Guild Wars 2

Morrigan.2809:

Colin did say that they want Ascended to be the last tier- thank the six!
Housing! YaY!

we better make sure level 80 is the final level as well.

Makes me feel a little better watching this. thanks for sharing.

His take on party size was interesting to hear in light of some 80 person requirement that I’ve been hearing about.

MikaHR.1978:

milo.6942:

Mungrul.9358:

So contrary to what they initially claimed (that Ascended was planned all along), Colin specifically states in that interview that Exotic WAS supposed to be final tier and Ascended was added because they underestimated how quickly people would get Exotic.

Ignoring the fact that people like being able to get max stat gear quickly so they then only have to worry about aesthetics, here we have proven that ArenaNet did outright LIE back in November, and that Ascended WASN’T planned prior to release.

Maybe I was out of the loop, but shouldn’t it have been obvious to everyone they were being quite shady when they announced the bump to legendary stats to make room for ascended?

They had an option of not introducing any more ascended items to the game and leave it at trinkets.

Once you start something there’s the expectation that you see it to completion. You may not agree with what they did initially but you have to give them props for sticking to their guns.

I’ll just give you an example to help you understand what I mean. You’re in a boxing match and you’re beating your opponent to a bloody pulp. You expect that to knock your opponent out at any moment but he just refuses to give up despite taking a heavy beating from you. He’s all bloody and bruised but he’s still determined to win.

I’m not exactly saying you’re a big bully but it’s hard not to cheer for the underdog sometimes.

Deamhan.9538:

His take on party size was interesting to hear in light of some 80 person requirement that I’ve been hearing about.

Implementing a UI for squads could alleviate that issue.

I laughed so hard when he asked about Cantha and Colin just stood there with a straight face. lmfao I’m still cracking up about it <3

Gehenna.3625:

Vayne.8563:

MikaHR.1978:

Vayne.8563:

dalendria.3762:

Morrigan.2809:

Colin did say that they want Ascended to be the last tier- thank the six!
Housing! YaY!

I watched this as well. He said that “he” hopes it is the last tier. He did not confirm that it will be the last tier.

snip

Why not just come right out and say it? Because any time anyone says anything, if it later changes at any point, people start calling Anet liars. I don’t blame him for hedging his bets.

So you agree that it is all pretty meaningless and if they change their mind they can announce new tier tomorrow.

Thank you.

No I didn’t agree to that at all. It’s because of people like you that he has to hedge his bets. People out there recording every single thing mentioned, discussed, thought about and calling it a promise.

I believe Colin has every intention of making this the last tier of gear and I believe that is likely to happen.

They made their own bed there.

Regardless of what they actually did or did not say a lot of people were unpleasantly surprised when they found out exotic was not the end of it. You can’t possibly deny the kittenstorm that it when ascended gear was announced. Anet even apologised in the end for how they handled it.

A lot of people were expecting a game with max stats set like in GW1. I believe that the original people who were working there years ago probably did have that in mind, but reality is it isn’t.

So people want some certainty from Anet and they’re not getting it. You’re right, they don’t want to make any definite statements with an eye on the future, but here’s the thing: a lot of people apparently do want a definite statement about this.

Anet is not owned by Anet for a while now. They don’t control their destinies any more. It is the reality of things and I understand why they don’t want to give a definite answer, but that’s just not good enough for a bunch of people out there.

And it’s their own fault that a lot of people have this expectation of them. Their tone has changed over the years and not everyone saw it. They certainly didn’t do anything to wake people up about it.

But this is what it has come to now. For me the reality is that the Anet I knew for years, no longer exists. For me that’s a harsh realisation because I very much enjoyed those years, but you can’t blame players for being upset about this.

It was a big discussion last year and it hasn’t been resolved to the satisfaction of the people who thought they were getting a game that had fixed max stats. Then it wasn’t and level cap raises were mentioned.

Say what you want Vayne, but this discussion won’t go away. It will keep coming back and it will only stop with all those people quitting the game.

It’s fair enough if Anet wanted to take a different direction, but they could’ve told people more clearly about this and they didn’t. They tried to sneak it in and it backfired.

