Guild Wars 2

I was wondering what things we have seen implemented in game because of the CDI?

I’ve seen some post as of late both in game and on here questioning their effectiveness and relevance. Just wondering if we have some examples of how it has gotten player input into the actual game development and direction. Thanks.

…………….

Well season 2 is permanent content with improved story telling, I’m pretty sure that was brought up last time.

Well Chris was supposed to provide a list (10 items I think?) that came about because of the CDIs, but he’s been busy and had some kind of family issue so he hasn’t gotten to it yet.

skullmount.1758:

Well Chris was supposed to provide a list (10 items I think?) that came about because of the CDIs, but he’s been busy and had some kind of family issue so he hasn’t gotten to it yet.

Ah, I just came back to the forums to see if that had been posted (was half expecting that to be a blog post on the main site).

Is he still planning on doing this does anyone know? Seems a bit odd if it’s just been quietly dropped by him.

Pifil.5193:

skullmount.1758:

Well Chris was supposed to provide a list (10 items I think?) that came about because of the CDIs, but he’s been busy and had some kind of family issue so he hasn’t gotten to it yet.

Ah, I just came back to the forums to see if that had been posted (was half expecting that to be a blog post on the main site).

Is he still planning on doing this does anyone know? Seems a bit odd if it’s just been quietly dropped by him.

I don’t know. I hope they release some statement about it though. It will either confirm the importance and effectiveness of the CDI or show that is is just lip service. If the latter is true then I doubt we ever see a post on it. If the former then it should calm the community down a bit and at least give people something to hope for during the CDIs.

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Hi All,

I have been very busy of late both at work and at home and I have enough time to keep up to date with the CDI but not much time for any other forum related communication.

So I have quest for all of you and especially CDI members, and that is why don’t all those who know exactly how the CDI has impacted the game put up your 3 favorite evolutions. Here are mine, and I want to say a big thanks to the CDI group for working with us to get these in the game:

1: Permanent Content
2: Much improved storytelling and pacing in LW from the beginning of this year.
3: Wardrobe Design

This is a very small list of the impacts. Looking forward to reading your insights.

Chris

1.) Wardrobe implementation (especially the change to gem store skin purchases)

2.) Account bound ascended gear and legendary weapons

3.) Persistent LS….or maybe the change to minis….

1: Permanent Content
2: Much improved storytelling and pacing in LW from the beginning of this year.
3: Wardrobe Design

It’s nice to hear those came from the CDI.

Personally, I feel like the Wardrobe missed the mark pretty badly but I know several people like that it’s a pay-to-use instead of a pay-to-unlock system. The story telling was improved as well. I assume you are referring to the more mature plot line and some darker moment.s I really enjoyed that. It added a nice bit of depth that felt lacking in Season 1.

Just found what I think is the original post getting the CDI going as well.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Collaborative-Development

That should help folks like myself who are just now getting into the CDI and trying to figure out how it works and has worked in the past.

Editing out my previous response since it was not in the spirit of what Chris was asking for.

1: Change to Dredge Fractal. It’s a far more polished experience. Keeping the intent and spirit of the original paths, but toning down the grind significantly.

2: Permanent well manicured living story content. Everything in the new living story is a breath of fresh air.

3: The Wardrobe. It made the fantastic and wide variety of weapons and armor in this game more compelling to grab for the completionist.

1. The wardrobe: It makes collecting skins worthwhile.
2. The addition of living story to the journal, allowing it to be reviewed and replayed.
3. The improvements to the crafting interface and the trading post.

1. Living Story pacing. This has been greatly improved. The End of season 1 was great. But you’ve surpassed yourself in Season 2. It’s not just story through the living world though, the minor changes like the extra books at the priory library.

2. Permanent content (although I do miss some of the stuff you were able to pull off with Temporary content)

3. Last seen online

1. Permanent Content
2. Better camera view
3. Wardrobe

Ultimately I think the greatest flaw to the NPE is that, well… it takes “new” very literally. I can see how it would work very well for people who have never touched an MMORPG of any kind in their life, but it ahem doesn’t go over well with people who have played similar games before. I sincerely wonder what the core GW2 playerbase is comprised of, since the NPE seems tailored to the former while I always assumed the latter.

Ideally there would be some middle ground to the NPE- some way to turn certain aspects of it on or off at will. Some features could perhaps do with a little more explaining (I’ll leave it for new and confused players to decide which these would be, since I’m too “vet” to think of any), others could probably do with going back to what they were.

I recently went back to map some low level zones again, and was really sad to see that some hearts had been changed and dumbed down so much that they had become slow and boring. Apparently, I can no longer catch fish and hand feed them to bear cubs in Wayfarer’s for <3<3<3 anymore (not like I used to, anyway). Much </3 ensued and I’m sure there are more cases like it where the simplification probably went a few steps too far.

On the other hand, I always found the heart in Bloodtide that involves putting live frogs in a juicer more than a little distasteful and wouldn’t be sad at all if that one got an update.

Wardrobe……brilliance!

Horizontal progression. I am assuming the collections tab stemmed from that CDI? Also, better achievements eg hard mode style ones in season 2 story. I think they need improving and n execution, but they are the right step forward.

