn’t have the communicative skills to answer these questions? Poor dear can barely string a sentence together. Although it does explain the overuse of PR-approved key phrase "moving forward" and how long it’s taking to reply.

Aiobhan.9758:

No one will move forward with GW2 if they don’t take a big ol’ step backward and address their player base’s questions honestly. I wonder if they realize that.

Let’s all remember not to presume to speak for anyone but ourselves. I can handle my own thoughts and opinions so I certainly don’t need anyone claiming to understand what’s in my own head. State your own opinions…that’s fine but as soon as you start thinking that you represent everyone is when you lose a huge chunk of credibility.

vince.5937:

ANet really needs to answer the important questions. The players don’t care what video games you play, they care about the one you’re responsible for.

Because that’s what someone (a player) asked…you might not like the question but let’s also remember not to play the elitist card either.

Seriously people…it’s not even over and the complaints, conjecture, and paranoia is piling in. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to relax. After all, it’s just a freak’in game.

I think they are tackling that massive list of questions to provide answers to.

Unfortunately, these should have been posted as individual questions versus a massive block, they will take a long time to read and answer, meaning most other questions will be glossed over if they choose to answer them all.

I would also like to add for anyone not aware, easiest way to track the answers is by visiting his Reddit user profile and seeing his post history.

http://www.reddit.com/user/ArenaNetTeam

I’m fairly sure he won’t answer my question:

“Will the new gear be able to be made with crafting and/or karma vender and if so when?”

But this is the only question that will decide if I am playing this game for long or if I will just log in once a year to see what is new.

BioFringe.7945:

vince.5937:

ANet really needs to answer the important questions. The players don’t care what video games you play, they care about the one you’re responsible for.

Because that’s what someone (a player) asked…you might not like the question but let’s also remember not to play the elitist card either.

Seriously people…it’s not even over and the complaints, conjecture, and paranoia is piling in. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to relax. After all, it’s just a freak’in game.

You know what else players asked? That big list of legitimate issues at the top of the AMA. What was the response? “Please only ask one question at a time.”

I’m not playing any card here. I want to see answers for solid and concerning questions about a game I enjoy. It is just a game, yes, but I don’t want to play it if the developer team isn’t up front and informative about why things are the way they are. All we’re getting is “moving forward” deflection.

GrapeGatsby.6937:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Mistake me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t legendary weapon’s have the same stat/damage value as exotic’s? And if so how is bringing out another tier of gear gonna help? Won’t the same people that say there is nothing to do say the same thing after getting all the new gear?

As far as I know Legendary weapons will be increased in strength so that ascended fits in between them and exotic.

Yeah I know, Legendary’s used to be an optional grind but now if you want BiS gear you need to grind for a legendary…..

Or you could get the ascended weapons? You didn’t “need” to grind legendaries when exotics were the best stats?

True, will probably do that as I don’t much care for the start’s on legendary’s. I run mainly condition damage build’s, so having an ascended weapon that cater’s to that playstyle would be better.

Aiobhan.9758:

Why did they choose an Anet employee who doesn’t have the communicative skills to answer these questions? Poor dear can barely string a sentence together. Although it does explain the overuse of PR-approved key phrase “moving forward” and how long it’s taking to reply.

If it takes 5 minutes to type a three line response, then either you’re thinking too hard, or need a course in typing. Either way, it’s frustrating for people waiting for answers to their burning questions on the game you’re creating, meanwhile taking forever to say how much you like Mario…

Tommyknocker.6089:

I’m fairly sure he won’t answer my question:

“Will the new gear be able to be made with crafting and/or karma vender and if so when?”

But this is the only question that will decide if I am playing this game for long or if I will just log in once a year to see what is new.

Tommy,
My take on the following quote by Chris Whiteside during this AMA is that they realize they shouldn’t have made the ascended gear available via only one facet of the game. I have the same concerns you do, and I was tremendously encouraged by what he said in this response:

“Hi Joiry,
Really interesting question. Our intention is to deploy ascended components and gear across the whole of the game rather than focus it in one particular location. This was a a mistake and one that we will not be making moving forward. We do hope to find a balance and ensure that the world of Guild Wars 2 is as accessible and populated as possible and moving forward you will be able to see how we intend to execute on this goal.
I think with the support of the community we can continue building a world that does satisfy lots of different types of players in a fashion where everyone feels part of the same community and whose activities impact and interplay with those of differing player types.”

vince.5937:

BioFringe.7945:

vince.5937:

ANet really needs to answer the important questions. The players don’t care what video games you play, they care about the one you’re responsible for.

