Guild Wars 2

I find it passing odd that two out of three founders left the company. We’re not talking about higher management here, or game directors or what have you, but founders. These are the people who, if they don’t like the direction of the game and the company in general, can actually change it however they wish (well, in theory anyway).

This makes me think that whatever the reason why those two founders left, it’s very likely tied to a decision made or forced upon ArenaNet by NCSoft. That’s always a factor that seems to be neglected by players here, but NCSoft most likely has a say in whatever happens, and while ANet employees have posted several times ensuring us that NCSoft gives tons of freedom, the fact that two founders left leads me to think otherwise.

skullmount.1758:

Aww man. This sucks if its true. He was one of the devs that was pretty consistent at posting on the forums and answering questions.

Vol.5241:

Why are we jumping to the conclusion that they fired a bunch of employees? Maybe they are actually expanding job positions and hiring more people to keep up with the ridiculous demands of the playerbase?

Isn’t that what people here wanted? Hire more devs to fix bugs and such? Hire more artists to update and create more skins in the game?

Well the did post on twitter that they are hiring:

ArenaNet ?@ArenaNet 18h

ArenaNet is hiring! Positions are listed on our site, incl. server programming, localization & more: http://www.arena.net/ #gamejobs ^RB

Yeah, so? They could be expanding? If they were having layoffs they wouldn’t even be doing any hiring to begin with.

Vol.5241:

skullmount.1758:

Aww man. This sucks if its true. He was one of the devs that was pretty consistent at posting on the forums and answering questions.

Vol.5241:

Why are we jumping to the conclusion that they fired a bunch of employees? Maybe they are actually expanding job positions and hiring more people to keep up with the ridiculous demands of the playerbase?

Isn’t that what people here wanted? Hire more devs to fix bugs and such? Hire more artists to update and create more skins in the game?

Well the did post on twitter that they are hiring:

ArenaNet ?@ArenaNet 18h

ArenaNet is hiring! Positions are listed on our site, incl. server programming, localization & more: http://www.arena.net/ #gamejobs ^RB

Yeah, so? They could be expanding? If they were having layoffs they wouldn’t even be doing any hiring to begin with.

….He’s posting a tweet that supports what you said.

Advice to Senior Management – While AnetU and basecamp (training) is helpful, it is comparable to placing band-aids on a missing finger.

If you want us to design amazing material it will take a significant amount of time to execute without a clear breakdown of the project tasks. We either need additional time or people to complete tasks within designated times.

Get an integrated bug/portfolio project management software suite: Basecamp, Zoho projects, 5pm, or Huddle, or Clarizen.

Aside from the Art, Sound, and Customer Service departments most are departments very busy with high stress.
QA department has high turnovers and contractors which has led to documentation getting lost in the cracks.
HR is in desperate need for additional recruiting.
Marketing needs a way larger budget. Most of my friends or family never heard of a ArenaNet nor Guild Wars before I worked there.
Sound department is tiny. Practically a closet.
Stop outsourcing. It is a pain to fix.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend
——————————————————————————————
This explains a lot! You should read all of them. Its an interesting read. For example:

Upper management should be more considerate with how they spend their money. Letting workers go because of budget reasons, then turning around and purchasing 10 flat screen tvs that barely anyone uses or rewarding workers who can barely pay their monthly bills with a $500 laser tag gun that they can only play with at work is a bit of a slap to the face. The environment is already fun and friendly. You don’t need to cut corners in worker salaries to buy toys for people who are already having a good time doing what they’re doing.

WTH?

Vol.5241:

Isn’t that what people here wanted? Hire more devs to fix bugs and such? Hire more artists to update and create more skins in the game?

Well, they already had a lot of people:

“With a dedicated live team more than ten times the size of the Guild Wars live team, we think you’re going to be blown away by the size and scope of live additions to the world of Tyria for a very, very long time.”

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/colin-johanson-outlines-guild-wars-2-live-game-development

But I suppose there is ‘churn’ with employees just as there is with players.

Pacifica.9576:

Vol.5241:

skullmount.1758:

Aww man. This sucks if its true. He was one of the devs that was pretty consistent at posting on the forums and answering questions.