The journal from the living world CDI. I still dont think the game is anywhere near where it should be for this living world concept, but the journal did a great job of bringing a sense of structure and organisation.

Thats my 3!

Oh and other ideas for cdis..

Underwater. Love this aspect of the game. We all know it needs work…a great collaborative one, which prob would need low management but have great interaction with dev insights.

Lore. Lore implementation needs work as im sure the lore forums will vouch for. A dedicated one in those subforums would stimulate discussion between two very passionate groups….lore enthusiasts and writers.

Randulf.7614:

Also, better achievements eg hard mode style ones in season 2 story. I think they need improving and n execution, but they are the right step forward.

A bit off-topic but, is there any anet’s statement about this?

I also found the “hard mode acchievements” a bit underwhelming as a feature, even though I love the idea of a hard mode version of missions. For example, why must you be forced to play the entire instance once to even unlock acchievements? This works nice in real hard mode, because it offers layered levels of difficulty/ progression, where you first get the basics of the instance, and then attempt to do a harder version of it. However, most of the “hard mode” acchievements so far are about acchieving things that can be easily acchieved on the first try, and do not change the entire experience enough to justify a replay. (There are exceptions.)

DiogoSilva.7089:

Randulf.7614:

Also, better achievements eg hard mode style ones in season 2 story. I think they need improving and n execution, but they are the right step forward.

A bit off-topic but, is there any anet’s statement about this?

I also found the “hard mode acchievements” a bit underwhelming as a feature, even though I love the idea of a hard mode version of missions. For example, why must you be forced to play the entire instance once to even unlock acchievements? This works nice in real hard mode, because it offers layered levels of difficulty/ progression, where you first get the basics of the instance, and then attempt to do a harder version of it. However, most of the “hard mode” acchievements so far are about acchieving things that can be easily acchieved on the first try, and do not change the entire experience enough to justify a replay. (There are exceptions.)

I agree there are tweaks that need making. Being able to complete first time as a ‘surprise reveal’ is one. Overall, i like the concept though. They are a step towards more than just tick box achievements and can be entirely optional and yet rewarding.

No anet statement though. I guess that would be a diff thread or something for the main comms one Gail has been so good at keeping pace with.

My no.1 is the new map Drytop. All the things to do in this map, the local currency and something to work towards to by doing the core content (dynamic events) in that zone… This just feels very natural and at the same time really satisfying for me personally. Imho the latest addition to this map wasn’t as impressive as the first parts, but still those events are contributing to the whole makes them similarly important.

I can still remember when we talked about zone specific rewards and I’m stunned what ideas Anet had to realize this. The sandstorm mechanic and the chest-hunt is fun and the mini-bosses feel really fresh compared to the old sponge bosses. (My favourite: the moa – I love to interrupt this fella).

I’d love to see more random events though, while it’s fun now I wonder if those events on schedule will make the world feel alive going forward. Doing the same every time again and again becomes stale fast. Still, in general much better than any previous map for me personally. Great work!

The Wardrobe is a good idea, but not implemented perfectly, it has issues, especially with clothing becoming tonics and lack of outfit customisation.

Story telling is improved, but how would the CDI have caused that? Were the writers writing badly on purpose before?

Permanent content, a very much requested change and indeed if it is the result of the CDI (and not the 100’s of topics on the forum) then it is a job well done.

I think it’s definitely been seen that they are taking into account player feedback and overall all the changes that players have requested that have been implemented are equally good IMO. It’s the ones no one asked for…

The worse change however, that players sort of asked for, the trait system. I say sort of, since it seemed the discussion was more about skill capture (possibly just new PvE only elites), not trait chasing/unlocking. Ah, well they all can’t be gems.

about the trait changes:

I think in generall this was a really good idea (for new players) because now you have specific goals on your way to world completion – the mostly final goal which ends in a Legendary. New players don’t know the old unrestricted system and won’t miss not having everything from the get go.

When we discussed the return of skill hunting I think a lot of (veteran) players had new traits/skills in mind when they asked for this system. 10 new traits for each profession spread around in the world would have given them new incentives to go back and hunt them down – maybe by doing something challenging they haven’t done before (find a champion at the end of a jumping puzzle etc.).

Map completion, personal story missions… it’s a nice variety of things to do, but is it really what we had in mind when we were talking about the return of skill-hunting?

I feel like there was a big misunderstanding here and I don’t know about the motivations behind these changes.

Maybe it was our fault for being too unclear about our desire… but I think this could have been worked out if players would have heard the devs and their thoughts on how to realise it before starting to work on it. Having a dev who asked us: “what do you think about doing xy?”… or/and tell us why the new trait system looks like it is today. The idea behind it, why you think this is a good idea.

PS: I hate how players complain about the “high price” of the traits, completely ignoring the main way to get them (doing specific stuff) and taking the alternative route (buying them) for not one but all traits. “OMG it takes months to grind all the skillpoints to buy all traits”. I would have left this alternative way out completely. It’s a unneccessary shortcut; instead the unlocks should be accountbound so that alts won’t have to do all the challenges again for the 2nd, 3rd, 4th,… character.