Because that’s what someone (a player) asked…you might not like the question but let’s also remember not to play the elitist card either.

Seriously people…it’s not even over and the complaints, conjecture, and paranoia is piling in. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to relax. After all, it’s just a freak’in game.

You know what else players asked? That big list of legitimate issues at the top of the AMA. What was the response? “Please only ask one question at a time.”

I’m not playing any card here. I want to see answers for solid and concerning questions about a game I enjoy. It is just a game, yes, but I don’t want to play it if the developer team isn’t up front and informative about why things are the way they are. All we’re getting is “moving forward” deflection.

That question generally goes against the accepted format of an AMA. Really, it should have been posted as as series of individual questions.

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Lothair.8942:

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Lothair.8942:

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Relentliss.2170:

I don’t think they have helped themselves at all here. The blokes who are most pissed want an honest roadmap for the next year not a bunch of pr speak.

50 ectos (with the current drop rate) and 250 t6 ingredients…. how is that minimal grind? The deception and lying is galling.

Get fractals and buy the fractal version of the ascended back piece.

1800 fractal tokens is not an easy fix Sir.

It isn’t that bad you should already have a decent amount by the time you reach the point in FotM that you actually need the resistance.

I’m sorry, no. For example, let’s say you start really needing agony resistance around 15 (I know it kicks in at 10) – by completing 15, you would have approx. 415 relics (assuming you didn’t repeat content). You’d have to repeat 10-15 another (approx.) 6 times just to buy the exotic version of the back piece and then farm another 500 relics to ascend it.

You forgot about the ascended rings, however what I take from your post is “I have barely progressed in FotM, but am making a lot of assumptions just to prove my point.”. Almost all agony mechanics other than from Jade Maw phase changes are avoidable by dodges, which is based on player skills if you’re even somewhat skilled and are aware of your surroundings you should be able to dodge most if not all agony procs from general fractal bosses.

Now who is making assumptions.

Your post made a point of “you should already have a decent amount by the time you reach the point in FotM that you actually need the resistance.” – this is different for everybody. People with less skill are going to need this sooner, or people who have horrible luck with RNG obtaining rings. The fact is, level 10 is when “agony” kicks in and that is what I was responding to.

Anyways, I don’t want to get into a big thing about this – I was just trying to educate for people who haven’t progressed. The fact that Chris confirmed they were taking a look at progression through mats & tokens is a good enough answer for me right now.

Understandable Vince but please try to remember that what is important to you as a gamer might not be all that important to another gamer. It was a player that asked that question and they have every right to an answer as you would when you get the chance to ask yours. No need to belittle someone because of a question you deem unimportant.

Another AMA mess. Reddit was really a bad choice…

And with Chris answering one question per hour, just trying to shut our mouth about the Ascended Stuff with lies and kind words, it’s kinda just a fail…

Ahh well, i was doing a deditcated thread for all the questions that have been answered for easy viewing, it’s now been merged and is all over the place.

BioFringe.7945:

Seriously people…it’s not even over and the complaints, conjecture, and paranoia is piling in. Let’s all take a deep breath and try to relax. After all, it’s just a freak’in game.

You’re right. It’s silly to be upset over a game. It’s not silly to be upset over dodgy answers from that game’s developers, though.

And I am only speaking for myself and the players with whom I am acquainted. Many of those have already left or put GW2 on indefinite hiatus. So I’ll amend my statement:

Some players are not going to move forward with GW2 until they take a step backward and answer the applicable questions honestly.

" moving forward, everything will be HaPpY !! "

….
hype me more will ya ? just can’t get enough.

tkalamba.2541:

Edge.4180:

Karizee.8076:

Azjenco.9425:

arabeth.2361:

Serious question: why do mainstream companies like Anet use Reddit to answer questions like this, when Reddit is most famous for being a site that people use to post creepy pictures of underage girls? Also: it’s a horrible site for organizing any kind of information. It seems like the sketchy nature and poor structure of the site would be a terrible match.

My thoughts exactly. Using reddit is a seriously stupid move on ANet’s part.

They have always used reddit for their AMA’s. Since before the game launched.

That was understandable back when they didn’t have the official forums open to the public. Not so much now, though.

