Guild Wars 2

Qugi.2653:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Lothirieth.3408:

For all of you whinging about this happening on Reddit: an AMA (Ask Me Anything) is a specific Reddit thing (https://www.reddit.com/r/iama) so of course it makes sense to do so on Reddit. This sort of thing would be very difficult to try to carry out and read on traditional forums due to the format. The Reddit format makes it incredibly easier to identify questions and then have the answers to each question be attached to said question instead of randomly on page 24 of a 49-page thread in the forums. It’s far, far more organised and keeps the different topics of questions clearly separate. So really, just quit with the indignation that (shock! horror!) a Reddit thing was carried out on Reddit.

A user was kind enough to make a summary, so you can easily read all the replies: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/490u3k/missed_the_ama_heres_a_summary/

I find this forums format easier. Each red post has up and down arrows on it to go to the next red post in sequence, which makes it easy to quickly go to each one and read it. In addition, dev posts on that forum can be hidden by downvotes and just by the way that forum is set up. Whole comment strings can be closed and if you don’t open up each one, it’s easy to miss a dev post.

There is also no reason why a “reddit thing” such as an Ask Me Anything can’t be an “official forum thing.” If the Devs find the formatting on their own official forum so unappealing, whose fault is that? If that’s their problem then maybe they should shake lose the money for a new forum format.

One last point, none of the things the Devs said are on our forums Dev tracker which makes it difficult to reference and use for discussions on the official forum.

Agree.

Also agreed.

For what it is worth, the concept of a question and answer period between an official or representative of some sort and the public he wishes to engage predates the existence of reddit by quite a bit. Even the specific phrase, “ask me anything,” predates reddit. This is not a, “reddit thing,” as claimed. It is a human interaction through enagement thing.

Dulfy also has a good summary up.

http://dulfy.net/2016/03/05/gw2-reddit-developer-ama-summary/
http://dulfy.net/2016/03/05/gw2-developer-ama-on-reddit/

Blude.6812:

No account either, I was hoping someone would ask when are they going to get Anet to provide funding to get a new forum engine.

Sindex.9520:

After reading the post you pulled out in another topic. About the former outsourced contractor that used to maintain these forums. I am not surprised. Until they bring someone in to either refurbish it, or come up with something new then this place is dead weight.

It seems that developers are jumping ship. Simply because Reddit is the Facebook of community driven forum outlets. I loathe either outlet (even Twitter) for personal reasons. Nevertheless I can’t deny what either of them have become. Until something comes along and knocks them all down. However I feel the same way as you do; about any type of official communication being on several different social media outlets. It’s a bit lazy, but according to them they have too much stuff on that table. At least John Smith is still using these forums, and has progressed in using it’s format over the last few years.

TheGrimm.5624:

If your first post is not even on your own official forums that makes me question spending anymore money on GW. That tells me the tools that your own team created are not worth using and instead you go else where to post. Why not just close these forums down then and move them completely to Reddit. That was a terrible first move. Makes me not even care what information was shared right now since it already has left a negative feeling on the game. -100 on this one ANet.

Akkeros.1675:

a few months too late but:

1. get on YOUR OFFICIAL FORUMS
2. answer all the questions and address all the comments HERE
3. Hit the reset button

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There is also no reason why a “reddit thing” such as an Ask Me Anything can’t be an “official forum thing.” If the Devs find the formatting on their own official forum so unappealing, whose fault is that? If that’s their problem then maybe they should shake lose the money for a new forum format.

One last point, none of the things the Devs said are on our forums Dev tracker which makes it difficult to reference and use for discussions on the official forum.

In a nutshell, we’re asking that we get more communication here. Please? I know recently it was brought up in the Visual Nerf thread, it was announced, by Colin, via Reddit that we will finally see a revert of the nerfs we were dealt. However, that is not something we’ve heard over here, and for some, that is problematic, especially now that Colin is leaving. Though we’re thrilled to get info on this issue, or any issue, it should come through these forums at some point, don’t you think?