Will the majority of players quit over this? I don’t think so, but it just doesn’t feel like they’ve been very honest over time.

Now they are being honest, a lot of people find out they don’t actually like what they are saying. Oh well, 3.5 million boxes sold…so kitten those players right?

You’re right from one perspective and wrong from another. The “kitten those players” line is just how you feel, not what they thought. Attributing that to then puts you in a position of a mind reader. You don’t know if it was hard or easy, if they felt bad or didn’t feel bad. I’m pretty sure they felt it had to be done. I’m also pretty sure there were factions arguing against it who lost. Those guys feel even worse.

The point is, Anet said some stuff in the years leading up to the game some of which was misunderstood and some of which might not have been communicated very well and some of it was said casually and ended up being seen as a promise. No MMO, however, can predict what happens when launch comes.

I consider myself a reasonable man. I see a business with millions of dollars in investment and see it start to slip away. They try a couple of things, but they’re losing the battle. So they make a change…something that can be done quickly to stem the tide of people leaving. That was the fractals.

And yes it was a kittenstorm. I get that. I know a lot of people who left that were major fans of the game. But I don’t think they were all that reasonable. Because they took a business decision personally.

Anet saw the writing on the wall, decided to act to save the game. Because what are the odds that someone at Anet woke up one morning and said, “You know those fans that love our game? Kitten them?”

Do you really think that’s how it went down…because I don’t.

Vayne.8563:

Anet saw the writing on the wall, decided to act to save the game. Because what are the odds that someone at Anet woke up one morning and said, “You know those fans that love our game? Kitten them?”

Do you really think that’s how it went down…because I don’t.

Probably not but I think this applies: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

morrolan.9608:

Vayne.8563:

Anet saw the writing on the wall, decided to act to save the game. Because what are the odds that someone at Anet woke up one morning and said, “You know those fans that love our game? Kitten them?”

Do you really think that’s how it went down…because I don’t.

Probably not but I think this applies: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

You know, it may well have been stupid. It was more likely panicked. I’m pretty sure that’s what happened.

I’m also not sure if it were my millions invested, I wouldn’t have similarly panicked.

When I was in management, I know I made some bad, bad calls. But you do what you have to at the time and you move on.

The problem is no one is moving on. This is done. Ascended gear is here. It’s annoying to those of us who wanted cosmetic only progression. But I can’t say with any degree of certainty that the game could have continued with just cosmetic gear, even if it worked in Guild Wars 1. Guild Wars 2 has a much higher overhead and probably needs a lot more people to be successful.

Vayne.8563:

You’re right from one perspective and wrong from another. The “kitten those players” line is just how you feel, not what they thought. Attributing that to then puts you in a position of a mind reader. You don’t know if it was hard or easy, if they felt bad or didn’t feel bad. I’m pretty sure they felt it had to be done. I’m also pretty sure there were factions arguing against it who lost. Those guys feel even worse.

He may have put himself into the position of mind reader, but so did you with this comment.

Vayne.8563:

The point is, Anet said some stuff in the years leading up to the game some of which was misunderstood and some of which might not have been communicated very well and some of it was said casually and ended up being seen as a promise.

And some things were promised or stated definitively and not delivered upon.

Vayne.8563:

And yes it was a kittenstorm. I get that. I know a lot of people who left that were major fans of the game. But I don’t think they were all that reasonable. Because they took a business decision personally.

I don’t think thakittens unreasonable for the people you mention to have left due to dissatisfaction with the game.

I also do not think that it is unreasonable to take personally a business decision that affects you personally.

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

And yes it was a kittenstorm. I get that. I know a lot of people who left that were major fans of the game. But I don’t think they were all that reasonable. Because they took a business decision personally.

I don’t think thakittens unreasonable for the people you mention to have left due to dissatisfaction with the game.

I also do not think that it is unreasonable to take personally a business decision that affects you personally.

Difference of opinion then. Stuff can affect me personally without me taking it personally. I don’t think it’s good or healthy for people to take stuff not intended to hurt them personally. It certainly makes people less happy in life.

The simplest analogy is that someone says they’re coming over and then, due to circumstances beyond their control, they don’t show up. I could take it personally…but is that actually reasonable? Does it help you or the other person?

