Guild Wars 2

NYG.2568:

Ceridwen.6703:

Aww, don’t be mean, now! The chap stands well for what he believes in. I don’t always agree with what he says, but he has, seemingly, the courage of his convictions. Gotta have some respect for that.

I consider it trolling, and a blatant disrespect of others opinions…

That’s a little harsh, and a lot curious how you feel that way. It’s also strange the people who like to show up and claim being disrespected aren’t clear on how they feel disrespected. Like his opinions or not, Vayne has rarely engaged in the same sarcasm I tend to employ (and get thumped on the head for, more than once) to detractors.

The closest he gets is listing why they think a piece of argument doesn’t hold water, or isn’t a reasonable position.

And no, I’m not defending them because I like them. I’m defending Vayne because they’re meticulously careful trying to phrase things to be incendiary.

Anyway, moving on.

Guhracie.3419:

I don’t know if your last paragraph was directed at me or not, truly. I’ve tried to be really clear that I don’t want more communication, I want better, more consistent communication, so if it’s not directed at me, let me just apologize in advance.

It’s not directed at you or anyone directly, and it’s not necessarily meant to be one of my sarcastic cuts – it’s meant to be some “talking aloud to think it out and have it heard”.

We can’t force them to communicate answers they aren’t ready/willing to give. Pestering them for it is more likely to get a “non-answer” than actual communication. At the best what could be expected is Chris to add it to the pile of CDI topic potentials he has to work from.

(I’m sure there’s about a couple hundred by now.)

That’s how things stand currently from where I am looking at it. It might change if they do get a team together to bring up forum presence, but at the same time I expect certain things will not change. They’re not going to comment on things which aren’t ready to be commented on (lesson learned from “so we are thinking of a Precursor scavenger hunt thing…”), or may substantially change between the first and the last communication about it . . .

Or just silly things they want to be a surprise.

I honestly wish they would communicate a little earlier on things they have in development rather than to put up a blog post detailing things going live in a week or two, such that the community can weigh in. However, if that gets done then it behooves the community to not flip its collective lid over the announcements or if ANet decides not to change anything.

Presumably, we’re all mature enough to handle giving feedback with some grace. If we can start doing that consistently, I could definitely see ANet becoming more consistent with communication . . . you know, since they wouldn’t feel like they’re just being punching bags or shooting range targets by posting something.

Things are what they are, and stand as they stand. We all know by now, developer and gamers, that GW2 is going through some hard processes and the chaos that emerges from those processes is natural.

Having people in the forums discussing ideas is, for me, a relief, because it shows that there are people still wanting to see gw2 become the game we all know it can be, and they are more than willing to spend some time debating those issues.

How can this not be a positive thing? It is. Ofc we all have to show a minimum degree of respect towards other ppl ideas.

Exploring every angle of a given issue and building a strong commitment to improve or develop a concept takes many many people and, most of the times, the best ideas come when taking small pieces of many arguments and glueing them together.

Remember what Hadrian once said “Brick by Brick my citizens, brick by brick”

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Yeah, I’m with Labjax here. There’s still lapses and gaps here and there, but on the whole they’re making a serious effort to be better about communicating with us, which I appreciate greatly. (Especially you, Gaile. It’s great to have you back on board. )

Yes, we can’t always get answers to the specific questions we have, but that’s not always the fault of the frontline staff. Sometimes they just haven’t seen it (they can’t be everywhere, after all), and sometimes it’s because they legitimately don’t know the answer. (It’s still being discussed by design teams, or they can’t get a hold of the person who’s in charge of fixing the bug because they were at lunch or off sick and they’re the type who never replies to their e-mails. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you know the type of person I’m talking about.)

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to answer what the hell is up with the drop rates. and the fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to explain just what happened to leaderboards and the fractal weapon box (and evidently, the fractal tonic)

i guess you’ve only been here for a few months, but basically, anet’s got a big history of screwing around with the players, and a few red posts on the forums wont change that

wake me up when they say something actually concrete about anything beyond “we’ll look into it maybe it’s not off the table”

NYG.2568:

Vayne.8563:

NYG.2568:

Vayne.8563:

CrashTestAuto.9108:

The traits thread, SAB threads, megaserver threads and hobosacks thread (off the top of my head) are in need of attention.

That said, Gaile is trying to keep us informed as well as Chris.

SAB threads are what exactly? Anet said right now it’s not coming back, during this season of the living story. That’s all they’re going to say. There’s no need for more communication on this. If people don’t want to accept it, there’s nothing anyone can do. That’s the decision.

Megaservers are being worked on, we’ve even seen some changes recently to guild missions and they said they’re working on stuff for larger guilds. The mega server isn’t being repealed. It’s not happening. What is there to say?

Traits and hobosacks are legitimate ongoing issues. I can almost guarantee they’re working on traits. I guess they could come in every few days and say we’re still working on it, but programming takes time.

Hobosacks, no idea if they’re working on it or not. I suspect it’s low priority, though.

