Guild Wars 2

After being a part of, and witnessing, the great success of the questions about the economy thread in the BLTC forums, I’ve decided to try to do the same thing here. We all have questions about the game. Myself, and I am sure there are others, would like to see some answers to those questions. So I’ve created this thread in the spirit of the JS Q&A thread (as it’s being called).

Please feel free to ask your questions. Note that some of the players may be able to answer some of those questions, as it will give the Devs the opportunity to just quote the post instead of answering directly. As there will be some questions that may start a heated discussion, please stay respectful towards each other and let your question be answered instead of starting a debate.

Although some may have valid complaints, please keep in mind to pose your questions in a respectful manner, and not as an excuse to QQ over something. Lets all keep it civil and simple and hopefully the Devs may respond accordingly.

To start some of the questions I have are:
What typs of things are taken into account when designing open world content for the Living Story? Do you account for the massive “Zerg” or try to keep it more structured around a smaller number of players?

Many people feel that the game population is dwindling. Although I understand why you cannot release the actual numbers, would you be able to comment on how you feel the games population is doing?

When introducing new gem store items, what factors are you taking into consideration on what items are being released? For example, a new type of armor skin. Are you basing say, the assassins outfit, on what the player based has asked for? Or just figured it would be something cool to add, and let those designing the skins have fun?

This is a good idea, and I’ll be watching it with interest to see if anyone does respond. My only question is just an amended version of your question about game population: It’s obvious that their numbers will be padded by the recent Chinese launch, so I’m wondering about regional populations. US and EU vs. one year ago.

I’ll happily participate.

I have two questions I would most like to see answered:

1. There have been rumors about the disbanding of your dungeon team? How are dungeons being designed now (and by which teams) and can we expect to see any introduced as part of living story, season 2?

2. Are you currently working on new guild missions or guild mission types? Will they be part of the living story or are they considered features (thus coming with feature releases)?

I want to know:

Should I continue to report names that violate the GW2 Naming Policy (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-naming-policy/) since it seems from the most recent post on Facebook that at least some Anet folks don’t care about people who violate this policy. (e.g. Captain America, Sailor Moon, Princess Snow White, etc)

This is not in reference to people “cosplaying” or creating a certain look. This question is only in reference to the names they choose

This is the facebook post I am referencing: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152393507864209.1073741843.114036714208&type=1

khani.4786:

I want to know:

Should I continue to report names that violate the GW2 Naming Policy (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-naming-policy/) since it seems from the most recent post on Facebook that at least some Anet folks don’t care about people who violate this policy. (e.g. Captain America, Sailor Moon, Princess Snow White, etc)

This is not in reference to people “cosplaying” or creating a certain look. This question is only in reference to the names they choose

This is the facebook post I am referencing: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152393507864209.1073741843.114036714208&type=1

The world of copyright names is kind of unknown to me, but I really doubt that they are finding those names to be troublesome.

But for other cases, such as having an offensive name, you can be sure that they are caring about those.

khani.4786:

I want to know:

Should I continue to report names that violate the GW2 Naming Policy (https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/guild-wars-2-naming-policy/) since it seems from the most recent post on Facebook that at least some Anet folks don’t care about people who violate this policy. (e.g. Captain America, Sailor Moon, Princess Snow White, etc)

This is not in reference to people “cosplaying” or creating a certain look. This question is only in reference to the names they choose

This is the facebook post I am referencing: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152393507864209.1073741843.114036714208&type=1

That is a good question. I’d be curious to see the answer as well. However, while “Captain America” and “Sailor Moon” may be copyrighted or tradmarked, “Princess Snow White” is a little fuzzy. The story of Snow White has been around for a couple of hundred years, and Disney holds a trademark, which from what I understand, only really applies to the Disney verison of the story and characters (i.e. the names of the dwarves, Prince Charming, etc.) So while it may be perfectly fine to use the name Snow White, as long as it’s not directly in reference to the Disney verison, the other names would be in violation of the naming terms.