Qugi.2653:

Ayrilana.1396:

Qugi.2653:

Maybe dumb question but why not here on official forum? I am sure you wait for that question.

Larger audience on Reddit.

Source?

Both people who have the game and do not have the game have access to Reddit, only those who have the game have access to here. That is, by definition, a larger audience.

Kal Spiro.9745:

Qugi.2653:

Ayrilana.1396:

Qugi.2653:

Maybe dumb question but why not here on official forum? I am sure you wait for that question.

Larger audience on Reddit.

Source?

Both people who have the game and do not have the game have access to Reddit, only those who have the game have access to here. That is, by definition, a larger audience.

People who don’t own the game can read this forum as well as that one. They simply can’t post on this forum if they don’t own.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Kal Spiro.9745:

Qugi.2653:

Ayrilana.1396:

Qugi.2653:

Maybe dumb question but why not here on official forum? I am sure you wait for that question.

Larger audience on Reddit.

Source?

Both people who have the game and do not have the game have access to Reddit, only those who have the game have access to here. That is, by definition, a larger audience.

People who don’t own the game can read this forum as well as that one. They simply can’t post on this forum if they don’t own.

Which is probably a good thing. Feedback from non players really holds no merit. Of course there’s no way to tell on Reddit.

If they had wanted the Reddit population, they could have made an announcement on Reddit that the official forum was having an AMA (with a link to the thread) and invited everyone to go to that thread to read and all owners of Guild Wars 2 to post their questions. And then you’re reaching the alleged higher population and you’re posting on your own company’s official forum.

I don’t have a Reddit account, but I think it would’ve been an awful mess to try and do something like that with this forum. I could actually read and follow discussions and trains of thought, which is something that would have been impossible here. By my count, there were around about 226 “red posts” on that thread, mostly in the space of just a couple of hours. I can’t think of a realistic way it would’ve worked here. It would’ve been a gigantic mess that no-one would have been able to follow.

Don’t get me wrong – I think there has been a good case made for better engagement on this forum and I don’t think anyone’s going to argue that better forum software wouldn’t go amiss. But under the current circumstances, I’m very glad they chose Reddit for this.

Kal Spiro.9745:

Qugi.2653:

Ayrilana.1396:

Qugi.2653:

Maybe dumb question but why not here on official forum? I am sure you wait for that question.

Larger audience on Reddit.

Source?

Both people who have the game and do not have the game have access to Reddit, only those who have the game have access to here. That is, by definition, a larger audience.

People that don’t have the game do not know who.. or care about.. Mike, Colin, or anything Mike, Colin, and their companions have to say.
They do probably ask themselves, why is this game company posting on a site that is not their own? Are they too poor to afford a working forum? Are they lost? Are they looking for cheap advertising like companies that use craigslist to advertise every item they are selling (do not use that idea ANET)

I want to pin the following quote from the introductory post of the reddit thread:

"
we’ve always said that Guild Wars should be about having fun rather than preparing to have fun, "

sadly i read the word “should” here…

“Simple answer, yes. We didn’t need to nerf dungeons like that. But we also don’t have a dungeons team to keep dungeons updates. So that’s the dilemma.”

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

The forum is bad anyway. They should change it to be more ergonomic.

I have to click so many times to be connected to this forum, this made me crazy.

Blude.6812:

“Simple answer, yes. We didn’t need to nerf dungeons like that. But we also don’t have a dungeons team to keep dungeons updates. So that’s the dilemma.”

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

They said in the AMA that they are taking a “second look” at dungeon rewards due to the negative response to the change.

Blude.6812:

“Simple answer, yes. We didn’t need to nerf dungeons like that. But we also don’t have a dungeons team to keep dungeons updates. So that’s the dilemma.”

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

They didn’t say they couldn’t restore the rewards. They said they are going to reconsider the rewards.

