Guild Wars 2

If that UMBRA software is the problem then kick some effin icelandic butt so they get their broken code working with today´s drivers.

Oh and don´t forget WinXP!

You decided to make a DX9 game then make sure the kitten thing actually works on 2GB of 32bit address-space .

some “girly questions”
-Are we going to see the player homes and guild halls come soon?
-What about more town clothes, like what the npcs wear, for in game gold/karma?
-Any wardrobe system for at least town clothes being planned?
- Shall there be a an option to change your hairdo or even other looks in near future, and will it be for ingame gold or gems?
thankyou!

ps. forgot one
-will you give more material storage for the mats currently missing storage slots and also new mats thatyou may introduce in the future?
Thanks!

I would like to know a few things concerning FotM:

- what´s the max-level to reach?
- don´t they see that they are splitting up the players with such a system and make it harder on all levels to find groups?
- why didn´t they take some point-based system instead where also a lvl 10+ could still get atleast a little progress by doing lower levels?

Besides I´m really curious about what he really thinks about the ascended gear and the giant grind for it (besides the lame excuse with giving a goal on the way to a legendary, don´t let him get away with that), but that´s already in here.

- Is there any chance that we’ll someday see Largos become a playable race, perhaps after the Tengu are added to the game?

- Will there ever be a sub-forum added for role-players, considering Piken Square and Tarnished Coast have become the unofficial role-playing servers in GW2?

- Are there any plans to add some ‘normal’ town clothing in the future, such as the previously promised attire that we see regular NPC’s wearing?

My question is, what are ArenaNets plans to support the Oceanic and other non-US players in one off event timings? Are events going to be changed so they are accessible to the entire playerbase?

Why was the Evasive Arcana gameplay removed instead of rebalanced? A lot of Elementalists liked the playstyle and they wouldn’t have minded a few (or even a lot of) nerfs. People really do miss the fun they used to have dodging about and comboing stuff.

Also, I’d like to stress out that the ‘question on the gear threadmill’ is player priority number one, and thus should really be asked, ahead of any other questions that may be submitted.

I’d really appreciate it if you took took this one seriously. This may be our only shot at getting an answer, and a large number of people want to know.

A couple of questions from me, the others i have, are already on this thread.

- How about the old game content, how can poeple buy runes and sigils if they become obsolete after the release of the full ascended set?

-What about that equipment that are not legendary, but are really expensive to get, like the foefire weapons, or the triforge pendant? will they become ascended items too? A lot of people spend real money in order to get them.

When should we expect to see substantive improvements to the games stability?

Will we revisit the lands of Cantha and Elona in subsequent releases?

As 14.7% major shareholder in NCsoft how much influence does Nexon have on the direction of Guild Wars 2?

This may not be the place to tar and feather A-net this is true but neither should it be a Leno type interview with simplistic and easy to answer questions. I look to the relationship that the Eve Online community have with their devs. The difficult questions are faced and answered. Mistakes are admitted and compromise made.

Any plans to move FotM out of LA? It is making starting conversations in there almost impossible.

Also please ask about runes/sigils/crests in ascended armour.

Now that the game has been out for a while, are there any plans to look at the respawn rates of enemies, especially in the starting regions / lower level areas.

ThiBash.5634:

Also, I’d like to stress out that the ‘question on the gear threadmill’ is player priority number one, and thus should really be asked, ahead of any other questions that may be submitted.

I’d really appreciate it if you took took this one seriously. This may be our only shot at getting an answer, and a large number of people want to know.

I agree with this. I want this answered. If it is simply pushed to the side as has been done so far i believe many people will be upset. Especially ones that have supported the game so venomously since the start, only to see a complete 180 on the manifesto.

Ascended gear and vertical stat progression:

- Will the stat progression peak FOREVER at one point as in Guild Wars 1 and never increase again?
- *Is ANet keeping the (very steep) grind for stats represented by ascended gear the same way it is now? *
- Are there plans for future higher tiers of gear?
- Are there plans for future tiers of infusions for ascended gear?