People who haven’t played this game in months, still come here to complain about how they were “lied” to, how Anet screwed them over. This is reasonable behavior.

Even if I felt bad at the time someone didn’t show up, I’d certainly have let it go months later.

And if you think it’s better for people to hold onto this stuff and be enraged, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree.

I felt about Rift much the way a lot of people feel about Guild Wars 2. But after I left the game, I walked away and never looked back. Because some people enjoy what that game has become and why should I ruin their fun?

Klawlyt.6507:

morrolan.9608:

Probably not but I think this applies: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

I like that. A lot. Mind if I borrow it?

Even though I didn’t say it, I know you can borrow it, because it’s not an original line. That saying has been around forever.

Klawlyt.6507:

morrolan.9608:

Probably not but I think this applies: “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

I like that. A lot. Mind if I borrow it?

Well its not my phrase here’s the origin of it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanlon's_razor

zeromius.1604:

MikaHR.1978:

milo.6942:

Mungrul.9358:

So contrary to what they initially claimed (that Ascended was planned all along), Colin specifically states in that interview that Exotic WAS supposed to be final tier and Ascended was added because they underestimated how quickly people would get Exotic.

Ignoring the fact that people like being able to get max stat gear quickly so they then only have to worry about aesthetics, here we have proven that ArenaNet did outright LIE back in November, and that Ascended WASN’T planned prior to release.

Maybe I was out of the loop, but shouldn’t it have been obvious to everyone they were being quite shady when they announced the bump to legendary stats to make room for ascended?

They had an option of not introducing any more ascended items to the game and leave it at trinkets.

Once you start something there’s the expectation that you see it to completion. You may not agree with what they did initially but you have to give them props for sticking to their guns.

I’ll just give you an example to help you understand what I mean. You’re in a boxing match and you’re beating your opponent to a bloody pulp. You expect that to knock your opponent out at any moment but he just refuses to give up despite taking a heavy beating from you. He’s all bloody and bruised but he’s still determined to win.

I’m not exactly saying you’re a big bully but it’s hard not to cheer for the underdog sometimes.

Really? I would say that the sides are exactly opposite. GW2 prelaunch is Rocky and GW2 2 months+ post launch is that Russian guy.

Can’t say I’m into the idea of a “transmutation splitter”, whatever that supposed to be. Why can’t they just implement a wardrobe into the bank tab, like the one in the Mists. If they’re still that into the idea of having t-stones, then maybe you can use them to switch out skins.

I just don’t understand why a cosmetic feature that works so efficiently in PvP isn’t being considered to make life better in PvE.

Vayne.8563:

“You know those fans that love our game? Kitten them?”

Not first or last company that did that to get more ph@t lewt, screwing themselves in the process.

Auto grouping would work fine.

MikaHR.1978:

Vayne.8563:

“You know those fans that love our game? Kitten them?”

Not first or last company that did that to get more ph@t lewt, screwing themselves in the process.

That may or may not be true. You simply have no evidence that happened here.

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

iriyabran.6218:

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

I hope it’s just not me, but he looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin.

Azjenco.9425:

Can’t say I’m into the idea of a “transmutation splitter”, whatever that supposed to be. Why can’t they just implement a wardrobe into the bank tab, like the one in the Mists. If they’re still that into the idea of having t-stones, then maybe you can use them to switch out skins.

I just don’t understand why a cosmetic feature that works so efficiently in PvP isn’t being considered to make life better in PvE.

Wait a few weeks and we will have a PvE locker like the one in PvP. They are just milking the transmutation splitter until they release the PvE locker.

Happyfool.8951:

iriyabran.6218:

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

I hope it’s just not me, but he looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin.

Yeah, it did look like the corners of his mouth were twitching a little.

Happyfool.8951:

iriyabran.6218:

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

I hope it’s just not me, but he looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin.

The best bet is they release with the release in China market. Would be a good synergy.

Azjenco.9425:

Can’t say I’m into the idea of a “transmutation splitter”, whatever that supposed to be. Why can’t they just implement a wardrobe into the bank tab, like the one in the Mists. If they’re still that into the idea of having t-stones, then maybe you can use them to switch out skins.