I don’t know why people think that we need someone to constantly come into threads saying we know about this and we’re looking into it. Things in big companies don’t get changed over night and programming takes time.

Anet should just hire this ^^^^ guy. He seems to think he has all the answers.

I don’t suspect I have all the answers or even most of them. But I’ll certainly call people out who claim to have them and probably don’t.

Yet your on every thread attacking in my opinion. Other peoples comments,thoughts,critiques,concerns,or what have you. You are not an Anet Dev stop trying to do there job and let others have there say. Let Anet do there job and answer or reply.
I’ve seen you post its a small percentage of people on these forums about what they like or complain about, and others simply play and enjoy the game. So I ask how much time are you playing and enjoying the game. From what I see very little as you take it upon yourself to read and “answer” most everything.

Some of us can play and read the forums at the same time. Two monitors is a wondrous thing. I wonder if anyone has ever bothered to look at how many negative comments I don’t address at all, even once. It’s not like I don’t see them. I don’t find them misleading or objectionable.

I promise I didn’t get 20,000 achievement point sitting here on the forums. As far as I know there’s no achievement for infractions.

Edit: Sorry mods I won’t comment on these threads now. I didn’t see the dev post until after I posted this reply. Maybe we all just need a group hug. lol

JohnnySupernova.9182:

fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to answer what the hell is up with the drop rates. and the fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to explain just what happened to leaderboards and the fractal weapon box (and evidently, the fractal tonic)

i guess you’ve only been here for a few months, but basically, anet’s got a big history of screwing around with the players, and a few red posts on the forums wont change that

wake me up when they say something actually concrete about anything beyond “we’ll look into it maybe it’s not off the table”

It sounds to me like there are a lot of areas that don’t get solid dev communication. I understand it being frustrating and I don’t mean that in a placating way. I’ve been there.

It just sounds more like priority struggles on their part than intentionally screwing around with players (which they would gain nothing from).

Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Maybe you fractal folks should bring that stuff up a bit more. That is, if you don’t already have active threads on the issues you’re seeing.

It’s Anet’s policy that the squeaky wheels get ignored. This we’ve seen many times over. Unless there’s been a CDI established on a certain (albeit contentious) topic, then there’ll be no mention of it unless there’s a release in an upcoming patch, or the topic has attracted so much attention that walls of text (and outrage) demand some kind of intervention (traits thread says hello).

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to answer what the hell is up with the drop rates. and the fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to explain just what happened to leaderboards and the fractal weapon box (and evidently, the fractal tonic)

i guess you’ve only been here for a few months, but basically, anet’s got a big history of screwing around with the players, and a few red posts on the forums wont change that

wake me up when they say something actually concrete about anything beyond “we’ll look into it maybe it’s not off the table”

It sounds to me like there are a lot of areas that don’t get solid dev communication. I understand it being frustrating and I don’t mean that in a placating way. I’ve been there.

It just sounds more like priority struggles on their part than intentionally screwing around with players (which they would gain nothing from).

Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Maybe you fractal folks should bring that stuff up a bit more. That is, if you don’t already have active threads on the issues you’re seeing.

The fractal playerbase DOES bring stuff up. I’d say they’re one of the more vocal groups of people in the game. They asked Anet what was up every facet of the fractured patch when it was up, they asked Anet what was up with the nerfed drop rates and missing fractal box and leaderboard and everything else at every instance.

Like, I know I sound silly saying this, but anet actually IS screwing around with the fractal playerbase. The last fractal update was hyped almost entirely on things that flat out weren’t true. We’ve been told, repeatedly, that the drop rates for fractals have gone up, when every player account has shown otherwise, and we are STILL waiting for the promised leaderboard and level extension so we can get the stupid fractal box.

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to answer what the hell is up with the drop rates. and the fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to explain just what happened to leaderboards and the fractal weapon box (and evidently, the fractal tonic)

i guess you’ve only been here for a few months, but basically, anet’s got a big history of screwing around with the players, and a few red posts on the forums wont change that

wake me up when they say something actually concrete about anything beyond “we’ll look into it maybe it’s not off the table”

It sounds to me like there are a lot of areas that don’t get solid dev communication. I understand it being frustrating and I don’t mean that in a placating way. I’ve been there.

It just sounds more like priority struggles on their part than intentionally screwing around with players (which they would gain nothing from).

Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Maybe you fractal folks should bring that stuff up a bit more. That is, if you don’t already have active threads on the issues you’re seeing.

After a year of no communication, fractals players have largely given up. In fact, when pressed about some of these issues in the Fractal CDI , people were told that they were being off-topic and to please post elsewhere if they wanted to discuss those things. There was plenty of squeak to that wheel.

Gaile Gray:

Is Anet working on an expansion or not?

Still waiting for any word on Greatest Fear and the reorder of Personal Story chapters 7 and 8…

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Honestly I think some find responses from Devs vague. It leaves you scratching your head wondering what you just read, or why. Could it be just to show a presence? I totally agree and understand not all can be answered, but more definitive answers would lessen the negative blows.