Also I personally believe that they included that as more of a legal safeguard more than anything. So if someone from Marvel were to come on, see the name Captain America, and complain, they can force a name change. But aren’t really concerned as long as the name isn’t offensive or vulgar.

pdavis.8031:

That is a good question. I’d be curious to see the answer as well. However, while “Captain America” and “Sailor Moon” may be copyrighted or tradmarked, “Princess Snow White” is a little fuzzy. The story of Snow White has been around for a couple of hundred years, and Disney holds a trademark, which from what I understand, only really applies to the Disney verison of the story and characters (i.e. the names of the dwarves, Prince Charming, etc.) So while it may be perfectly fine to use the name Snow White, as long as it’s not directly in reference to the Disney verison, the other names would be in violation of the naming terms.

Also I personally believe that they included that as more of a legal safeguard more than anything. So if someone from Marvel were to come on, see the name Captain America, and complain, they can force a name change. But aren’t really concerned as long as the name isn’t offensive or vulgar.

And that makes sense, but what’s the point of having that legal safeguard there? When a name that does violate their naming policy gets reported….why is it “ignored” and these names get to continue on being as they are?

As to not clog up the system I only ever report a name I see that goes against their policy once. If I’ve reported it once and it is still there days/months later…not my problem. I did my part by reporting it once, no sense it making multiple reports.

khani.4786:

pdavis.8031:

That is a good question. I’d be curious to see the answer as well. However, while “Captain America” and “Sailor Moon” may be copyrighted or tradmarked, “Princess Snow White” is a little fuzzy. The story of Snow White has been around for a couple of hundred years, and Disney holds a trademark, which from what I understand, only really applies to the Disney verison of the story and characters (i.e. the names of the dwarves, Prince Charming, etc.) So while it may be perfectly fine to use the name Snow White, as long as it’s not directly in reference to the Disney verison, the other names would be in violation of the naming terms.

Also I personally believe that they included that as more of a legal safeguard more than anything. So if someone from Marvel were to come on, see the name Captain America, and complain, they can force a name change. But aren’t really concerned as long as the name isn’t offensive or vulgar.

And that makes sense, but what’s the point of having that legal safeguard there? When a name that does violate their naming policy gets reported….why is it “ignored” and these names get to continue on being as they are?

As to not clog up the system I only ever report a name I see that goes against their policy once. If I’ve reported it once and it is still there days/months later…not my problem. I did my part by reporting it once, no sense it making multiple reports.

The legal safeguard is there so they can have all their bases covered. So if there is a complaint from a company about copyright or trademark violations, they can point to the fact that it says in their policy that such names are not allowed, and force a name change on the player for being in violation, while keeping themselves free from blame. Many companies have the same type of legal jargon in their policies to cover their bases, although in many cases such things are not strictly enforced.

I believe Gaile mentioned something about the copyrighted name policy a while back. I’ll see if I can find it, but the gist of it was that copyrighted names are changed at the request of the copyright owner.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Question-about-Trademark-Names

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/My-Username

I found a couple. Basically, if the copyright owner doesn’t care, then neither does ArenaNet.

mtpelion.4562:

I believe Gaile mentioned something about the copyrighted name policy a while back. I’ll see if I can find it, but the gist of it was that copyrighted names are changed at the request of the copyright owner.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Question-about-Trademark-Names

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/My-Username

I found a couple. Basically, if the copyright owner doesn’t care, then neither does ArenaNet.

Excellent post! That actually makes alot of sense. Although I can’t see Marvel, or anyone else, getting up in arms about a player name in an RPG, I would think doing so would cast them in a very bad light.

pdavis.8031:

mtpelion.4562:

I believe Gaile mentioned something about the copyrighted name policy a while back. I’ll see if I can find it, but the gist of it was that copyrighted names are changed at the request of the copyright owner.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/Question-about-Trademark-Names

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/support/account/My-Username

I found a couple. Basically, if the copyright owner doesn’t care, then neither does ArenaNet.

Excellent post! That actually makes alot of sense. Although I can’t see Marvel, or anyone else, getting up in arms about a player name in an RPG, I would think doing so would cast them in a very bad light.