WvW:
- If stats are going to keep increasing, is there a plan to isolate WvW from the increasing gear gap to keep it minimally fun?
- Is the cash shop heading to a Pay to Win model, having in mind the steep grind for stats recently introduced and the high competitive advantage that gear gives in WvW?

Open world
- What is going to be done to address open world zones from going obsolete after you’re past their level range?
- What is going to make people play OUT of instances again after they’re 80?

General heading of the game

- What kind of player are you trying to cater to? Have you switched your target audience?
- Why do we have to grind for stats now? What happened to the “grind for looks only” philosophy?
- Why did you drop the “the whole game is the endgame” premise? What’s the new premise?
- Was there a change in management?
- How do you feel about people that say you betrayed your Manifesto?

By the way, thanks for taking the non-redditor questions to the AMA and keeping it objective and constructive =)

My Question(s):

1. Will the highest stats gear as well as crafting ingredients from now on mostly or even only be available from Instances/Dungeons and turn GW2 into another WoW Clone or will they be added to all types of gameplay including crafting as well as NON Instanced PvE (maybe for Karma) and ingredients drop in PvE Open world as well as WvWvW ???

Will ANet now try to mold us or force us into becoming Dungeon/Instance grinders now with Ascended/infusion/Agony + higher stats on that gear like they did with radiance in LoTRO and be just another WoW Wannabe MMO ???

I’m very concerend about ascended gear and the tredmil that will start, but I feel good questions have covered what I would like to know already, so..

The shop doesn’t have any items I’m interested in buying – when will it be updated? I would be willing to spend money on actual items and not a chance to recive them but at the moment my shopping options are very limited. Will we see a move away from chest and RNG item buys?

A while ago it was said looking for group system was not being worked on – is it in the works now?

There is still no preview for items in the tp – is it in the works now?

The are no items to change character appearance – are they being worked on?

Lastly, how far along are these features and can we expect them before the end of the year?

I would also like to ask:

- You said that in future expansions there will be a level cap increase. Do you think the community will be happy to see that kind of “progression” ? Will be introduced new sets of items or actual equip will be raised?

I want to ask about the fratal leveling system. Currently, its spreading out the population, minimizing the amount of groups forming, minimizing your chances of finding a group, it is played-gated, discriminatory, gives higher levels no incentive to help lower levels… I already feel left behind, I am level 5. FoTM is a fantastic creation, and I have a hard time getting into groups.

My question is: Do you have any plans to revamp the current fractal leveling system so that it is easier to find a group?

My suggestion: Make it so that the group can run the highest fractal level available that someone in the group has unlocked. If you are level 2 and run a level 5, you receive rewards in accordance with level 2. The people that have unlocked level 5 will receive level 5 rewards.

With Gw2 you set out to make the game more inclusive. With this in mind you abandonded the long standing tenant of the Holy Trinity so that there would be no worry of any player being excluded or barred from any given situation. Correct? Do you not feel with the inclusion of the new dungeon and its increasing level requirments you have once more reintroduced such a barrier and created a multi tiered community, In effect you have reintroduced a form of the holy trinity?

Just in case I decide to give GW2 a second chance some time in the future:

Will Trahearne become a traitor in future stories, so we can kill him in a boss fight?

Just two:

1. Lower level zones tend to become ghost towns a few months after release. What is your plan for encouraging high level players to visit these lower level zones?

2. What are some of your ideas for adding new content that would be considered fairly unique to the MMO genre, as opposed to just adding more dungeons, etc?

1. Will dyes be account bound like you stated before? If so, do you work on them and when we can expect them?

2. Will champions drops be fixed? Patch noted from LS stated that drop weere increase and certain rare drops from them. Now it is worse than was before that- when we wil get it fixed?

3. Is DR exist in GW2 and how do you justify it for players?

I got another one.

Have you said no to any design decision Crystin Cox made?
Maybe even a 2nd time after you got a call?

The new gear was aimed at people who were already ahead of the average player, enlarging the gap.

I’d like to know what casual players/ explorers/ altaholics/ WvW’ers can expect from the company to stop them being left behind.

Hey everyone. I’ve updated the thread with all the questions. I’ve added a section for complaints since some of them are pretty valid, and many users have rightfully demanded answers. That, however, is not an invitation to turn this into a kittchy-thread though, so don’t do it!

