Guild Wars 2

Very, very watchable video:

Thanks to the manifesto, we knew exactly why ArenaNet did what they did and those who identified with the values communicated there bought into the game early on and very dedicatedly. Now, with core values communicated back then compromised, why is ArenaNet doing what they’re doing?

They just went from me buying into their values and purpose to simply looking at what they sell. And given the bugs and poor in-game support, that what is not so compelling anymore.

As far as videos go, I almost wish it were a Rickroll.

A mission, a vision, a cause — these things are great. But the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.

I think there’s as many great ideas that are poorly implemented as there are good technicians with no vision.

mulch.2586:

As far as videos go, I almost wish it were a Rickroll.

A mission, a vision, a cause — these things are great. But the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding.

I think there’s as many great ideas that are poorly implemented as there are good technicians with no vision.

But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it?

The game has lots of weaknesses, be it the stuck events that block important parts of Orr, the missing in-game support, the bugged dungeons, the missing class-balance. However, while I had reason to assume that they did what they did to achieve the goals they had communicated in the manifesto, I was confident that the problems would eventually be solved and the game would continue to evolve in a direction that I would love it to evolve to.

Now with the manifesto’s promises broken, I don’t know where the game is headed, so I have to judge it for what it is, not for what it’s supposed to be and thus eventually going to be. And what it is is far less appealing than what it originally was supposed to be or to become.

Great video, it was deffo worth the watch

I think you need to find the medium between the two though. It’s what you do AND why you do it

very interesting video, thanks

Yes, but…

From launch day forward, there’s been a mismatch from the PR vs actual performance.

When it’s ready™
Play with your friends wherever you want
We don’t want players to grind in Guild Wars 2…
Fully-branching personal story (that works??)
My actions have lasting effects, not repetitive events …

I don’t think the new stuff is any bigger breach of the vision than, say traits that haven’t worked since launch…

phooka.4295:

But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it?

The game has lots of weaknesses, be it the stuck events that block important parts of Orr, the missing in-game support, the bugged dungeons, the missing class-balance. However, while I had reason to assume that they did what they did to achieve the goals they had communicated in the manifesto, I was confident that the problems would eventually be solved and the game would continue to evolve in a direction that I would love it to evolve to.

Now with the manifesto’s promises broken, I don’t know where the game is headed, so I have to judge it for what it is, not for what it’s supposed to be and thus eventually going to be. And what it is is far less appealing than what it originally was supposed to be or to become.

First off, thanks for sharing that video- it was excellent. Second, it’s a dead-on application about not only this gear situation, but the game’s current status in general. You could not be closer to the truth, talking about the number of selling points that ANet has reneged on: The dyes, the boosters in the cash shop.. the list has been retold dozens of times in the past 48 hours in dozens of now-merged threads.

The point that I made in a previous post ties in pretty well: ANet just needs to be a bit more honest with its playerbase in terms of vision and reality for the future. PR doubletalk isn’t going to make you any friends. If the expectations hadn’t been set in this manner prior to release (via the interviews and articles and manifesto) people wouldn’t be in such an uproar.

But when you tell players “this is how we see it, this is how it’s going to be” and then go back on that every 5 minutes… people are going to understandably be upset. Now, if it’s out of your hands (meaning this is something that NCSoft has forced down your throats) then we need to know that, too. This goes back to just being honest and upfront about what’s going on internally. And while I get the fact that we all obviously don’t work for ANet, we want very much to work with ANet, and to be a part of this product, and to see its continued success.

Hawkmoon.5849:

Now, if it’s out of your hands (meaning this is something that NCSoft has forced down your throats) then we need to know that, too. This goes back to just being honest and upfront about what’s going on internally. And while I get the fact that we all obviously don’t work for ANet, we want very much to work with ANet, and to be a part of this product, and to see its continued success.

If they weren’t directly overselling/lying, being honest can only help them right now. Otherwise people tend to conclude they were just full of BS during development.

Thanks for the link to this; I’m sending this to my boss for further discussion on how we might employ some of these principles.

It so true, this marketing works. This is exactly why I bought into this game so heavily; they sold us on the “why” with speeches of “this is the MMO for the rest of us” and “tearing down the barriers that prevented players form playing together”. I was sold on them ushering in a new friendlier player cooperative MMO with no walls between players where we all just had fun in a vast event driven open world setting.