Source
ProbablyJohnSmith
We’re continuing to focus on Fractals as our primary focus for 5-man content. However, given the reaction, we are taking a second look at the current dungeon rewards.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Blude.6812:

“Simple answer, yes. We didn’t need to nerf dungeons like that. But we also don’t have a dungeons team to keep dungeons updates. So that’s the dilemma.”

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

They didn’t say they couldn’t restore the rewards. They said they are going to reconsider the rewards.

Source
ProbablyJohnSmith
We’re continuing to focus on Fractals as our primary focus for 5-man content. However, given the reaction, we are taking a second look at the current dungeon rewards.

I wasn’t calling them out on what they were considering, I was making an observation on how they can nerf this aspect of the game with no team but can’t do anything about it without a specialized team. So in others words, Doublespeak.

Blude.6812:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Blude.6812:

“Simple answer, yes. We didn’t need to nerf dungeons like that. But we also don’t have a dungeons team to keep dungeons updates. So that’s the dilemma.”

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

They didn’t say they couldn’t restore the rewards. They said they are going to reconsider the rewards.

Source
ProbablyJohnSmith
We’re continuing to focus on Fractals as our primary focus for 5-man content. However, given the reaction, we are taking a second look at the current dungeon rewards.

I wasn’t calling them out on what they were considering, I was making an observation on how they can nerf this aspect of the game with no team but can’t do anything about it without a specialized team. So in others words, Doublespeak.

That’s not what they said. They said they regret pushing people away from dungeons but that they don’t have a dungeon team to UPDATE the dungeons. He wasn’t referring to the reward nerf when he was talking about the lack of a dungeon team.

Blude.6812:

Have to call them out on the dungeon comment.
Funny how they bring up no dungeon dev team. Funny, they could Nerf dungeons with no team, but can’t restore the rewards. Why won’t they just restore them to their previous state?

The dungeon team was disbanded early on, yet they still made dungeons after that with the living world team. The problem ArenaNet is facing is that they don’t actually want to spend the resources to fix that old content and with the various and potentially future exploits, it’s not safe to leave them with high rewards. They could put like 1 guy on it, but from their perspective, that 1 dev is probably better used working on new content.

Personally, I recently started soloing AC and CM for a few skins after not doing dungeons since launch. The rewards for barely any effort is still too high imo, at least for those two.

Fractals will be like “raids boss” with some phases if I understand correctly, with less difficulty of course. This is probably the best thing about fractals.

I have to say that acknowledging some of the obvious shortcomings goes a long way for making me happy as a player. Even acknowledging that some things won’t come out as quickly as they want helps by setting expectations.

Put another way, I know it takes time to make changes and roll out content, I just want to know they intend to make changes that address what I don’t like about HoT. Until now, there was little reason to hope things would improve.

From a marketing point of view, this sort of communication should have happened much earlier as it would have helped stem the bleeding but better late than never. (And I’m sure there is some behind the scenes stuff that affected the timing and the personnel changes).

I have hope for the game again, and am much more willing to give it time to sort itself out while playing, which includes a willingness to buy gems again.

Yes Gaile.

Please keep such AMAs happening every once in a while. They are healthy.

We value your interaction a lot because we care both about the effort every single dev puts into this game and the actual end result.

No matter your policies, and I know how hard it is to change or ignore those, all of us would love to be informed about the current state of development and your foreseeable plans.

Just exactly like you did this time.

A shout out for Dulfy making sense of the discussion and summarising it so perfectly on her site. Reddit proved a bit of a nightmare to dip in/out of to check for updates and really didn’t lend itself at all well for the AMA in that respect, but summaries like hers made life so much easier for the rest of us.
http://dulfy.net/2016/03/05/gw2-reddit-developer-ama-summary/

Overall, although very long overdue, it was an excellent outpouring of comms from all the devs involved – demonstrating a clear passion and eagerness to share that we have rarely seen outside of the HoT blogs. This is what we have been clamouring for for 2+ years now. If this is how they feel comfortable and is the best way for them to communicate plans, then so be it.
I’m not a fan of Reddit at all, but at this stage when we have been so starved of communication, substance wins over format/location.