I’ll be doing more organization after the thanksgiving celebrations today, but I’ll continue adding questions as we get them! We’re at 56 items of interest so far.

Thanks for all the contributions!
-LoreChief

Is there any plans to have Ranger pets scale with gear or even just buff up there stats? The current pet stats seem to be balanced around exotic level gear but as more pieces of ascended gear are added pets will fall further behind the new power level. Rangers will get much less benefit from the gear and will be even weaker in comparison. They can’t increase their damage as much as other classes and Pets will die even faster in W3 and dungeons as their toughness/health won’t increase to match the new damage levels.

Harbard.5738:

Ascended gear and vertical stat progression:

- Will the stat progression peak FOREVER at one point as in Guild Wars 1 and never increase again?
- *Is ANet keeping the (very steep) grind for stats represented by ascended gear the same way it is now? *
- Are there plans for future higher tiers of gear?
- Are there plans for future tiers of infusions for ascended gear?

WvW:
- If stats are going to keep increasing, is there a plan to isolate WvW from the increasing gear gap to keep it minimally fun?
- Is the cash shop heading to a Pay to Win model, having in mind the steep grind for stats recently introduced and the high competitive advantage that gear gives in WvW?

Open world
- What is going to be done to address open world zones from going obsolete after you’re past their level range?
- What is going to make people play OUT of instances again after they’re 80?

General heading of the game

- What kind of player are you trying to cater to? Have you switched your target audience?
- Why do we have to grind for stats now? What happened to the “grind for looks only” philosophy?
- Why did you drop the “the whole game is the endgame” premise? What’s the new premise?
- Was there a change in management?
- How do you feel about people that say you betrayed your Manifesto?

By the way, thanks for taking the non-redditor questions to the AMA and keeping it objective and constructive =)

My questions too for the AMA!

Oh, one more question for Chris. On the Ascended gear issue, could we ask him his definition of “gear treadmill”? Thanks!

I’m pleased to see this question on the list:

G4: A question about policy. Can we get a direct, on-the-record answer on where vertical progression will be headed? Specifically as it applies to gear-checks and gated content? Will there be an amended manifesto, or are there plans to alter current content to align with the manifesto?

My only fear is that as is often the case with these things, the dev in question will choose which questions to answer and which to ignore. I will be very surprised if we get a proper answer to this question. I’ll be watching with interest however.

I don’t have any other questions, this one about covers it for me.

When can the most dedicated and preferred players expect the release of new gear and new tier? Every Month (gear)/6months(tier)?
Will it always be in a dungeon with an “agony” type mechanic?
What kind of stat increases are we looking at for the tier after ascend?
Thanks for taking the time to do this.

See this is looking more like a Jay Leno interview than anything substantive. By letting them see the questions this far in advance they will have a team of PR people working the answers and him over till they get company friendly results. Seriously there will be a bit of hand wringing and grimacing to play up to the fact the understand the players plight and show there sorry during the 1 or 2 semi tough questions you have picket but it will be a farce. Believe me I see interviews handled day in day out. You do not show your hand no matter how relaxed the chat.

I question I’d like answered that one else seems to have brought up:

Do they plan on creating some sort of system to condense the population in lower level areas, like an “underflow” server of some sort?

What are they doing about account security?

Do they continue on splitting more skills into pvp and pve versions?

How soon there will be improvements for neglected professions and their buggy mechanics? When will they fix the bugs which came with the last big patch?

Can they focus on improving pve mechanics (related to professions and their skills)?

Hmm…

LoreChief.8391:

Hi everyone. I wanted to extend the invitation to add questions to our list for the upcoming AMA with Chris Whiteside on Monday. We’ve got a few days to prepare for it this time around, so we’re looking at having a larger list this time around.

Feel free to add your questions here, send me a PM, or just add it directly to the thread on Reddit if you feel like it. Oh, and please reference the thread when submitting questions so you know the kinds of things we don’t want to see!

Link for the thread is here; http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/13lio6/prepare_for_the_chris_whiteside_ama_here/

Thanks for contributing!
-LoreChief

EDIT: I’ve added the first round of questions to the thread. Take a look and make sure I didn’t miss any. Also, if you are a redditor – please do your best to make sure the thread stays visible!