It’s also “why” this gear thing in this update “Feels” wrong because it seems to not fit with the original “Why” they build GW2 to begin with.

This is a great video everyone should take a sec to take in. If for nothing more then to decode why you make the buying choices you make.

Thanks for the positive feedback.
It’s one of my favourite web-videos.

Hawkmoon.5849:

phooka.4295:

But that’s exactly the point, isn’t it?

The game has lots of weaknesses, be it the stuck events that block important parts of Orr, the missing in-game support, the bugged dungeons, the missing class-balance. However, while I had reason to assume that they did what they did to achieve the goals they had communicated in the manifesto, I was confident that the problems would eventually be solved and the game would continue to evolve in a direction that I would love it to evolve to.

Now with the manifesto’s promises broken, I don’t know where the game is headed, so I have to judge it for what it is, not for what it’s supposed to be and thus eventually going to be. And what it is is far less appealing than what it originally was supposed to be or to become.

First off, thanks for sharing that video- it was excellent. Second, it’s a dead-on application about not only this gear situation, but the game’s current status in general. You could not be closer to the truth, talking about the number of selling points that ANet has reneged on: The dyes, the boosters in the cash shop.. the list has been retold dozens of times in the past 48 hours in dozens of now-merged threads.

The point that I made in a previous post ties in pretty well: ANet just needs to be a bit more honest with its playerbase in terms of vision and reality for the future. PR doubletalk isn’t going to make you any friends. If the expectations hadn’t been set in this manner prior to release (via the interviews and articles and manifesto) people wouldn’t be in such an uproar.

But when you tell players “this is how we see it, this is how it’s going to be” and then go back on that every 5 minutes… people are going to understandably be upset. Now, if it’s out of your hands (meaning this is something that NCSoft has forced down your throats) then we need to know that, too. This goes back to just being honest and upfront about what’s going on internally. And while I get the fact that we all obviously don’t work for ANet, we want very much to work with ANet, and to be a part of this product, and to see its continued success.

I agree, it’s time for Area Net to be totally transparent as to where their taking the game and reaffirm the “WHY” they made Guild Wars 2.
This was the game to escape things like gear progression and grind and make these things optional pursuits for epic skins.

The endgame was supposed to be the game itself that would usher in a new era of cooperative MMO game play. With dynamic events that spontaneously brought players together in an open world that players would push their influence on and the world would push back.

Combined with a removal of barriers that prevented players from grouping with friends, removing the things in MMO’s that stood in the way of this like the trinity and adding mechanics to make zones you leveled past rewarding and challenging as well as fixing age old MMO social problems of kill stilling and node jacking.
Was all this not enough? Has there been a paradigm shift in the core ideology behind the game?

How does this NEW gear model for end game fit with the “WHY” this game was made that we were sold on. Does the game need a carrot chasing endgame? Has Arena Net given up on the ideology of a barrier free MMO that allows all players to play together regardless of gear or level?

So if the “WHY” hasn’t changed in the eyes of Arena Net then I would really like to know the bits that are missing because it’s just not adding up.
I think the fact that I was sold on the ideology (on the WHY) of this game and this new endgame seems to flip off the core ideology behind the game is the reason I’m so pissed off about it.

So I’d really like to get some feedback from Arean Net just how far astray they plan to go before I invest any more time in a game that I adopted as the game that was going to carve its own path and allow it’s players to play the game any way they liked and still be able to find a path to the greatest achievements the game has to offer.

Thanks for sharing this! It’s true that I bought this game because of the company’s expressed vision. Why they were doing what they were doing. Because there would be no gear treadmill. Because the whole game was endgame. Because no other player would gain an advantage.

It’s not the what they are doing right now that is so upsetting, and has set off the firestorm. It’s because the beliefs that we had, the things we ourselves believed in, are being left by the wayside. Innovation, player helping player, fair battles, open world, crafting keeping up with non-crafted.

It feels wrong now. It feels like betrayal because we bought into the expressed beliefs. I have played other MMOs where the hardcord crowd was catered to, and the rest of us in both PvP and PvE were left behind or at the least had to play catch up. Perhaps there isn’t a game where that won’t happen.