Guild Wars 2

I understand what they were trying to do.
Putting the people who are actually do these changes at the front, because they know why these things are being done.

A spokesperson might not be able to react to sudden questions from the chat or might not be able to deliver what is written right.

However this livestream was a bit weird.
Why did you have to use a greenscreen behind them, constantly shifting the background? It was annoying and i always saw the borders around the people.

you can keep the overlay on the side, which tells us the topic, but the backgroundmovement was annoying.
It felt very cheap.

Again. They were not professional streamer and might not be comfortable in front of thousands of people (4000+ when i went in), however they still have to do their job, whch is delivering information.
For that the information has to be understandable and i am sorry to say, that it was really hard to follow most of the time.
It was either a fast read or a mumble.

I enjoyed some of the joking around, however it mostly felt like insiders, so many other times i was lost and somehow wanted it to end.

I would advise a streamlined presentation next time: The problem/change and then how and why you are doing something.

I would also propose the notion of displaying the name and job of the one who talks in the overlay, so people who come in later or have not much knowledge about the staff can create a connection to the people on screen.
It also makes it more easy to quote and refer to things in the following critizism threads (that is a positive thing).

captaincrash.6528:

They really should announce this, since they revealed, or maybe let’s just say talked about, new/replacement game mechanics. I had no idea this was going on, or was going to go on, reminds me of the amateur days of posting patch notes on reddit opposed to their main site.

They did announce it, on these very forums.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/Balance-Developer-Livestream-on-Friday-at-2pm-PST/first

Donari.5237:

captaincrash.6528:

They really should announce this, since they revealed, or maybe let’s just say talked about, new/replacement game mechanics. I had no idea this was going on, or was going to go on, reminds me of the amateur days of posting patch notes on reddit opposed to their main site.

They did announce it, on these very forums.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/balance/Balance-Developer-Livestream-on-Friday-at-2pm-PST/first

Yes, but they put it where most people probably weren’t thinking to look. It should have also been posted on the News and Announcements board (most intuitive place for it!) and/or the Guild Wars 2 discussion board. I think it was actually announced at the top pf the homepage at one point, but on the day of the stream, when most people would actually be looking for the link, they had pulled it.

Anyway, hopefully most people know to just go looking for it on Twitch now. Although they themselves have a bit of a confusing layout for new users. You don’t usually find the latest video where you expect it, at the bottom of the page there, but have to click the video tab on the upper right, if I’m remembering correctly.

So after reading all this negative feedback, I decided to watch the full stream. And wow, are people overreacting.

First of all, it’s a developer livestream, not a prerecorded anouncement. These guys are coders and such that are good at what they do. Speaking live to thousands of people is not as easy as it looks, and I’m sure most, if not everyone in this thread doesn’t do that in their everyday life. “But I don’t have to!”. No, but neither do these guys. They’re hired to do their programming and whatever else they do, not do public anouncements.

We get a sneak peek at what these guys are working on and they tell us in their own words. I guess people want anouncements that are looked over 10 times and adjusted by media specialists instead of words directly from the ones working on balancing our classes.

Their jokes at least keep the stream lively instead of some spokesperson just reiterating a list of possible changes and ending the stream in 5 minutes. I guess you could just look for a summary after the stream if that is all you’re looking for. Besides, I did enjoy the little funnies like buffing up warrior’s healing signet. These kind of jokes are often made in the community as well. But hey, it’s Anet, so it’s cool to hate!

There’s no denying there’s stuff wrong with the game and some decisions Anet has made, but I’m happy to see they actually have humans working in their company.
The only thing I found to be slightly bothersome in the stream was that it seemed unorganized at times even though they had a list prepared. They’d randomly go offtopic or move on to another topic then 2 minutes later jump back to the previous one.

Mindx.9610:

They were having fun with it, you can tell that alot of detail enters their mind and carefully pick and choose what they want to say in a way that wont reveal to much.

You’re all just stuck up

Man do I love the “blame the players” crowd. Criticize game design elements? You’re entitled. Criticize a lack of professionalism? You’re stuck up. It’s somehow you’re fault, not theirs. Gotta love it.

Edit: I’m not saying the developers in the stream were unprofessional, as I’ve not seen it. But obviously there are some among us who feel they were. And of course those who feel that way are being attacked for their opinion by those who want to defend the game and its makers against all criticisms, legitimate of otherwise.

The stream didn’t seem horridly unprofessional to me, but it would be nice if the guys could at least pretend to be as excited about the other classes as they are the warrior class. It’s almost like it was some menial token task they had to perform when talking about rangers.

Neural.1824:

The stream didn’t seem horridly unprofessional to me, but it would be nice if the guys could at least pretend to be as excited about the other classes as they are the warrior class. It’s almost like it was some menial token task they had to perform when talking about rangers.

Ha ha, no, if they spoke of any class in a “token” fashion, it was the Mesmer class. Basically all they said about them was we’re going to nerf Deceptive Evasion because we think people are “cheesing” it too much, NEXT….

But back on topic: as I said above already, I think a little joking around and having fun during the livestream is fine. I even occasionally laugh along with them. So the people who basically seem to be suggesting they should sit up there on their chairs or behind their desk like they have sticks up their kitten s and never laugh or crack a smile need to learn to relax. But yeah, yesterday they went a little overboard. You just wanted to yell at them sometimes, “Okay, get on with it already!” Maybe they should do these things on any other day of the week than Friday, so they’re not loopy thinking about busting out of there and enjoying the weekend.

They came across like frat boys talking about a school project. Apparently, we are being balanced by bros. That’s the impression they gave me.

darkace.8925:

Mindx.9610:

They were having fun with it, you can tell that alot of detail enters their mind and carefully pick and choose what they want to say in a way that wont reveal to much.

You’re all just stuck up

Man do I love the “blame the players” crowd. Criticize game design elements? You’re entitled. Criticize a lack of professionalism? You’re stuck up. It’s somehow you’re fault, not theirs. Gotta love it.

Edit: I’m not saying the developers in the stream were unprofessional, as I’ve not seen it. But obviously there are some among us who feel they were. And of course those who feel that way are being attacked for their opinion by those who want to defend the game and its makers against all criticisms, legitimate of otherwise.

I just understand that most complaints are directly related to the dev’s personalitys and while yes they can go through some training to appear more “professional” it can’t really be helped. Its not the dev’s fault for having their own personality but it is the player base fault for reacting so sour to it.

“Acting like drunk 5 year olds” as someone phrased it isnt accurate at all, the goofiest thing i remember was at the beginning of the stream where 1 dev popped up in front of the camera which was silly but also not the end of the world.

i demand refund for well more then 300 laurels then i spent for celestial gear.

It was sad to watch. I was there to hear new information about the game I’m investing my time in and they were not acting professional. I get joking around and such, but only if you’re giving out good information clearly.

They acted like they thought the game/patch wasn’t anything special, just another day.

They no longer seem able to present in person(video), show limited respect for the people that pay them (the consumer) as well as making me much less confident in their ability to add to, fix and develop the game.

Kontrolle.3514:

i demand refund for well more then 300 laurels then i spent for celestial gear.

Or something. We deserve something if they’re going to ruin all that work we’ve gone through.

I would rather hear directly from a dev, then second had from someone anet hired to speak in front of a live stream. but a little more professionalism would have helped.

Things I think they could improve:

• Talk directly to the camera
  • unless they want the format to be a conversation in which case change it to sitting on couches around a coffee table.
• Instead of a slide show put them directly in the game or use lions arch or other city skylines as a backdrop (they could go down the server list)
• Reduce the amount of people any more then 4 is too many.
• Always have them in guild wars related clothing.