I just don’t understand why a cosmetic feature that works so efficiently in PvP isn’t being considered to make life better in PvE.

In the PAX interview he said the same thing. That’s where they want the item management to be skin-wise.

Overall, I’m not actually finding Ascended Mats to be a major grind.

With ONE BIG EXCPETION … Empyr Shards … I think they’re dropping at roughly half the rate they should really be dropping at. The worst part in WvW with them is you have to tag the enemy Guild Claiming NPC pretty hard in camps to get any of them at all. There’s also several very difficult Jumping Puzzles that are only giving ~3 of them, or NONE AT ALL

Speaking of WvW: Dragonite Ore there is even worse for those guys:
wuv/wuv/5-Dragonite-from-keeps-30-from-Orr-Temples/first
I think Anet owes WvW’ers a big apology right now.

Do you guys still had/have any doubts that Ascended items were a panic reaction?
They started with items with no visuals and a couple of back pieces.

They had 400K+ concurrent users at launch and then after a month they had less than half.

People that left kept saying “there is no endgame, I got all the items I want”, etc.

Did those players made alts or legendary items?
No.

And now part of the player base that chose GW2 because of it being alt friendly and no gear treadmill are stuck with this mistake.

GW2 is so much more unfriendly to multiple character players than GW1 that is unbelievable.

The way armor works, the ascended gated stuff, the multiple gemstore items that are character bound or are just skins for a single character, etc.

But Arenanet has done similar mistakes before like the PvE-only skills in GW1 that required absurd amounts of grind to get decent effects.

I will just wait until someone slaps his forehead and decides to make it friendlier. In GW1 it was John Stumme.

Yargesh.4965:

Happyfool.8951:

iriyabran.6218:

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

I hope it’s just not me, but he looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin.

The best bet is they release with the release in China market. Would be a good synergy.

I think it’d be further after their release in China. They caught flack for mixing three Asian cultures together, and China would freak-out if they weren’t warned about it first.

ilr.9675:

Overall, I’m not actually finding Ascended Mats to be a major grind.

With ONE BIG EXCPETION … Empyr Shards … I think they’re dropping at roughly half the rate they should really be dropping at. The worst part in WvW with them is you have to tag to enemy Guild Claiming NPC in camps to get any of them at all. There’s also several very difficult Jumping Puzzles that are only giving ~3 of them, or NONE AT ALL

Speaking of WvW: Dragonite Ore there is even worse for those guys:
wuv/wuv/5-Dragonite-from-keeps-30-from-Orr-Temples/first
I think Anet owes WvW’ers a big apology right now.

Because temples are on a timer, In WvW, you can rapidly hit a number of enemy camps/towers/keeps within the cooldown timer of a temple.

Swoo.5079:

Do you guys still had/have any doubts that Ascended items were a panic reaction?

They were.

Worse, they were a panic reaction to a very predictable ocurrence. Every big MMO released in the last few years has had a massive spike in players at release, followed a few months later by the loss of most of those people. That’s very easy to see. It’s also very easy to understand – those are basically the MMO locusts who jump from MMO to MMO seeking a perfect clone of their first online world. They jump to a new game, complain that it’s not exactly the same as whatever MMO they were really looking for, and then leave.

It speaks rather poorly of ArenaNet that they didn’t predict this would happen (after watching the exact same thing in multiple recent MMOs), and that they decided to cater to this playerbase instead of to their original fans.

Vayne.8563:

The simplest analogy is that someone says they’re coming over and then, due to circumstances beyond their control, they don’t show up. I could take it personally…but is that actually reasonable? Does it help you or the other person?

Did you pay them to show up ? Did they make up for the attendance you paid for which they were “unable” to provide initially ? I am not sure that, “circumstances beyond their control,” really covers a conscious decision to not show up because those you have paid to show up decided that they could make more money by not doing so.

Erasculio.2914:

Swoo.5079:

Do you guys still had/have any doubts that Ascended items were a panic reaction?

They were.