I posted a link to a list of current Necromancer bugs on the reddit page a while ago and it’s still not up. Please include it under engi bugs.

Galen.9042

Given that Oceanic players were unable to participate in the Lost Shores finale, is Arenanet planning to allow us to join in future “one-time-only” events?

THIS!!!! very much this!

Kain Francois.4328:

Hello Chris. Thank you very much for conducting an AMA. We’re very excited to hear from you!

I would be honored if you could please answer some of my questions:

o 1) Can we expect to see more on the Tengu in the future?
o 2) What did Koss write about himself in his autobiography? (“Koss on Koss” backpiece)
o 3) Is Karka meat edible?

Thank you!

Not sure if serious.

In either case, those are they type of questions the kittenjerk hivemind on /r/Guildwars2 will upvote and the are also the type of questions that keystrokes and a lunch break will be spent answering.

Reddit is a horrible platform for getting real answers.

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

See this is looking more like a Jay Leno interview than anything substantive. By letting them see the questions this far in advance they will have a team of PR people working the answers and him over till they get company friendly results. Seriously there will be a bit of hand wringing and grimacing to play up to the fact the understand the players plight and show there sorry during the 1 or 2 semi tough questions you have picket but it will be a farce. Believe me I see interviews handled day in day out. You do not show your hand no matter how relaxed the chat.

I think LoreChief has now made his position clear
“A question for those of you who are so incredibly pissed off about recent changes though – why are you still playing and talking in the forums/subreddit if you’re so blighted with the game? Seek help.

A good Interview and journalism is Unbiased the above states quite the opposite.
Basically this Q&A is designed as another PR stunt for Anet we will not get any real answers.

Alright, I am confused:

So the only way Arenanet will be able to give you honest answers is if you ask them questions they are unprepared for and put them on the spot?

I thought the entire point of this was to get answers. If this improves the quality and the number of answers we can get? This sounds like a great idea.

Again, any professional person being interviewed usually will not agree to an interview without knowing the questions beforehand to prepare. The same happening for the Arenanet employee helps a lot in giving us as much information as possible instead of hearing “I don’t know that answer personally.”

kistell.5684:

Perseus Ithikus.5483:

See this is looking more like a Jay Leno interview than anything substantive. By letting them see the questions this far in advance they will have a team of PR people working the answers and him over till they get company friendly results. Seriously there will be a bit of hand wringing and grimacing to play up to the fact the understand the players plight and show there sorry during the 1 or 2 semi tough questions you have picket but it will be a farce. Believe me I see interviews handled day in day out. You do not show your hand no matter how relaxed the chat.

I think LoreChief has now made his position clear
“A question for those of you who are so incredibly pissed off about recent changes though – why are you still playing and talking in the forums/subreddit if you’re so blighted with the game? Seek help.

A good Interview and journalism is Unbiased the above states quite the opposite.
Basically this Q&A is designed as another PR stunt for Anet we will not get any real answers.

Have you seen a Reddit AMA?

No one person asks a question, anyone who has a reddit account posts, asks anything they want and the person who is holding the AMA answers as he pleases. It’s not an interview like in a newspaper or anything.

Here’s the AMA subreddit, these are all various AMA’s, look at how they are structured, and how the process works

http://www.reddit.com/r/ama

EndlessDreamer.6780:

Alright, I am confused:

So the only way Arenanet will be able to give you honest answers is if you ask them questions they are unprepared for and put them on the spot?

I thought the entire point of this was to get answers. If this improves the quality and the number of answers we can get? This sounds like a great idea.

Again, any professional person being interviewed usually will not agree to an interview without knowing the questions beforehand to prepare. The same happening for the Arenanet employee helps a lot in giving us as much information as possible instead of hearing “I don’t know that answer personally.”

Yes the only way to get honest answers is if they can’t prepare and rehearse them in advance. If someone is given time they can sidestep sensitive topics, which actually defeats the purpose of something like this.

I do not see any answers coming from this AMA as pointed out it is just a PR stunt. So if anything sensitive truly is discussed in an honest fashion I will be surprised and give Anet some credit back to them.