I also have not heard anything about plans for a solution to “the asura problem” . . .

Gaile Gray.6029:

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Well. Most of the time I check the forums and find half a novel worth of dev posts. Not rarely of the “just got home from work” type. Do you folks even sleep? Should people send coffee?

So yeah, I’d say it’s pretty obvious.
<3

The increase in communication from Anet has been both noticeable and welcome. There’s no doubt the increased presence on the boards and will drive a positive atmosphere long term on these boards (although I still maintain they need condensing -sifting through hundreds of threads of the same subjects day in and day out is a chore for us readers, let alone any poor moderator!).

The big issue for me remains the uncertainty around the future direction of the game. As I said in the comms post, in any other MMO I play (some AAA, some not), I know where we are headed or whats on the horizon. Not necessarily exact details, but there are regular announcements on what is coming. Usually it comes as blog posts from the Games Director, but often as emails or forum stickys. This is without exception in every
I play or have played….except GW2.

I enjoy GW2 the most, yet I just can’t fathom the complete and utter clamp down on what is coming. I understand a no spoilers policy and also avoiding complaints about “broken promises”, but those sort of people will throw their toys out of the pram no matter what. Let the rest of us have some to look forward to

That’s my 2-penneth for what is may or may not be worth!

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Thank you for really throwing yourself in front of a speeding train! This must be the scariest job at ArenaNet right now. With only a handful of you to interact with the thousands of us, when someone is out unexpectedly, it must just be insane. (Hopefully Chris is alright, send him our best).

Would it be possible to have someone give a quick reply to the trait thread again? There isn’t a shared understanding of time between the players and developers yet, so even though we know it takes a while to steer a ship, are we talking weeks? Months? Years? It’s been almost a month since the last red post there.

Communication has been terrible for a very long time. You’ve had more than “overnight” to make things better.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Gaile, while the increase in communication has been noticed and appreciated, I think the problem is that the communication has gone one the problem areas. You know the traits thread is a problem, but the SAB threads (especially given SAB riots helped kick this off), the hobosack threads etc. are where the lack of communication is really noticed.

I understand some things can’t be talked about for some reason, but when we know you’re here and we’re still not getting answers… well it isn’t worse than you guys not being here at all, but it’s a bit jarring.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

LOL, if I could be duped in that way, the world would have to put my clones in a cage or something and let them duke it out. It would be the most boring fight though. Like a bunch of animals circling each other constantly and snarling occasionally, but never actually attacking.

But in all seriousness, yeah, I see where you’re coming from and I am noticing something. The ideal that I hope for in terms of dev communication is never going to be achieved cause it’s just an ideal, but I can see what looks like improvement and I’m happy to see it.

Johnny and Guhracie: I don’t know what to tell you, honestly. Maybe you’re right and Fractal stuff is getting ignored. Maybe you’re misinterpreting the situation. Either way, I can’t tell. There are potential subtleties going on there that I’ve missed and I can’t discern on peoples’ word alone.

Basically, I can’t say anything more on that situation without being more informed. I wish you luck with the future of Fractals though. That’s all I can do.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Ms. Gray, as I’ve said, I really think you are exceptional. And I hope I have made it clear in my contributions to this thread that the uptick in communication absolutely was noted. I’m wondering if I should change the title somehow, because a lot of people seem to be getting really mired in the idea that I want developers to respond to All the Things. It is simply not reasonable to expect developers to respond to every concern voiced. I am in no way saying that you guys should be expected to do that. So let me try again and be as clear as I know how. (Please note that my “you” in the following points will be directed at Anet as a whole, and not any one person.)

1. When you start or officially sanction a feedback thread, you are obligated to read the feedback you’ve requested. Don’t come in months later and ask for a summary of the thread.

2. If there’s a topic that’s become so widespread as to need to be merged into a single thread, that’s a pretty good indicator that you should make some sort of comment.

3. If you specifically say you’re going to answer a question, do it.

4. If you make plans with people, keep those people updated.

That’s all. I know people will cry that I shouldn’t expect people to mean what they say, and that’s why devs don’t say anything anymore, but seriously. That’s just common courtesy. Nobody would accept that non-reasoning in real life.

I don’t know how to better express that I don’t want you guys responding to every single thread, since that is the best way to burn out the team.

I do NOT want developers responding to every thread. That’s not what this is about.

You can see my words, right? Is this thing on?

I Think something like this would be appreciated.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

I’ve been pleased at the uptick as well! I do wish we had some more concrete comments on what’s actually coming. Not nitty gritty details, but more like “at some point we’ll have a third heavy profession” or “we do intend to open up a zone the size of Frostgorge.” And then if worst comes to worst and the coding just won’t work or whatever, you can say “We’re really sorry, but you remember how we talked about a third heavy profession? This weird thing came up that made it unplayable as designed, we have to start over when we have time.”

To those claiming toxic forums, well. There’s a lot of unrest, there are occasionally mildly offensive comments. But take a quick scan through the ArcheAge forums to see true toxicity (and even those pale compared to the forums on Dark and Light, an MMO that failed years ago not long after launch, but hoo boy was I shocked by the forum posts). We don’t have rabid racist cussing, death threats to devs, the forum equivalent of tea-bagging, or raging flame wars.