Worse, they were a panic reaction to a very predictable ocurrence. Every big MMO released in the last few years has had a massive spike in players at release, followed a few months later by the loss of most of those people. That’s very easy to see. It’s also very easy to understand – those are basically the MMO locusts who jump from MMO to MMO seeking a perfect clone of their first online world. They jump to a new game, complain that it’s not exactly the same as whatever MMO they were really looking for, and then leave.

It speaks rather poorly of ArenaNet that they didn’t predict this would happen (after watching the exact same thing in multiple recent MMOs), and that they decided to cater to this playerbase instead of to their original fans.

Funny thing is that playerbase that they cater to dont actually like the game.

Most of the complaints were no trinity/action combat, not sandbox, no mounts, you just go from POI to POI…i wish to see this mythical overwhelming majority who was raising a revoultion about no gear grind treadmill.

And someone honestly think that there would be some kind of massive exodus if they didnt implement ascended weapons? Hell, just few days ago noone even knew about ascended weapons and game was going good.

What, school started, kids are back so we need candy (ascended weapons) to lure kids back to our game? lol, its the only logical explanation i can think of

Someone got them to buy into trying to beat WoW by becoming WoW, which is a foolish mistake investors keep helping developers commit for nearly a decade now. You don’t beat WoW by becoming it, you beat WoW by not trying to beat WoW.

Many of us are tired of companies insisting on chasing that particular dragon and leaving us strung out.

Overkillengine.6084:

Someone got them to buy into trying to beat WoW by becoming WoW, which is a foolish mistake investors keep helping developers commit for nearly a decade now. You don’t beat WoW by becoming it, you beat WoW by not trying to beat WoW.

Many of us are tired of companies insisting on chasing that particular dragon and leaving us strung out.

Well, if all failed WoW clones were not a big neon sign with boat siren attached, but then, after SWTOR, you kinda accept that theres no end to stupidity.

MikaHR.1978:

And someone honestly think that there would be some kind of massive exodus if they didnt implement ascended weapons? Hell, just few days ago noone even knew about ascended weapons and game was going good.

They didn’t?
They were announced November 2012…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

Dondarrion.2748:

MikaHR.1978:

And someone honestly think that there would be some kind of massive exodus if they didnt implement ascended weapons? Hell, just few days ago noone even knew about ascended weapons and game was going good.

They didn’t?
They were announced November 2012…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

I see nothing about “ascended weapons will be released on 3rd September” You? No? rofl

Anyone else a little surprised by how cute Colin is? I guess I was kind of expecting a baldingfatman, but Colin is very much a good-looking dude.

MikaHR.1978:

Dondarrion.2748:

MikaHR.1978:

And someone honestly think that there would be some kind of massive exodus if they didnt implement ascended weapons? Hell, just few days ago noone even knew about ascended weapons and game was going good.

They didn’t?
They were announced November 2012…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

I see nothing about “ascended weapons will be released on 3rd September” You? No? rofl

You’ll also see more Legendary items in the future and an update to our existing Legendary weapons. Legendary items were always intended to be on par with other “best-in-slot” items. So fear not, all existing Legendary weapons, which are currently on par with Exotics, will be upgraded to be on par with Ascended weapons at the same time that we add Ascended weapons to the game. Thus Legendaries will remain “best-in-slot” items. All Legendary items going forward will be of Ascended power.

It may not give a specific date, but it does say in there that Ascended weapons will be added. You can argue all you want about how they didn’t give a specific date, but to say that you weren’t expecting them either means you’ve never read this blog post, or your reading comprehension is lacking.

TheDaiBish.9735:

MikaHR.1978:

Dondarrion.2748:

MikaHR.1978:

And someone honestly think that there would be some kind of massive exodus if they didnt implement ascended weapons? Hell, just few days ago noone even knew about ascended weapons and game was going good.

They didn’t?
They were announced November 2012…

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/linsey-murdock-unveils-new-high-end-ascended-gear/

I see nothing about “ascended weapons will be released on 3rd September” You? No? rofl

You’ll also see more Legendary items in the future and an update to our existing Legendary weapons. Legendary items were always intended to be on par with other “best-in-slot” items. So fear not, all existing Legendary weapons, which are currently on par with Exotics, will be upgraded to be on par with Ascended weapons at the same time that we add Ascended weapons to the game. Thus Legendaries will remain “best-in-slot” items. All Legendary items going forward will be of Ascended power.