Of course they would want to know the questions before it starts. In order to actually check the answer.

What if they get 10 questions that they can’t answer because they don’t work in that part of the team? Would you prefer 10 “I can’t answer that”?

We will get better answers if they actually have time to get those answers.

Except there is a difference between wanting to catch someone in a stumbling of phrase and wanting actual information. That’s not how you get information out of people, that’s how you entrap them.

I can assure you that if you rapid fire even the simplest of questions at a person who isn’t prepared, they will stumble. If they are prepared, they can at least go in with honest answers.

So far, people seem to think that Arenanet just wants to do this to pull the wool over our eyes and lie, use buzz words and in general not answer questions.

That has nothing to do with preparation. I’m sure that the interviewee is more than capable of doing that without knowing ahead of time the topics. You’re going to think that regardless if they’re prepared or not. If you don’t go in with an open mind, then there is no point to participating in this AMA.

That’s the thing there is no point regardless. They will cherrie pick the questions and avoid topics they do not want to discuss.

He should be prepared for anything regardless of knowing in advance what will be asked. It’s ask me ANYTHING. The Anything simply won’t happen. The format used and it being online will ensure that.

Conner.4702:

EndlessDreamer.6780:

Alright, I am confused:

So the only way Arenanet will be able to give you honest answers is if you ask them questions they are unprepared for and put them on the spot?

I thought the entire point of this was to get answers. If this improves the quality and the number of answers we can get? This sounds like a great idea.

Again, any professional person being interviewed usually will not agree to an interview without knowing the questions beforehand to prepare. The same happening for the Arenanet employee helps a lot in giving us as much information as possible instead of hearing “I don’t know that answer personally.”

Yes the only way to get honest answers is if they can’t prepare and rehearse them in advance. If someone is given time they can sidestep sensitive topics, which actually defeats the purpose of something like this.

I do not see any answers coming from this AMA as pointed out it is just a PR stunt. So if anything sensitive truly is discussed in an honest fashion I will be surprised and give Anet some credit back to them.

This. They need to be interviewed by a neutral entity that is well-rehearsed and informed on the issues, but has nothing to lose if asking the interviewee a sensitive question makes the subject uncomfortable. Good luck there. Video game journalism is on par with political journalism in is respect. If you don’t treat the subject with kid gloves, you risk alienating them and losing access o the exclusivity regular interviews/access brings. Why would they come to you if they can’t be guaranteed a positive return?

AMAs give too much control to the person being questioned. You can ask anything, but they do not necessarily have to answer. In fact, good AMAs are judged based on the subject’s willingness to tackle difficult and sensitive questions that may have an unpopular response. These days, they are used to draw people’s attention and expose them to your truths… not The Truth.

So, lets say that a person responsible for PvP balance answers a AMA.
Do you really think he will be able to answer what they are going to do to the rewards in the Dungeons?

Or if you ask the Dungeon designer, do you think he would know exactly what they would do with PvP the coming months?

Well looks like so far 4 ppl have put in this question to be answered but the op doesn’t want to address it in the questions, so yes here it is again..

Will Anet be doing anything to address the Oceanic players grief over the Lost shores timing and the discrimination that is felt due to this, given you knew in advance that this would create grief and unrest within the community yet did nothing to fix it or compensate those ppl that could not attend due to your bias setting of the timing of the event?

So now lets see if the op ,that so far has refused to add this sort of question, is legit about his AMA or it a PR stunt by Anet and they will refuse again to address this sort of complaint

Lgn.3450:

I posted a link to a list of current Necromancer bugs on the reddit page a while ago and it’s still not up. Please include it under engi bugs.

Please, don’t forged about necros!
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/necromancer/Necromancer-bugs-compilation-NB44-NT18-NP7
My main question would be if there are plans on improving minions (AI, panel, statistics)?

lordkrall.7241:

So, lets say that a person responsible for PvP balance answers a AMA.
Do you really think he will be able to answer what they are going to do to the rewards in the Dungeons?

Or if you ask the Dungeon designer, do you think he would know exactly what they would do with PvP the coming months?