Maybe Reddit gets more traffic than the forums?

And that’s not likely to change so long as they continue to use Reddit to host these Q&A sessions. That’s kind of the point of the complaint.

So of all those questions he replies to the “Oy what games do you play, guy I will never meet or speak to in my life” one. Yeah, I kinda think we shouldn’t expect anything at all from this. Horrible.

MajorMelchett.6042:

Ahh well, i was doing a deditcated thread for all the questions that have been answered for easy viewing, it’s now been merged and is all over the place.

Just redirect people to http://www.reddit.com/user/ArenaNetTeam

although not here in the forum, should serve the same purpose

Is it only me, or is Chris an extremly slow chatter?! I mean, if this would be a conversation it would be over after 5 minutes, concerning the answers he has given so far in over 1 hour.

We do not intend to deploy another tier/rarity of loot such as Rare>Exotic. However we also do not intend to make promises that can be misinterpreted moving forward.

So no more gear grind but we can’t say there won’t be more gear grind just in case we change our mind

Lothair.8942:

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Lothair.8942:

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Lothair.8942:

GrapeGatsby.6937:

Relentliss.2170:

I don’t think they have helped themselves at all here. The blokes who are most pissed want an honest roadmap for the next year not a bunch of pr speak.

50 ectos (with the current drop rate) and 250 t6 ingredients…. how is that minimal grind? The deception and lying is galling.

Get fractals and buy the fractal version of the ascended back piece.

1800 fractal tokens is not an easy fix Sir.

It isn’t that bad you should already have a decent amount by the time you reach the point in FotM that you actually need the resistance.

I’m sorry, no. For example, let’s say you start really needing agony resistance around 15 (I know it kicks in at 10) – by completing 15, you would have approx. 415 relics (assuming you didn’t repeat content). You’d have to repeat 10-15 another (approx.) 6 times just to buy the exotic version of the back piece and then farm another 500 relics to ascend it.

You forgot about the ascended rings, however what I take from your post is “I have barely progressed in FotM, but am making a lot of assumptions just to prove my point.”. Almost all agony mechanics other than from Jade Maw phase changes are avoidable by dodges, which is based on player skills if you’re even somewhat skilled and are aware of your surroundings you should be able to dodge most if not all agony procs from general fractal bosses.

Now who is making assumptions.

Your post made a point of “you should already have a decent amount by the time you reach the point in FotM that you actually need the resistance.” – this is different for everybody. People with less skill are going to need this sooner, or people who have horrible luck with RNG obtaining rings. The fact is, level 10 is when “agony” kicks in and that is what I was responding to.

Anyways, I don’t want to get into a big thing about this – I was just trying to educate for people who haven’t progressed. The fact that Chris confirmed they were taking a look at progression through mats & tokens is a good enough answer for me right now.

Ok then we can end it here, just a note though throwing the last punch and trying to run away is not a good method to ending an argument.

[–]idredd 1 point 1 hour ago
Could we have a clear answer on where vertical progression is headed in the future of GW2. What prompted the change in philosophy from launch to the Lost Shores update with regard to end game gear and will there be an amendment to the game’s design manifesto from here out?
permalinkreportgive goldreply

[–]ArenaNetTeam[S] 7 points 4 minutes ago
Hi Idredd,
Thanks for taking the time to post your question.
I will try to be as clear as possible:
We do not intend to deploy another tier/rarity of loot such as Rare>Exotic. However we also do not intend to make promises that can be misinterpreted moving forward.
Ascended Gear will be introduced throughout next year,and accessible through many game play activities rather than just on. -Through infusions and existing Tiers there will be the opportunity to increase stats or abilities on a low power curve through multiple types of gameplay in GW2.
The opportunity to enhance existing tiers of loot will not be through a regular cadence of monthly updates instead it is more likely to come from expansions or very big drops of content.
In retrospect Ascended should have been deployed pre launch and earn able throughout most activities in the game (which is how we are moving forward).
I believe there has been no change to our philosophy regarding end game gear. We have learnt lessons for sure which is one of the main advantages of a live game and no doubt we will learn lessons moving forward. This does not however dilute our commitment to create a pioneering, accessible and fun world for players as we continue to build out GW2. And we very much rely on your and the communities feedback as we execute on these philosophy.
Chris

Tommyknocker.6089:

I’m fairly sure he won’t answer my question:

“Will the new gear be able to be made with crafting and/or karma vender and if so when?”