I freaking love the ANet forums.

Here’s why I have been frustrated with ANet’s “communication” for quite some time now:

• ANet doesn’t telegraph its intentions very well or in a meaningful way to the community.

• ANet is tone deaf.

I won’t say they don’t try, but ANet’s form of communication is to release a flowery upbeat blog post a few weeks before they pop the changes on the players.

And then, once the changes have hit, effectively ignore, sideline or peripherally address the resultant turmoil.

Just take a look at three areas of major game changes (that I was around for/cared for) that have swept over the community:

• Ascended Tier (November 2012)

• Trait Unlock (April 2014)

• NPE (September 2014)

The common strand connecting the development and subsequent implementation of these items is a bad combination of tone deafness and lack of openness with the community.

Here’s the thing, Closed Beta is over, as a developer, keeping your true intentions hidden from your active players is not helping anything or protecting anything.

Especially changes that pull the rug out from under players, a little bit of sensitivity would help, but better than that, some actual behavioral changes are in order.

I do not buy the blather that “Anet’s policy is to not discuss future plans because plans could change”.

Well, there we go, ANet treating its community like little children, once again and then scratching its collective head when people express outrage at the overt lack of productive communication.

I think everyone would be a lot more relaxed if the bar brawl minigame had ever been implemented, we’d all be taking our frustrations out in brawls.

Guhracie.3419:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

Ms. Gray, as I’ve said, I really think you are exceptional. And I hope I have made it clear in my contributions to this thread that the uptick in communication absolutely was noted. I’m wondering if I should change the title somehow, because a lot of people seem to be getting really mired in the idea that I want developers to respond to All the Things. It is simply not reasonable to expect developers to respond to every concern voiced. I am in no way saying that you guys should be expected to do that. So let me try again and be as clear as I know how. (Please note that my “you” in the following points will be directed at Anet as a whole, and not any one person.)

1. When you start or officially sanction a feedback thread, you are obligated to read the feedback you’ve requested. Don’t come in months later and ask for a summary of the thread.

2. If there’s a topic that’s become so widespread as to need to be merged into a single thread, that’s a pretty good indicator that you should make some sort of comment.

3. If you specifically say you’re going to answer a question, do it.

4. If you make plans with people, keep those people updated.

That’s all. I know people will cry that I shouldn’t expect people to mean what they say, and that’s why devs don’t say anything anymore, but seriously. That’s just common courtesy. Nobody would accept that non-reasoning in real life.

I don’t know how to better express that I don’t want you guys responding to every single thread, since that is the best way to burn out the team.

I do NOT want developers responding to every thread. That’s not what this is about.

You can see my words, right? Is this thing on?

Well said! You can’t anticipate everything, but it’s nice to know when tactics have changed. Answering every thread calling out “Can we get a dev reply plx?!?” is ridiculous. Your guidelines are great!

I think there are a few topics that I would like to see at least high level comments on – just to know whether or not they are things that ArenaNet may or may not be revisiting in Living Story Season 2.

For me, that list is pretty small -

- Dungeons or other 5 man content
- Guild Missions
- New Traits/ Lvl 80 Progression System (from the blog post you linked)

We have heard virtually nothing on these topics in a really long time – other than a comment at a recent tradeshow saying they werent making any new dungeons in the foreseeable future – which many found upsetting – and which was probably the comment that started the entire “please communicate with us” conversation in the first place.

There has been alot of content released in the past 2 years that many of us, obviously, still love tremendously. We just want to be sure that, as we stick with the game, we might see some of those things in the near (or even far) future. I know were asking for something that’s hard to talk about, but its hard to keep thinking this is the game for us if we dont have at least a (even VERY rough) idea of what to expect in the next 3/6/12 months.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Guhracie — Yes, I do understand you, and I appreciate your position. I feel you make very valid points, some of them related simply to common courtesy (which is what I was thinking as I read what you wrote, and which you then said, so two minds and all that). Some want dev posts everywhere. Some, like you, have a reasonable expectation. I am truly hopeful that we’ll be moving that way and I’m doing my small part to help. (For instance, flagging a post to specific devs to see if an answer is possible. Not hourly, not every dev or every team, but selectively and, I hope, with some level of wisdom. We’ll see how that works out — I might drive ’em nuts. )

Can’t do that, Ms. Gray – they’re already mostly there.

My sense is that many would be forgiving, but many others would not. I don’t drive the Revelation Train, but I’ve seen a “We’re going to do this… uhhh… no, never mind” scenario work out poorly for game companies, from cancelled titles to reduced features or simple delays. (Won’t name names, but I’m talking broadly, not specifically to Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 or ArenaNet.)

Which is why I understand the policy of “let’s not talk about it until we know we will/can do this thing”. Unfortunately, it also creates a sort of bubble of silence which frustrates players who want to know there’s something being worked on instead of allowing imagination to picture devs using Gem Store money to have lavish parties.