Vol.5241:

Why are we jumping to the conclusion that they fired a bunch of employees? Maybe they are actually expanding job positions and hiring more people to keep up with the ridiculous demands of the playerbase?

Isn’t that what people here wanted? Hire more devs to fix bugs and such? Hire more artists to update and create more skins in the game?

Well the did post on twitter that they are hiring:

ArenaNet ?@ArenaNet 18h

ArenaNet is hiring! Positions are listed on our site, incl. server programming, localization & more: http://www.arena.net/ #gamejobs ^RB

Yeah, so? They could be expanding? If they were having layoffs they wouldn’t even be doing any hiring to begin with.

….He’s posting a tweet that supports what you said.

I looked at it as “the reason why they are now hiring is because they had a bunch of employees fired/laid off”

Don’t know the reasons/manner of Mr. Hrouda’s leaving but I for one am sure sad to see him go. Best of luck to him.

What I find most disturbing, this game is pulling in a massive amount of money at this point, one of the reviews states the average pay is 18-33K a year, and not a single review even among the more positive ones states that the pay is good, or that pay has ever been raised as the game grows. You could get more competitive pay as middle management with a 4 year degree and a few years work experience under your belt.

So where is all that money going then? To the investors pockets, who have contributed nothing to the game except already being extremely wealthy in the first place. Whereas the people that are actually making the game, are seeing no reward for their work; the game is improving on the efforts of the developers, not those of the investors, and the developers are getting shafted for it.

THAT seems more likely to push talent out of the company than anything.

is he one of the founders?

Take a look at GW2 as it was advertised… the art, the idea, the concepts…

now take a look in LA, look at the sparkling fairies, I mean winged players, try to play a bit… all the grinding…

I don’t think Robert was the only one that left.

Baron Von Graymouse.7801:

Advice to Senior Management – While AnetU and basecamp (training) is helpful, it is comparable to placing band-aids on a missing finger.

If you want us to design amazing material it will take a significant amount of time to execute without a clear breakdown of the project tasks. We either need additional time or people to complete tasks within designated times.

Get an integrated bug/portfolio project management software suite: Basecamp, Zoho projects, 5pm, or Huddle, or Clarizen.

Aside from the Art, Sound, and Customer Service departments most are departments very busy with high stress.
QA department has high turnovers and contractors which has led to documentation getting lost in the cracks.
HR is in desperate need for additional recruiting.
Marketing needs a way larger budget. Most of my friends or family never heard of a ArenaNet nor Guild Wars before I worked there.
Sound department is tiny. Practically a closet.
Stop outsourcing. It is a pain to fix.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend
——————————————————————————————
This explains a lot! You should read all of them. Its an interesting read. For example:

Upper management should be more considerate with how they spend their money. Letting workers go because of budget reasons, then turning around and purchasing 10 flat screen tvs that barely anyone uses or rewarding workers who can barely pay their monthly bills with a $500 laser tag gun that they can only play with at work is a bit of a slap to the face. The environment is already fun and friendly. You don’t need to cut corners in worker salaries to buy toys for people who are already having a good time doing what they’re doing.

---

WTH?

This largely explains quality of their LS bi-weekly content updates, rushed mess…

this is maybe most depressing thread i read on this forum.

after reading it, i really have to ask myself a question: is this game gonna happen? i mean, i have been going for it since i loved what anet did with GW1. that game was unique. now i read people on forum defending what GW2 is, saying its completely different game. well one thing is sure… GW2 is not unique, so it can’t be anything else then a different game from GW1.

so back to beginning: is this game gonna happen?

GW2: Morphing to WOW – 34% complete

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

this is maybe most depressing thread i read on this forum.

after reading it, i really have to ask myself a question: is this game gonna happen? i mean, i have been going for it since i loved what anet did with GW1. that game was unique. now i read people on forum defending what GW2 is, saying its completely different game. well one thing is sure… GW2 is not unique, so it can’t be anything else then a different game from GW1.

so back to beginning: is this game gonna happen?

Yes

skullmount.1758:

Aww man. This sucks if its true. He was one of the devs that was pretty consistent at posting on the forums and answering questions.