But this is the only question that will decide if I am playing this game for long or if I will just log in once a year to see what is new.

Agreed. They should really answer this, even if they can only give an estimate on the time. And from now on they should never release new stat gear to just one type of player

Even though I still think the reaction on the forums would be hysterical if the next gear was released as WvW only for a short period.

Can someone ask how they justify DR in this ‘zero grind’ philosophy of theirs ?

In regard to what FotM is doing to the game: “Yes it was a mistake we will not repeat”

Chris

This is an extremely interesting question and as you know the path down the road for a solution is highly complex. In fact myself and Mo were discussing this this morning. So please forgive me if my answer is somewhat lite or comes across as deflective but i would prefer the surroundings of a pub or meeting room to really get into this one.
However:
I think online worlds are amazing in that they house different societies or player types if you like. I think it is only natural for players to gravitate to those who they feel are like minded, and i think it is also only natural and in some ways quite healthy to have a macro society or community that doesn’t always agree with one another. I think that diversity is exciting but it can also fragment so a method in which different groups of players work with others in synergy each enjoying their own diverse game play that is rewarding because of the game play is certainly a step in the right direction. Reading this statement you will no doubt be thinking that the FotM doesn’t utilize this philosophy and you would be correct. Moving forward progression and rewards will be inter woven appropriately into the core systems and social aspects of the game, allowing the diverse societies or player types to work together by playing the content that they love.
So in short something that is universally enjoyable as a progression system or a reward should be as accessible as possible and cater to the different ways our players consume the game but in a manner in which the Community of the world as a whole is contributing to each others overall experience.
If you would like to talk further then pm me and we can discuss in game.
chris

In regard to Ascended Gear tied to FotM:

….Our intention is to deploy ascended components and gear across the whole of the game rather than focus it in one particular location. This was a a mistake and one that we will not be making moving forward…

In regard to Obscene Mat grind on Ascended gear:

Nacho

Nacho

With regard to minimal Grind, how is going from 5 Ectos to 50 Ectos for a piece of gear minimal? 5 T6 items to 250 T6 items, minimal?

Good point Nacho. We are currently discussing these particular items and it is fair to say that we don’t want have such big hikes in requirements moving forward.
Chris

Hopefully the complaint threads can calm down a bit now?

The only “real” info he gave:

Hi Kreindis,

I like to play all kinds of games. My favorites are Online Worlds and RTS games and I am currently playing (sparingly as i don’t get much time) Forza Horizon, X- Com, Halo 4 and a lot of Guild Wars 2.

My favorite game of all time is Mario 64.

Chris

“a lot of GW2”, I bet he’s grinding fractals

Agreed Aiobhan and thanks for the amended statement. My only concern was that when people start to speak for everyone or belittle other’s questions for whatever reason then things have usually gotten out of hand…and in this case over a video game. Just no need for it. We can all state our opinions and ask our questions. We all have concerns. It was more of a friendly reminder that while it’s good to bond together it’s equally bad to tear us apart. A little perspective can go a long way.

No hard feelings. Peace.

Azjenco.9425:

Aiobhan.9758:

Why did they choose an Anet employee who doesn’t have the communicative skills to answer these questions? Poor dear can barely string a sentence together. Although it does explain the overuse of PR-approved key phrase “moving forward” and how long it’s taking to reply.

If it takes 5 minutes to type a three line response, then either you’re thinking too hard, or need a course in typing. Either way, it’s frustrating for people waiting for answers to their burning questions on the game you’re creating, meanwhile taking forever to say how much you like Mario…

I was as frustrated with recent decisions ANet has made as anyone else, but I don’t believe the players’ credibility is enhanced by insulting individual members of their team. I’m sure they’re feeling pretty overwhelmed and are paddling as fast as they can to assuage the masses. Picking a spectrum of questions to answer would seem the best course to take from their perspective, so answering with his favorite games seems reasonable.

People need to stop being such hard kitten and stop and think for a second what it would be like to try to make so many people happy all at one time.

As I said, I was pretty frustrated with the introduction of ascendant gear, but the responses I’ve seen today lead me to believe that they are recognizing the issues they’ve created and are trying to get back on course as quickly and smoothly as they can.

I won’t hesitate to point out issues I see in the future, but I fully intend to keep in mind that it’s only been 3 months and they’ve done a lot of things very well. Patience is a virtue all of us could stand to work on.