Emtiarbi.3281:

I Think something like this would be appreciated.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

Yes, I like that, too! I’ll pass along the suggestion.

Cautionary point: some of this stuff in the blog post? I haven’t seen it yet, such as the “new crafting material” segment – if that’s supposed to be the Ascended quality items then that’s not clear there . . .

And then there’s this

“We aren’t quite ready to go into all the details here, but what I can say is you will see a specific way to build precursor items on your way to a legendary. On top of this, you’ll also see new legendary weapons and new types of legendary gear in 2013. Building your precursor will require a large amount of the new crafting material rewards listed above, 500 in crafting, and likely a combination of other items earned for completing more specific content in the game.”

. . . which I know is getting tiring to hear mentioned but . . . this passage right here? This is the sort of thing which drove people nuts, demonstrably, in that it was talked about and didn’t materialize . . . at all. And we’re in late 2014. And I know it likely got back-burner’d due to something not working or an idea being better on paper than in execution. (I’ve had similar things doing tabletop for many years now.)

But those kind of announcements are what get people excited, and then angry when they don’t turn up with any explanation at all about why not.

Anyway, I have to get back to trying to complete some bits and pieces of wardrobe

The engineer forums still wait for something like an answer if\when the hobosack issue gets fixed… or ignored to have SOME knowledge about that issue. A simple " yea is coming arround (enter month here) and we fix it like (enter how here)" or a “nope dun caaaare, lol suck it engies, l8tor loosers” would already do a lot at this point. Sure.. it IS without a doubt not everybodies issue.. but i do think after a topic reached 1127 replies and 94829 views atleast some dev should go and read wtf is going on there and then ask his\her fellow devs\coders\whoever knows wtf if they gonna do something about it and then tell the community. Thats atleast my humble opinion.

Basaltface.2786:

The engineer forums still wait for something like an answer if\when the hobosack issue gets fixed… or ignored to have SOME knowledge about that issue. A simple " yea is coming arround (enter month here) and we fix it like (enter how here)" or a “nope dun caaaare, lol suck it engies, l8tor loosers” would already do a lot at this point. Sure.. it IS without a doubt not everybodies issue.. but i do think after a topic reached 1127 replies and 94829 views atleast some dev should go and read wtf is going on there and then ask his\her fellow devs\coders\whoever knows wtf if they gonna do something about it and then tell the community. Thats atleast my humble opinion.

If the engineers can get some update on their dirty sack issue, can we rangers expect something about exactly what needs to happen for pets to get an overhaul other than “we’d have to redesign the AI”?

Though at this point, I’d just quietly suggest a Trait Mastery to reduce AoE damage a pet receives.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Basaltface.2786:

The engineer forums still wait for something like an answer if\when the hobosack issue gets fixed… or ignored to have SOME knowledge about that issue. A simple " yea is coming arround (enter month here) and we fix it like (enter how here)" or a “nope dun caaaare, lol suck it engies, l8tor loosers” would already do a lot at this point. Sure.. it IS without a doubt not everybodies issue.. but i do think after a topic reached 1127 replies and 94829 views atleast some dev should go and read wtf is going on there and then ask his\her fellow devs\coders\whoever knows wtf if they gonna do something about it and then tell the community. Thats atleast my humble opinion.

If the engineers can get some update on their dirty sack issue, can we rangers expect something about exactly what needs to happen for pets to get an overhaul other than “we’d have to redesign the AI”?

Though at this point, I’d just quietly suggest a Trait Mastery to reduce AoE damage a pet receives.

yea stuff like this should be just answered with a simple “yea or nope” by the staff and have stuff off the table. Cause to know if or if not already is a LOT.

Basaltface.2786:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Basaltface.2786:

The engineer forums still wait for something like an answer if\when the hobosack issue gets fixed… or ignored to have SOME knowledge about that issue. A simple " yea is coming arround (enter month here) and we fix it like (enter how here)" or a “nope dun caaaare, lol suck it engies, l8tor loosers” would already do a lot at this point. Sure.. it IS without a doubt not everybodies issue.. but i do think after a topic reached 1127 replies and 94829 views atleast some dev should go and read wtf is going on there and then ask his\her fellow devs\coders\whoever knows wtf if they gonna do something about it and then tell the community. Thats atleast my humble opinion.

If the engineers can get some update on their dirty sack issue, can we rangers expect something about exactly what needs to happen for pets to get an overhaul other than “we’d have to redesign the AI”?

Though at this point, I’d just quietly suggest a Trait Mastery to reduce AoE damage a pet receives.

yea stuff like this should be just answered with a simple “yea or nope” by the staff and have stuff off the table. Cause to know if or if not already is a LOT.

Bear in mind, on the pet thing? They explicitly said they didn’t want to allow the pet to be totally removed, and there were hints the AI was a problem they didn’t want to touch during the time of the CDI.

So, in a way, we knew it was “off the table”, but rather only so it could go on a shelf to look into later.