It may not give a specific date, but it does say in there that Ascended weapons will be added. You can argue all you want about how they didn’t give a specific date, but to say that you weren’t expecting them either means you’ve never read this blog post, or your reading comprehension is lacking.

Who was expecting it?

Few days ago nobody gave a kitten about ascended weapons (or any other ascended addition)

They just need to discuss it with the distributor in China, no one else.

iriyabran.6218:

Yargesh.4965:

Happyfool.8951:

iriyabran.6218:

The awkward silence with Cantha /cry

I hope it’s just not me, but he looks like he’s trying to hold back a grin.

The best bet is they release with the release in China market. Would be a good synergy.

I think it’d be further after their release in China. They caught flack for mixing three Asian cultures together, and China would freak-out if they weren’t warned about it first.

MikaHR.1978:

Who was expecting it?

Few days ago nobody gave a kitten about ascended weapons (or any other ascended addition)

Everyone who had read that blog post.

We didn’t know specifically when it was coming, but people who read the post knew it was coming.

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

You’re right from one perspective and wrong from another. The “kitten those players” line is just how you feel, not what they thought. Attributing that to then puts you in a position of a mind reader. You don’t know if it was hard or easy, if they felt bad or didn’t feel bad. I’m pretty sure they felt it had to be done. I’m also pretty sure there were factions arguing against it who lost. Those guys feel even worse.

He may have put himself into the position of mind reader, but so did you with this comment.

Vayne.8563:

The point is, Anet said some stuff in the years leading up to the game some of which was misunderstood and some of which might not have been communicated very well and some of it was said casually and ended up being seen as a promise.

And some things were promised or stated definitively and not delivered upon.

Vayne.8563:

And yes it was a kittenstorm. I get that. I know a lot of people who left that were major fans of the game. But I don’t think they were all that reasonable. Because they took a business decision personally.

I don’t think thakittens unreasonable for the people you mention to have left due to dissatisfaction with the game.

I also do not think that it is unreasonable to take personally a business decision that affects you personally.

I’m curious what you think they promised but didn’t deliver on.

Cantha *lol (not the right order, but the best I could do pasting it together in paint)
Edit: 3:30, 19:02 and 26:27 in the interview

Mungrul.9358:

So contrary to what they initially claimed (that Ascended was planned all along), Colin specifically states in that interview that Exotic WAS supposed to be final tier and Ascended was added because they underestimated how quickly people would get Exotic.

Ignoring the fact that people like being able to get max stat gear quickly so they then only have to worry about aesthetics, here we have proven that ArenaNet did outright LIE back in November, and that Ascended WASN’T planned prior to release.

I think the comments at glassdoor about “shady management” ring true if you look at what’s been said vs. what’s been done with this game

Neural.1824:

Mungrul.9358:

So contrary to what they initially claimed (that Ascended was planned all along), Colin specifically states in that interview that Exotic WAS supposed to be final tier and Ascended was added because they underestimated how quickly people would get Exotic.

Ignoring the fact that people like being able to get max stat gear quickly so they then only have to worry about aesthetics, here we have proven that ArenaNet did outright LIE back in November, and that Ascended WASN’T planned prior to release.

I think the comments at glassdoor about “shady management” ring true if you look at what’s been said vs. what’s been done with this game

If you are talking about that quote about ascended being planned all along. I request that you quote it. Because I have never seen the post in it’s full quote. Only people quoting people who quoted people.

anzenketh.3759:

If you are talking about that quote about ascended being planned all along. I request that you quote it. Because I have never seen the post in it’s full quote. Only people quoting people who quoted people.

Not possible, because I don’t think that quote exists. If you read the November blog post by Linsey Murdock and have watched and read subsequent interviews with Anet devs, you’ll see that Ascended were not planned all along but were a necessary step to introduce asap when they saw that the Exotic tier that was supposed to have satisfied those same requirements didn’t cut it. Everyone had exotics much earlier than Anet had predicted (so, if anything blame those predictions or we might have seen Ascended gear come out at game launch), and then hit that “Legendary wall”.

