Guild Wars 2

Topic title says it already.

Do you think that there will be another “regular” feature patch around april or so before HoT is released?

Do you think there are fixes in the pipe that might be rolled out for everyone (i.e. the “base game”), not only as a part of HoT?

Unlikely that we will have another feature patch before HoT.
But then again, that depends on when HoT is actually released.

We do know that we will have a small patch tomorrow with some balancing though.

Fixes are usually given to everyone not just people buying an expansion.

I said in another thread that I think it’s highly unlikely we’ll get a “feature patch” before HoT anymore. Smaller patches and holiday patches probably, yes. Larger feature patches, I don’t think so.

Unless of course we’re talking about purely QoL improvements like tonic wardrobe, more currencies moved into the wallet, etc.

I personally feel like a feature patch may be a good thing to help prepare the existing game for the upcoming changes presented by the expansion. When people are able to test out the expansion, I’m sure they’ll find various ways in which the current game and HoT need to be balanced before its release. With this in mind, I assume we will see another feature patch or at least a good number of smaller patches between now and the release of HoT.

Edit: This is also under my personal assumption that HoT will be released in the second half of the year which gives plenty of time for balance patches.

Thanatos.2691:

I personally feel like a feature patch may be a good thing to help prepare the existing game for the upcoming changes presented by the expansion. When people are able to test out the expansion, I’m sure they’ll find various ways in which the current game and HoT need to be balanced before its release. With this in mind, I assume we will see another feature patch or at least a good number of smaller patches between now and the release of HoT.

Edit: This is also under my personal assumption that HoT will be released in the second half of the year which gives plenty of time for balance patches.

It would not make sense to release features of a paid expansion gradually and ahead of time.

Tom Gore.4035:

Thanatos.2691:

I personally feel like a feature patch may be a good thing to help prepare the existing game for the upcoming changes presented by the expansion. When people are able to test out the expansion, I’m sure they’ll find various ways in which the current game and HoT need to be balanced before its release. With this in mind, I assume we will see another feature patch or at least a good number of smaller patches between now and the release of HoT.

Edit: This is also under my personal assumption that HoT will be released in the second half of the year which gives plenty of time for balance patches.

It would not make sense to release features of a paid expansion gradually and ahead of time.

I never said it would have to release features of the expansion before release. I was talking about balancing adjustments in preparation for the release later. We have at least one specialization for each class and a brand new class coming in, so the idea of gradually easing the game into a new class balance rather than completely changing current class balance all at once is what I was talking about.

Thanatos.2691:

I never said it would have to release features of the expansion before release. I was talking about balancing adjustments in preparation for the release later. We have at least one specialization for each class and a brand new class coming in, so the idea of gradually easing the game into a new class balance rather than completely changing current class balance all at once is what I was talking about.

That could happen, yes. But it would still be pretty dumb to “balance” stuff in anticipation of something that is not in the game yet.

My guess is they will do big beta testing before the launch, probably on a (public) test server. Nevertheless, even a public beta test would not be enough to weed out all balance kinks so the balancing will inevitably continue after the launch, too.

I was asking myself whether there could be another feature patch before HoT with regards to some remaining problems in the NPE as well as the new trait system.

I personally would welcome those being fixed before the expansion hits.

The devs specifically said that another feature patch was coming that was veteran focused and would address some concerns we had. I can’t see them launching it after HoT, so it seems pretty certain that we will get a feature patch before it.

given the potential wait for HoT, I imagine that there will still be patches to the game.

You must also remember that not everyone will be buying the expansion pack, and I imagine ANet realise that. I suspect regular patches will occur to both the base game and HoT, but (at least in the first few months at minimum) HoT will be the focus.

Tom Gore.4035:

Thanatos.2691:

I never said it would have to release features of the expansion before release. I was talking about balancing adjustments in preparation for the release later. We have at least one specialization for each class and a brand new class coming in, so the idea of gradually easing the game into a new class balance rather than completely changing current class balance all at once is what I was talking about.

That could happen, yes. But it would still be pretty dumb to “balance” stuff in anticipation of something that is not in the game yet.

My guess is they will do big beta testing before the launch, probably on a (public) test server. Nevertheless, even a public beta test would not be enough to weed out all balance kinks so the balancing will inevitably continue after the launch, too.

Class balancing doesn’t have to be the only thing.

For example, they are obviously looking at guilds. While the Guild Halls may or may not require the expansion to visit, any UI improvements or other QoL fixes will be available to anyone. (Like retaining guild chat after switching characters.)

I’d personally give it a 70% chance they do at least a small feature patch before HoT.

We’re looking at a range somewhere around 5-10 months for release. That’s a long time to do nothing.