I suspect the “hobosack” issue is likewise something they aren’t prepared to take on . . . correct me if I’m wrong, but these weapons which cause the backpack are bundle weapons for just the Engineer right? And the hobosack appears when you pull out the kits?

That suggests it’s part of the bundle and not something which can just be reskinned by planting a Transmutation on it.

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Basaltface.2786:

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

Basaltface.2786:

The engineer forums still wait for something like an answer if\when the hobosack issue gets fixed… or ignored to have SOME knowledge about that issue. A simple " yea is coming arround (enter month here) and we fix it like (enter how here)" or a “nope dun caaaare, lol suck it engies, l8tor loosers” would already do a lot at this point. Sure.. it IS without a doubt not everybodies issue.. but i do think after a topic reached 1127 replies and 94829 views atleast some dev should go and read wtf is going on there and then ask his\her fellow devs\coders\whoever knows wtf if they gonna do something about it and then tell the community. Thats atleast my humble opinion.

If the engineers can get some update on their dirty sack issue, can we rangers expect something about exactly what needs to happen for pets to get an overhaul other than “we’d have to redesign the AI”?

Though at this point, I’d just quietly suggest a Trait Mastery to reduce AoE damage a pet receives.

yea stuff like this should be just answered with a simple “yea or nope” by the staff and have stuff off the table. Cause to know if or if not already is a LOT.

Bear in mind, on the pet thing? They explicitly said they didn’t want to allow the pet to be totally removed, and there were hints the AI was a problem they didn’t want to touch during the time of the CDI.

So, in a way, we knew it was “off the table”, but rather only so it could go on a shelf to look into later.

I suspect the “hobosack” issue is likewise something they aren’t prepared to take on . . . correct me if I’m wrong, but these weapons which cause the backpack are bundle weapons for just the Engineer right? And the hobosack appears when you pull out the kits?

That suggests it’s part of the bundle and not something which can just be reskinned by planting a Transmutation on it.

yea its a bundle but that backpack that bundle comes with is an extreme annoyance to many engineers cause it clips with the backpieces you often buy\invest a lot of time in and it most of the time also clashes with the armor colours, clips with the heads of asura and humans and practically ruins the visuals of many players. Needless to say it also hides any legendary effects. Engineers such as myself dont ask for complete removal or even skins, we just ask to have a checkbox to hide the backpack of the bundles if we choose so that we can look as good as other classes, display our LS backpieces or just have the backpack away alltogether, and those who like the bundle backpack can keep it.. its an optional checkbox afterall. In a game where vanity is practically a huge part of the end game we should be able to look as nice as anybody else. Sure.. its without a doubt not a mayor issue like the “ranger pet derbness” , but it is an issue to (many) engineers. The packs are also not of any use in pvp related things and even if they are to some people there is a feature to “normalise” the char models so there is really not an excuse…if they even can keep up with the fast kit switching and can tell them apart.. whats pretty difficult because the backpack is usually faced away from you and the kit´s attacks make it already obvios enough on what the engineer throws at you (such as the handheld weapons at flamer, e-cannon and toolkit and the flying grenades and ground placed bombs). But yea.. to wrap it up.. its NOT a game breaking issue but it is a vanity breaking issue that annoys many engineers and since over one year not a single dev said even the slightest word about it… aside from a “joke” at a ready up episode.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

I feel that it’s important that we get a higher quality of communication rather than quantity of communication. We don’t need a red flag on every thread, and we certainly don’t need devs popping in to say “I’ve read this” using way more word than that. What we do need is devs making it clear that they understand where we have serious issues with the state of the game, and that they are actually working to fix those things.

There are numerous very common complaints and concerns that come up on a weekly or even daily basis, and we have no idea where the developers are headed on those topics. We need less player-to-dev communication, less “dev-telling-us-they-read-our-posts” communication, and more “dev actually talking about the future of the game in a comprehensive manner” communication, and yes, I’m aware of the “company policy” that prevents talking about future development, but that policy MUST go, no question.

@Basaltface

Okay, so I understood how the kits and hobosack work then . . .

Yeah, I can see the point of the annoyance. And from an amateur perspective of looking at what would need to be done, I think it is a change on the level of ranger pets -

As in “we’d have to rebuild a system (in this case bundle weapons) to fix this”.

I hate to talk negatively but I don’t expect it’s something you can expect fixed soon

Tobias Trueflight.8350:

@Basaltface

Okay, so I understood how the kits and hobosack work then . . .

Yeah, I can see the point of the annoyance. And from an amateur perspective of looking at what would need to be done, I think it is a change on the level of ranger pets -

As in “we’d have to rebuild a system (in this case bundle weapons) to fix this”.

I hate to talk negatively but I don’t expect it’s something you can expect fixed soon

Yea man.. we dont either, we keep that topic always on the front page in the engi forum in desperate hope… but atleast a straight forward answer from a-net would give many people closure. Knowing if something is gonna happen at all or not is already worth much. A “nothing is off the table” and “we cant disclose information” is as usefull as a magic 8 ball that is missing the yes and no.