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

So no more gear grind but we can’t say there won’t be more gear grind just in case we change our mind

Also known as: Were looking at FoTM data and seeing how many people go for shinies – If it is enough we will slowly roll out the full set to delay the inevitable. Once players are full ascended we will look at drop rate – We will decided then if we need to add another Tier.

They probably will as well. People that quit on exotics I doubt will stay for Ascended….unless we get Ascended T2

Aiobhan.9758:

Although it does explain the overuse of PR-approved key phrase “moving forward” and how long it’s taking to reply.

tbh i hate it when people use that and “going forward” its essentially just a dynamic sounding piece of nonsense, were always moving forward, we only have a linear perception of time…

other points

legendaries will be buffed to be on par with ascended, but
1. legendaries are obtainable now, this means there will be a gap in the time between when they patch in the new weapons and when they are attained when legendary weapons will give an advantage over anything anyone else has in the game
2. they’ve repeated that legendaries are supposed to be Bis and that they would be on par with the top tier, as a result when they introduce a new tier next year (they’ve confirmed more vertical progression after they drag out the ascended rollout) legendaries will presumably be buffed again, it future proofs you to new gear introduction and removes the repeated grind for the latest weapons when they add a new tier.

still 0 sign of when ascended gear becomes available outside of fractals, im guessing itll be when they release the next batch of item slots in fractals in around 3-4 months

“I believe there has been no change to our philosophy regarding end game gear”
i loled, shame we cant tell if he wrote it with a straight face

tkalamba.2541:

MajorMelchett.6042:

Ahh well, i was doing a deditcated thread for all the questions that have been answered for easy viewing, it’s now been merged and is all over the place.

Just redirect people to http://www.reddit.com/user/ArenaNetTeam

although not here in the forum, should serve the same purpose

I was doing it for the people who don’t like to use reddit (like me), all that was posted was the questions that had answers and nothing more – all in 1 go. After the merge the posts aren’t in line anymore (there are random posts inbetween) and it even made it look like i was spamming (as it randomly appeared i was posting “reserved” and “updated”).

This is the problem with blanket mergers, it can ruin actully useful threads just for having the same sort of name.

Regarding the level Spin/PR vs honest answers. Obviously I think Anet/Chris went into this AMA with some prep, knowing certain questions have been on the forums a lot. To some extent I think they choose questions to answer that highlight answers they’ve wanted to communicate to the community.

You can kind of see this in the answer to my question. One before was similar, and one much later nearly the same. I asked mainly about how to cater to the different types of players, yet an answer to Ascended gear rollout was included, and then Chris glosses over the divided community issue.

Yet, much later, he goes into more detail when miniatureian asks nearly the same question. Its still a bit hand wavy, but at least gets into a bit more detail. Ie Fractals is not creating the integration between the different communities and they hope to make later content more of a bridge between them. Still fuzzy on how to make both the verticals and horizontals happy at the same time, but I guess we’ll see.

So I think they’re dolling out the info they had prepared, plus some other thoughts as they arise. Some of it seems repetitive, but I guess they feel slight variations in each will communicate to different people rather than some giant blog post.

GrapeGatsby.6937:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

zippo burntfur.9307:

Mistake me if i’m wrong, but doesn’t legendary weapon’s have the same stat/damage value as exotic’s? And if so how is bringing out another tier of gear gonna help? Won’t the same people that say there is nothing to do say the same thing after getting all the new gear?

As far as I know Legendary weapons will be increased in strength so that ascended fits in between them and exotic.

Yeah I know, Legendary’s used to be an optional grind but now if you want BiS gear you need to grind for a legendary…..

Or you could get the ascended weapons? You didn’t “need” to grind legendaries when exotics were the best stats?

The concern is this: as long as ANet intends to continue to bump the stats of legendary equipment up for free so that they’re always “best in slot” (as they will with the release of ascended gear), then the only true way to make yourself immune to the gear chase (at least with weapons) is to get a legendary. And at that point legendary weapons start to feel a whole lot less optional.

I’m hoping one of those various ways to get ascended gear will be completing personal story events and world completion. I’m hoping even more that the ascended gear from world completion, if any, will be tuned to the player character rather than the staff and light armor piece my ranger got the other day.

garraeth.3267:

I don’t have a reddit account (don’t want one). You should take questions from your forums.