Very well then. I’ll quit reporting names that I see that are copyrighted and only report offensive ones. I hadn’t seen those posts from Gaile, so that does make sense and clears it up for me!

I only have one pressing question currently, and it’s not even on my behalf:

“Why is the Mac Client progress either not there, or stalled?”

My question is, when do we get new legendary weapons?

I’d just like to know when we can expect our ‘State of the Game’ blog…Colin. Please. =)

This brought up in another thread, and seemed like a great question.

Are texture mods “Allowed” for GW2? They were deemed acceptable in GW1, but that was a different dynamic and different game style. Also, since there is no clear answer on the matter (as of yet) would it be a bannable offense if someone were to use such a mod?

Well, here is an official word about the issue:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Texmod-is-allowed-or-bannable/first#post395320

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Will-the-game-ever-be-mod-compatable/first#post354099

And here is a different (and somewhat opposite) official word: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-the-silence-on-txmod/first#post3387808

And here are some comments on how TexMod may not be possible with GW2: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Add-ons-and-GWII/first#post16432

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Well, here is an official word about the issue:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Texmod-is-allowed-or-bannable/first#post395320

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Will-the-game-ever-be-mod-compatable/first#post354099

And here is a different (and somewhat opposite) official word: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Why-the-silence-on-txmod/first#post3387808

And here are some comments on how TexMod may not be possible with GW2: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/Add-ons-and-GWII/first#post16432

I saw those, and it would appear that texture mods, as long as it in no way provides an advantage, would be ok to use, like those for allowing the game to have, say, modern era looks, or say a steampunk look. Of course Anet will not provide any support for such mods, so if it breaks your game they can’t and wont do anything for you.

pdavis.8031:

Excellent post! That actually makes alot of sense. Although I can’t see Marvel, or anyone else, getting up in arms about a player name in an RPG, I would think doing so would cast them in a very bad light.

Marvel has actually sued an MMO company based on character names/likenesses. This was before Disney, known to be aggressive in protecting trademarked characters, came into the picture.

Having policies forbidding IP infringement demonstrates a form of due diligence. It allows them, in court, to say, “we actively discourage infringement,” lowering the chance of a painfully large settlement.

My question:

Are there any intentions of increasing the in game options for getting Ascended gear ?

Ashen.2907:

Marvel has actually sued an MMO company based on character names/likenesses. This was before Disney, known to be aggressive in protecting trademarked characters, came into the picture.

Having policies forbidding IP infringement demonstrates a form of due diligence. It allows them, in court, to say, “we actively discourage infringement,” lowering the chance of a painfully large settlement.

That was City of Heroes and it was due to the flexibility of it’s character creation system and the EULA boilerplate that said all player characters belonged to Cryptic/NCSOFT (so they could use them in screenshots and advertising). Marvel lawyers wanted it to be clear that if you have a huge green guy in purple pants who jumps huge distances and has attacks that include a foot stomp and hand clap, that their Hulk IP isn’t being swiped by some small game developer and it’s Korean partner.

There are very good copyright reasons for companies to aggressively go after people who violate copyright. There’s a legal precedent which shows that if they ignore it, and later want to go after someone who actually really misued it, if that person can prove they haven’t been defending the copyright, it goes a long way to that company losing the case.

You have to defend your copyright in order to show it’s important to you, should you need to in court. It’s pretty annoying.

I am way excited about the new CDIs that are going to be coming soon. I don’t know if you guys already have a plan on whats going to be discussed or not, but I was wondering if it might be possible to get maybe some talking points so that we as a community can begin preparing for those CDIs to be able to present better feedback, instead of off the cuff questions about why we don’t have precurser crafting yet, or what ever is the hot topic now days. This way if we have a heads up, we can present better information. Just an idea. Thanks!!

If the devs have 1 thing they could add/change to make it their own personal ideal game, what would that be? I know you are all very proud, and rightly so, about whats been done so far but working with others sometimes means you have to lay aside features that you would really like to have.