Irrelevant, the AMA is with Studio Design Director Chris Whiteside, note the job title. If he doesn’t know the general direction of each aspect than he isn’t doing his job. Keep throwing out excuses though.

Shanaeri Rynale.6897:

Hi,

Thanks for collating the AMA questions it’ll make it a lot easier to see and respond.

If I might suggest a slight re-org of the list to help players and Anet to get the most out of it. Personally I would move all questions regarding Ascended weapons, player progression and stats increases to the top of the list. For a lot of players this is the elephant in the room. Also perhaps create a new category called player progression so as to bring out these questions and give Chris chance to talk about the future of the game.

Anyway, Please consider the questions below for inclusion

•It seems the controversy over the ascended items has unfortunately swamped the news about the new content. Has the community’s reaction surprised you and has the reaction in the community given you pause?

•To many people it seems Arenanet has gone back on it’s no gear. horizontal progression promises.

Specifically they have been quoting Colin Johanson “The rarest items in the game are not more powerful than other items, so you don’t need them to be the best. The rarest items have unique looks to help your character feel that sense of accomplishment, but it’s not required to play the game. We don’t need to make mandatory gear treadmills, we make all of it optional, so those who find it fun to chase this prestigious gear can do so, but those who don’t are just as powerful and get to have fun too.”

and Mike O’Brian

“Here’s what we believe: If someone wants to play for a thousand hours to get an item that is so rare that other players can’t realistically acquire it, that rare item should be differentiated by its visual appearance and rarity alone, not by being more powerful than everything else in the game. Otherwise, your MMO becomes all about grinding to get the best gear. We don’t make grindy games – we leave the grind to other MMOs.”

What assurances can you give them, that this is not the case and that the statements said back then still stand?

•The post by Chris Whiteside states that there was a ‘gap’ between exotic and legendary that needed to be addressed. Since the stats gap between the two is currently zero. Is there a reason for adding increased stats, rather than cosmetic/effort required to bridge the effort/time gap?

•Another common theme that this is a gear treadmill in all but name, as it includes gated content and higher than previously maximum armor and items. Would you mind outlining why these people have it all wrong?

• Will the agony mechanic be a common factor in future content, or will you introduce a new mechanic that will need new infusions to counter?

•With the increase in basic maximum stats, how will you prevent people who only log in occasionally being excluded in existing dungeons/content due to suddenly not having maxed gear?

• Will future content be balanced around exotic gear stats, or ascended gear stats in mind?

• Does the amount of segregation of players, caused by requiring different levels in fractals concern you?

•Guild Wars one is still going strong after 7 years, and had 3 chapters, 1 expansion and loads of fun new content without any increase in the maximum stats of armor or weapons. Please detail why there was a move away from this clearly successful model?

•Will there be a subsequent increase in stats or new gated content in the future?

I’m not sure I could come up with better questions, as these are mostly what I was thinking. Also I agree the list needs to be re-organized. The gear and progression issues are very important to many of us.

:)

The idea of an interview is’nt to ‘catch people out’ but to give them the chance to put their views across in a logical, clear and reasonable manner.

Often this entails having to ‘show your hand’ to give them time to think and prepare the answers. I don’t think for a moment that any of the questions to do with ascended or an apparent change of direction are unexpected and so if there is any coaching going on I expect these to be covered in those sessions.

It is important that questions such as mine are shown in advance so that the ’I’m sorry I don’t know that’ or ’it’s not my area’ answers are to be avoided.

What I will say on some of the questions that have been asked in the AMA is that they are imho badly worded and allows for the opportunity for Chris to lapse into PR, spin or vaugeness. Not because we want to catch him out, but because in the high stakes, high pressure AMA it’s easy to do so. So it’s of benefit to us all to keep questions focussed, non personal and allows Chris the time to expand on what he means.

What I will say is that every single word Chris will use in that AMA and what questions he does and does not answer will be utterly critical(no pressure) The slightest whiff of PR, Spin or vaugeness is very likely to set off the powder keg and keep this running for weeks more.

Areanet has the chance on Monday to put lots of minds at rest, or make things worse. If submitting questions helps the former and stops the latter i’m all for it.