Your house is buring around you and you stop to smell the roses. Why are you ignoring the list of questions ‘Samuraikitten86’ compiled from the community and instead spending the short AMA time answering: “What games do you like to play besides Guild Wars 2?”

^This.

I am already in the process of submitting an article to the danish magazine Gameplay on how the gaming industry in general is increasingly utilizing unethical bait&switch’es and social media to (mostly unsuccesfully) spin their unethical business practices (manifesto being a prime example). If succesful I will promote it on other interested sites, blogs et al as well.

This cannot go unpunished. I am not vindictive, but we are seeing the industry losing massive legitimacy and having evergrowing credibility issues which will ultimately diminish and damage the industry. It also nudges players into ‘safe directions’ (see Call of Duty/FIFA/Madden’s annual succes), aka games with zero risk-taking and no innovation, rather than moving the genre forward since people become increasingly wary of putting faith into companies such as Anet. And for good reason; ArenaNet is obviously living in another world than a large segment of their users.

Debsylvania.7396:

Tommyknocker.6089:

I’m fairly sure he won’t answer my question:

“Will the new gear be able to be made with crafting and/or karma vender and if so when?”

But this is the only question that will decide if I am playing this game for long or if I will just log in once a year to see what is new.

Tommy,
My take on the following quote by Chris Whiteside during this AMA is that they realize they shouldn’t have made the ascended gear available via only one facet of the game. I have the same concerns you do, and I was tremendously encouraged by what he said in this response:

“Hi Joiry,
Really interesting question. Our intention is to deploy ascended components and gear across the whole of the game rather than focus it in one particular location. This was a a mistake and one that we will not be making moving forward. We do hope to find a balance and ensure that the world of Guild Wars 2 is as accessible and populated as possible and moving forward you will be able to see how we intend to execute on this goal.
I think with the support of the community we can continue building a world that does satisfy lots of different types of players in a fashion where everyone feels part of the same community and whose activities impact and interplay with those of differing player types.”

I will say that reply does give me some hope, although he doesn’t actually tell us if it will be craft-able or available through karma. All he says is that it sill eventually be available through other content, and that could mean other dungeons, PvP rewards, WvW for X badges or through one time events (I work weekends and can’t attend these if done the same way). All of these activities for a casual PvEr are not within my reach so are therefore useless to me as a means to acquire the new tier.

arabeth.2361:

Serious question: why do mainstream companies like Anet use Reddit to answer questions like this, when Reddit is most famous for being a site that people use to post creepy pictures of underage girls? Also: it’s a horrible site for organizing any kind of information. It seems like the sketchy nature and poor structure of the site would be a terrible match.

I’m also puzzled by this. I’m already here, on Anet’s official forums for GW2. Why should communication between the developers and the players happen anywhere but here? It’s bizarre.

Tomcat.8375:

[
[–]ArenaNetTeam[S] 20 points 6 minutes ago

Hi Soc,

Thanks for taking the time to send in some questions. We do not believe we have gone against any of our principals, but we do understand the concern regarding potential grind. We absolutely design everything we do with minimal grind and will continue with this principal moving forward.

The attainment of an infused backpack is minimal grind? What planet is he from? This is just a bizarre answer given the grind in many many parts of the game and an indication that they just don’t get it.

Here is what I’m getting. I’m doing my map completion with my little band, then will come back in a year. They plan to touch basically everything with a fairly heavy hand it seems and I know this will take a lot of time. Can’t wait to see what GW2 2.0 looks like.

Hmm I can’t seem to find the forum post outside this one that had the AMA questions and answers (that have already been answered). Can someone please link that here again? I thought it may have been folded into this one but I was wrong.

Gotta say Reddit is a piece of cat to follow, not sure who in their right mind would use it – given you have official forums to begin with – maybe they don’t really want to hear from us and instead want to hear from people who don’t play the game? Whatever, hopefully he just gets around to answering the already assembled questions here:

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13lio6/prepare_for_the_chris_whiteside_ama_here/

Wish they’d just remove the currently accessible Ascended items from drops (you can keep em if you make them or already have them) and just re-release them when the rest of the acquisition methods are ready because as it stands they’ve got a pretty dead world.

FragGyver.8369:

Is it only me, or is Chris an extremly slow chatter?! I mean, if this would be a conversation it would be over after 5 minutes, concerning the answers he has given so far in over 1 hour.

I am sure he is not alone in this. each question is chosen, the answer carefully crafted, and then delivered. This takes time.