Guild Wars 2

It’s really mind boggling how fast time goes by sometimes. In a couple weeks it’ll have been 1 year since Dry Top release O.o Silverwastes came a few months later. That is a serious content gap. Hopefully we’ll have a solid release date on HoT soon or some kind of pre-HoT content announcement.

But we already know exactly when we’re getting HoT. You know, “When It’s Ready™”

I shall light a candle to commemorate the tragedy that befell us that day.

Vesuvius.9874:

But we already know exactly when we’re getting HoT. You know, “When It’s Ready™”

So… content releases that happened after the release of Silverwastes are not content now?
Because it was quite some time between the release of SW and the release of Episode 8.

lordkrall.7241:

So… content releases that happened after the release of Silverwastes are not content now?
Because it was quite some time between the release of SW and the release of Episode 8.

Not what I’m insinuating at all. With that said it was a pretty small blip on the radar considering the overall span of time. Few, far between, and rather fleeting.

No, what you said was that there have soon not been any content for a year. That is incorrect.
Episode 8 was released in January this year, that is little over half a year ago. Not even remotely close to a year.

This is however rather standard for MMOs. When an expansion is coming there is usually rather little releases for quite some time (and we actually have gotten quite a bit of releases since then as well. Sure mostly it was features, but there have been a some new content added as well).

lordkrall.7241:

No, what you said was that there have soon not been any content for a year.

No I said 1 year for Dry Top specfically which is a fact. I was genuinely in awe that it has been that long. You’re trying to put words in-between the lines that are not intended to be there and yes it was some months later which it says up there that SW content came out.

I’m truly not familiar with any playable content that was permanently added since the last part of SW then enlighten me? I took a rather sizable break after the last SW release came back recently not seeing anything else that is standing out right now aside from a trait system that literally has a dozen of traits across professions that do not function at all or broken in some way. Hoping for a patch soon on some of that though maybe tomorrow?

Edit: For clarification I love the specialization changes. It’s some fantastic work that just feels like it was a bit rushed out the door.

NeuroMuse.1763:

It’s really mind boggling how fast time goes by sometimes. In a couple weeks it’ll have been 1 year since Dry Top release O.o Silverwastes came a few months later. That is a serious content gap. Hopefully we’ll have a solid release date on HoT soon or some kind of pre-HoT content announcement.

Even after editing, what I see here is:

• It’s been one year since Dry Top. Nearly as long since Silverwastes.
• That is a serious content gap.

I don’t know how else to interpret that except that you don’t believe we’ve seen any new content since Silverwastes. That undermines your thesis before you’ve even stated it, since technically, we have seen new content.

Maybe what you wanted to say (and here, I am deliberately putting words into your mouth) is: it’s been ages since the last time there was a massive content update; the last time was when the Vinewrath was added to the Silverwastes in January 2015, over six months ago.

Even though that is true, I’m at a loss to understand what ANet could do about it at this point. Their options are:

• Delay HoT in order to (a) design, (b) plan, (c.) code, (d) test, and (e) implement something new.
• Delay HoT in order to re-release some festival, such as SAB, Pavillion, etc. In theory, that means less design; I doubt it means less of the other elements.
• Release HoT early, without some of the planned content or features.
• Release HoT early, without doing any more BETA testing for balance, playability, or fun.
• Cancel the expac and return to the old system.

Is there another option that I’m missing?

Like it or not, ANet decided on a course of action probably over a year ago and I doubt very much if they could change their overall plans fast enough that we’d see any new content any sooner than we’ll see HoT released.

Shouldn’t they have saved some staff for GW2/vanilla content? Maybe; that’s what I would have done in their shoes. On the other hand, I don’t work there and perhaps if I did, I’d agree that putting all their eggs into the HoT basket was the smarter move.

edit: grammar

Well, what most big companies do is hire beforehand to increase the staff for the new upcoming work. That way, there is adequate staff for the new work, and existing staff for their existing commitments (i.e., the game that we all paid for).

But, what the heck do I know…

SRoode.7318:

Well, what most big companies do is hire beforehand to increase the staff for the new upcoming work. That way, there is adequate staff for the new work, and existing staff for their existing commitments (i.e., the game that we all paid for).

But, what the heck do I know…

As ANet did. There’s a limit, however, to the benefit of adding more staff, since they need to ramp up to understand the game and its mechanical interdependencies. Hire too many people too fast, and you get people making changes without understanding the consequences or lose productivity from veterans. Plus, when the push is over, you’re left with a lot of staff that might not need. Losing them can hurt the stability of the ongoing game.

tl;dr it doesn’t always help to throw more people at software development.