I seem to remember a livestream at some point with either Colin or Mike or something where they said Ascended should have gone in at the start – because typically they’d only otherwise do such introductions to coincide with expansions (re: blog post). But I’ve not gone back to re-check all those livestreams from mid-november to december/january.

Regardless whether Ascended tier was planned from start or as part of an expansion – but then got rushed in asap in November due to what they found with the Exotics – I’m happy the tier is in there.

Dondarrion.2748:

anzenketh.3759:

If you are talking about that quote about ascended being planned all along. I request that you quote it. Because I have never seen the post in it’s full quote. Only people quoting people who quoted people.

Not possible, because I don’t think that quote exists. If you read the November blog post by Linsey Murdock and have watched and read subsequent interviews with Anet devs, you’ll see that Ascended were not planned all along but were a necessary step to introduce asap when they saw that the Exotic tier that was supposed to have satisfied those same requirements didn’t cut it. Everyone had exotics much earlier than Anet had predicted (so, if anything blame those predictions or we might have seen Ascended gear come out at game launch), and then hit that “Legendary wall”.

I seem to remember a livestream at some point with either Colin or Mike or something where they said Ascended should have gone in at the start – because typically they’d only otherwise do such introductions to coincide with expansions (re: blog post). But I’ve not gone back to re-check all those livestreams from mid-november to december/january.

Regardless whether Ascended tier was planned from start or as part of an expansion – but then got rushed in asap in November due to what they found with the Exotics – I’m happy the tier is in there.

Exactly my point on asking for the quote I did not expect anyone to find it. I figured everyone got that idea due to chinese whispers(telephone) and that one livestream.

I think what really was said was Ascended should have gone in at the start. Not We had Ascended planned from the start. I have half the mind to look for that interview myself and put it on the wiki for quick reference along with linking Matt Visuals interview on the wiki.

I cried every time Cantha was brought up

Edit: Matt’s interview with Izzy, he actually responds to cantha, and…

http://archive.nyafuu.org/foolfuuka/boards/wg/image/1376/10/1376109380080.png

Wukunlin.8461:

What was the problem with people getting top tier stats quickly?

People that have as their main drive character progression and consume that content quickly became bored. This represented a sizable portion of the player base as it appears to be a common goal for MMO players, who were drew to GW 2. Arena Net’s profits were in danger and they probably received much pressure from their publisher to address the problem despite having a clear artistic vision that was against gear treadmills. People who loved Guild Wars small vertical progression (or would prefer none at all) were largely left wanting for another MMO as a result.

Unfortunately, I’m one of those who doesn’t want any vertical progression, in the minority of MMO players, and as a result will probably not have an MMO that is more about exploration and changing the world; than about progressing numbers on a character sheet. Everquest Next seems to be based heavily on the GW 2 manifesto. However, I imagine they too will succumb to the pressure of the majority.

SKIN WARDROBE! YES!!!!!!!!!! Now, I heard some things from a friend that actually spoke to one of the devs at PAX but this, lots of reassuring info. I really wish that Anet would put this sort of information on the official site more often like the ‘looking ahead’ blogs. I sometimes find links in this forum that are months old that give such important information on what’s going on in the cooking pot but most people won’t find it. That aside, it’s pretty cool they are also going to add a minor visual to legendary jewelry and that new races ARE actually considered to come ‘sometime’. (Quaggan, Largos.. heck, I’d play a skritt). Like Colin said in the interview himself, some people get very worried regarding certain features in the game and whether some things are or aren’t coming. Send us some information on what’s brewing, show us a teaser image of ascended gear before it’s finished etc. It would really take some heat from the pot in many topics on the forum. Overall, I’m looking forward to what is to come in the game.

BobbyT.7192:

I cried every time Cantha was brought up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9vBRszgPlA

Edit: Matt’s interview with Izzy, he actually responds to cantha, and…

http://archive.nyafuu.org/foolfuuka/boards/wg/image/1376/10/1376109380080.png

Haha, you got me.