I would atleast like to see one dev devoted to each subforum, like the profession subforums. This person could confirm or reject issues brought up by the community, could report bugs or confirm acknowledged bugs. He could gather background information and forward suggestions to the “competitive team”.

Guhracie.3419:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to answer what the hell is up with the drop rates. and the fractal playerbase is still waiting for anet to explain just what happened to leaderboards and the fractal weapon box (and evidently, the fractal tonic)

i guess you’ve only been here for a few months, but basically, anet’s got a big history of screwing around with the players, and a few red posts on the forums wont change that

wake me up when they say something actually concrete about anything beyond “we’ll look into it maybe it’s not off the table”

It sounds to me like there are a lot of areas that don’t get solid dev communication. I understand it being frustrating and I don’t mean that in a placating way. I’ve been there.

It just sounds more like priority struggles on their part than intentionally screwing around with players (which they would gain nothing from).

Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Maybe you fractal folks should bring that stuff up a bit more. That is, if you don’t already have active threads on the issues you’re seeing.

After a year of no communication, fractals players have largely given up. In fact, when pressed about some of these issues in the Fractal CDI , people were told that they were being off-topic and to please post elsewhere if they wanted to discuss those things. There was plenty of squeak to that wheel.

yeah, it was slightly off topic, however, i agree that anet really totally failed, and have yet to remedy what happened with the fractured patch.
selling points that didnt exist
reasons for doing things that didnt every come to pass
bugs galore

and no answers or even a look at known issues. And even though it was off topic, Dev basically said im not ever going to give that community any answers.

yup the whole fratcal thing was very sad to see, and made me lose a lot of trust in the anet team. But hey, they are people too you know. Sometimes people make mistakes, and often they dont really want to face, or deal with them. Normal human behavior, sad to see it though

Ohoni.6057:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Labjax.2465:

JohnnySupernova.9182:

Arena net has some of the worst communication out of any game company I can think of. When they’re not giving crappy non-answers and ignoring problems, they’re outright lying to the playerbase.

you really wont see a change in communication. Josh foreman got yelled at for communicating TOO MUCH. Even if anyone at anet WANTED to communicate, they wont be able to because the higher ups deemed it bad for business.

I’ve only been around for a few months, but in that time, I’ve seen them not only make an effort to communicate more, but Gaile now has the title “ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead” and has been posting in several threads.

If that’s non-answers and outright lying, then consider me fully duped.

Duping!!?! ~gasp!~ Oh, sorry, different type, gotcha.

Things aren’t going to change overnight, but we are making a concerted effort to improve communications. Not every thread gets — or realistically can get — a reply. That is driven not so much by a particular topic but more critically by sheer volume. And yes, not every question can be answered, but maybe it just can’t be answered in the short term, or maybe it’s taken under consideration for a more focused means of communication, such as a CDI, or maybe you’ll see an answer in the Update Notes. And sure, I guess some questions will go unanswered, too, but not for lack of effort or interest.

The truth is, you’re noticing, or I hope you’re noticing: We’re actively taking steps to be more communicative and involved, and we’ll continue to do so as time passes.

I feel that it’s important that we get a higher quality of communication rather than quantity of communication. We don’t need a red flag on every thread, and we certainly don’t need devs popping in to say “I’ve read this” using way more word than that. What we do need is devs making it clear that they understand where we have serious issues with the state of the game, and that they are actually working to fix those things.

There are numerous very common complaints and concerns that come up on a weekly or even daily basis, and we have no idea where the developers are headed on those topics. We need less player-to-dev communication, less “dev-telling-us-they-read-our-posts” communication, and more “dev actually talking about the future of the game in a comprehensive manner” communication, and yes, I’m aware of the “company policy” that prevents talking about future development, but that policy MUST go, no question.

in all i would say this is the case. The devs or the forum mods need should probably, on major issues, do a run down to see if they can understand the issues being brought up,

the point is, it should be clear that each party understands the other party, and what type of response one can expect.

I feel bad for the dev team. I’ve been with this franchise since GW: Prophecies and I’ve seen them go from content designers to frustrated politicians because of a player base that is never satisfied. G dubs 2 is a different game with a different business model, and is supported by a development staff that is bound to those restrictions. Players act as if the guy making content is responsible for offering a public demonstration.

What kills me about this is that the people complaining are the same people logging on every day and spending money. I really miss the GW1 community and would trade this mob for them any day. “Communication” has become such a buzzword on these forums, and most posters have yet to agree on what that communication is defined by. The unfortunate reality is that there is a wildfire of unprovoked aggression. I can’t wait to see the complaints that arise about any future expansion

Gnat.9405:

I feel bad for the dev team. I’ve been with this franchise since GW: Prophecies and I’ve seen them go from content designers to frustrated politicians because of a player base that is never satisfied. G dubs 2 is a different game with a different business model, and is supported by a development staff that is bound to those restrictions. Players act as if the guy making content is responsible for offering a public demonstration.