Hopefully the start of a new and positive chapter in community/dev relations. It certainly needs it.

Gaile Gray.6029:

This level of communication is, in my opinion, really, really good. I anticipate we’ll be doing more of this in the future, which makes me want to break into a happy dance.

I really like your way of thinking. Such aproach could fix alot of miscommunication problems.

Gaile – for as long as I’ve been on these forums, I’ve seen anet preferring reddit and ignoring their own forums for various reasons, including the apparent ease of using reddit and various forum bugs here due to, as I understand it, this forum being developed by a third party that no longer supports it. For the longest time, the argument has been these forums vs Reddit.

But what if there’s a third option we’re overlooking? Why not get a new forum engine (there are plenty of free ones around) and make that the new official forum? Find an engine that suits the developers needs. Find an engine that allows for AMAs. Find an engine with proper search facilities and with regular updates from its developers.

Then this forum would be made read-only, still accessible for posterity but no need content added. Any response to threads on here would have to start by creating the thread on the new forum and linking the first post back to the original thread in here. The developers would do all their communication here and, if they want, they can still provide links to this on reddit.

Yes, in the short term there will be some extra work as threads start to build up here and information has to be cross-referenced. But it’s also a chance for a fresh start. A chance to build a new community where both devs and players are on the same page, and site.

Someone’s bound to argue that this would make it impossible to search the (new) forum for past threads – but that’s impossible anyway given the broken search engine here. And it may even be possible, depending on the storage format of this forum and the new one, to translate posts from one to the other – so no reference is required to the old forum and all its previously unsearchable posts may become searchable.

Just a thought. It doesn’t have to be a dichotomy.

I heard Colin left us to go work on World of Trains.
Cant wait for the Alpha!

I said this elsewhere in part, but I feel it bears repeating here since the topic has been brought up repeatedly in this thread (and numerous others).

If the forum software is so antiquated or broken that even the GW2 staff and president of ArenaNet prefers to do business (and that AMA was indeed business, make no mistakes about that) elsewhere, someone needs to seriously look into fixing more than just WvW or dungeons and fractals, because their home for communications either needs to be moved, or this place needs an overhaul. Either way, we need communication, and though we understand it can’t happen overnight for various reasons, (so many people have acknowledged that over the years, me being one of them) some of us have been waiting a long time for the crumbs we have been getting-elsewhere for the main part, and hearing how things will only get better. We’d be happy to wait a little longer, so long as we have an understanding that there is an issue that needs resolving here and it’s not all wrapped up in AMA’s in my opinion.

-Edit: I wanted to touch on this comment quickly:

Randulf.7614:

This is what we have been clamouring for for 2+ years now. If this is how they feel comfortable and is the best way for them to communicate plans, then so be it.
I’m not a fan of Reddit at all, but at this stage when we have been so starved of communication, substance wins over format/location.

Perhaps that was the plan, and if that’s a case, like the song says, ain’t that a shame? Take note of that comment, Anet. A customer should never feel that way when it comes to communication issues, for years, and this person isn’t alone. There really is no excuse.

I would like to quickly point out my dissatisfaction with the way the AMA was announced. Why the flying kitten didn’t you guys announce it at least a day prior? We all have things going on in our lives and and many of us missed the entire thing because we didn’t even know it was going to happen at all! I get it was to a large extent as an answer to Colin’s departure, but that’s an excuse, not a valid reason.

That said, fantastic communication, honest answers, you guys were almost astonishingly open about things. This is precisely the kind of thing any MMO fan can ever hope for. Kudos, I cannot express how happy I was with it, even though some of the info we got was disheartening (LS3 in August/September? Really?). But please, do tell us in advance, I had so many things I wanted to ask