What kills me about this is that the people complaining are the same people logging on every day and spending money. I really miss the GW1 community and would trade this mob for them any day. “Communication” has become such a buzzword on these forums, and most posters have yet to agree on what that communication is defined by. The unfortunate reality is that there is a wildfire of unprovoked aggression. I can’t wait to see the complaints that arise about any future expansion

What kills me is people who fail to comprehend what they are reading. This has next to nothing to do with my thread.

Guess what? All games have “a player base that is never satisfied” because all player bases are, by their very definition, made up of many people with many different desires.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Donari.5237:

I’ve been pleased at the uptick as well! I do wish we had some more concrete comments on what’s actually coming. Not nitty gritty details, but more like “at some point we’ll have a third heavy profession” or “we do intend to open up a zone the size of Frostgorge.” And then if worst comes to worst and the coding just won’t work or whatever, you can say “We’re really sorry, but you remember how we talked about a third heavy profession? This weird thing came up that made it unplayable as designed, we have to start over when we have time.”

My sense is that many would be forgiving, but many others would not. I don’t drive the Revelation Train, but I’ve seen a “We’re going to do this… uhhh… no, never mind” scenario work out poorly for game companies, from cancelled titles to reduced features or simple delays. (Won’t name names, but I’m talking broadly, not specifically to Guild Wars/Guild Wars 2 or ArenaNet.)"

You’re basically throwing the baby out with the bath water there. Sure, some will be annoyed, but will it be any more than the people who are currently annoyed? The fact that it’s a decision that has been clearly communicated (hopefully with a little explanation of why the decision was made) will help a great deal with managing people’s expectations.

Keeping everything secret because unreasonable people might be mad is a ridiculous notion, IMHO.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Emtiarbi.3281:

I Think something like this would be appreciated.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

Yes, I like that, too! I’ll pass along the suggestion.

I’d love it too, however I sense that given your company’s reluctance to discuss anything that isn’t about to drop onto the servers in the next couple of weeks I don’t think it’ll happen.

As it is, the future of GW2 is far too vague for me to be all that excited about any changes or additions that may or may not be making their way to the game. I’ve stopped playing and I mostly don’t even bother reading the forums or website
anymore because there is no meaningful information on what’s coming being shared there by ArenaNet.

Galen Grey.4709:

NYG.2568:

Ceridwen.6703:

Galphar.3901:

Ceridwen.6703:

Vayne.8563:

videoboy.4162:

Chris Whiteside has stated, numerous times, that they’re in the process of hiring more personnel to work on the forums. So, hopefully, things will look up soon and he (and a couple others) won’t be the only ones speaking on the forums.

Raise your hand if you think they should hire me

ducks and runs lol

I’m really sure I read the other week (or thereabouts), someone kinda had you pegged as being in Anet’s employ already.

I personally reckon, with a small bit of training (if that, even), you’d be quite good at handling the forum – whether or not someone agrees with your position on any given thing, you seem quite dedicated, and I respect that.

We just want him be become an A-Net employee because then they’ll force him to not post, lol

Aww, don’t be mean, now! The chap stands well for what he believes in. I don’t always agree with what he says, but he has, seemingly, the courage of his convictions. Gotta have some respect for that.

I consider it trolling, and a blatant disrespect of others opinions…

disagreeing with criticism is trolling and blatant disrespect, really?

No, but you have to do in a respectful tone. A.Net always said CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM is welcome – negative attitudes and responses are not.

i would like to see less communication and more quality patches…

Hi Gaile,

I have two suggestions for you, both of which could help improve communication on the forums.

1. Requested Dev Response
Paizo, the makers of Pathfinder, have a requested FAQ feature on their forums. This feature lets members flag a post/question for review by the devs to include in their FAQ to clarify a rules issue. A system like this could be used to alert devs to a thread that needs attention. Let players flag a thread/post as being one that’s worth feedback and once it gets X amounts of flags then it sends a message to you or an appropriate dev to review it and post on it.

This might help bring developer attention to where the community wants it and not just where the dev is looking on that day. I don’t mean that as criticism, just that you can’t read everything.

2. Post Voting
Ars Technica has a feature on their forums that tracks up votes( +1) and down votes(-1). It appears as a (Sum votes, Total +1, Total -1) ex: ( +7, +10, -3)

If a post has a sum of +25 then it gets a flag “Reader Favorite”. If a post gets a sum of -25 then it is automatically collapsed so people don’t have to read it. If a post has 25 up votes and 25 down votes then it is flagged “Contraversial”. This lets people scan the thread quickly for opinions that people agree on, opinions that are divisive and hides the trolls.

A feature like this would give players a means of highlighting what they think is important or things they agree with and help deal with trolls. It would also allow devs an easier time to parse long threads for key things to read up on.

You can’t forget we got more communication in gw2 because the gw1 forums where shut off and gw1 is now so full of bots that it’s slowly withering out. And let’s not forget about the last GvG tournament fiasco.

Because Gaily Grey will always be as she was ever before the number one community manager in guild wars series, so we should be grateful of having her here now.