Vol.5241:

Why are we jumping to the conclusion that they fired a bunch of employees? Maybe they are actually expanding job positions and hiring more people to keep up with the ridiculous demands of the playerbase?

Isn’t that what people here wanted? Hire more devs to fix bugs and such? Hire more artists to update and create more skins in the game?

Well the did post on twitter that they are hiring:

ArenaNet ?@ArenaNet 18h

ArenaNet is hiring! Positions are listed on our site, incl. server programming, localization & more: http://www.arena.net/ #gamejobs ^RB

maybe they are continually hiring to keep up with the people leaving…it does make you wonder. Well, it makes me wonder in any case.

PetricaKerempuh.7958:

that game was unique. now i read people on forum defending what GW2 is, saying its completely different game. well one thing is sure… GW2 is not unique, so it can’t be anything else then a different game from GW1.

so back to beginning: is this game gonna happen?

SAB is the single most unique thing I’ve ever seen in an MMO. GW1 didn’t have SAB, therefore GW2 is more unique then GW1 to me :O

Baron Von Graymouse.7801:

Advice to Senior Management – While AnetU and basecamp (training) is helpful, it is comparable to placing band-aids on a missing finger.

If you want us to design amazing material it will take a significant amount of time to execute without a clear breakdown of the project tasks. We either need additional time or people to complete tasks within designated times.

Get an integrated bug/portfolio project management software suite: Basecamp, Zoho projects, 5pm, or Huddle, or Clarizen.

Aside from the Art, Sound, and Customer Service departments most are departments very busy with high stress.
QA department has high turnovers and contractors which has led to documentation getting lost in the cracks.
HR is in desperate need for additional recruiting.
Marketing needs a way larger budget. Most of my friends or family never heard of a ArenaNet nor Guild Wars before I worked there.
Sound department is tiny. Practically a closet.
Stop outsourcing. It is a pain to fix.

No, I would not recommend this company to a friend
——————————————————————————————
This explains a lot! You should read all of them. Its an interesting read. For example:

Upper management should be more considerate with how they spend their money. Letting workers go because of budget reasons, then turning around and purchasing 10 flat screen tvs that barely anyone uses or rewarding workers who can barely pay their monthly bills with a $500 laser tag gun that they can only play with at work is a bit of a slap to the face. The environment is already fun and friendly. You don’t need to cut corners in worker salaries to buy toys for people who are already having a good time doing what they’re doing.

---

WTH?

This review pretty much hits the nail on the head with the 2 week content updates.

I just hope they start listening to their employees instead of firing them.

milo.6942:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ArenaNet-Reviews-E255820.htm

Most of the other veterans have left the company and many are still leaving.

Wow, that page is one of the most revealing and depressing things I’ve read about this game, and explains a lot.
Thanks for the link.
Makes me realise that it isn’t really going to get any better.
I’ve gotten down to just doing my daily this week. I may experiment with not even doing that this weekend. Then I can finally walk away from this game.
I got to this stage with MMOs once before and took a long hiatus. This may just be the final nail in the coffin.
I’m fed up of being exploited as a player.

Mesket.5728:

GW2: Morphing to WOW – 34% complete

Hah, I’d still be playing this game if it were anything like WoW. It’s giving itself a virus and it’s more like 78% complete.

Mungrul.9358:

milo.6942:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ArenaNet-Reviews-E255820.htm

Most of the other veterans have left the company and many are still leaving.

Wow, that page is one of the most revealing and depressing things I’ve read about this game, and explains a lot.
Thanks for the link.
Makes me realise that it isn’t really going to get any better.
I’ve gotten down to just doing my daily this week. I may experiment with not even doing that this weekend. Then I can finally walk away from this game.
I got to this stage with MMOs once before and took a long hiatus. This may just be the final nail in the coffin.
I’m fed up of being exploited as a player.

That was my first step. I stopped doing a daily and then I just completely stopped playing altogether. It’s easier than you think it’s going to be.

Three years he put into this. That is pretty solid. There will always be a little bit of Hroudra in here. Such drama and adventures inside those dungeons for years to come. Im sure someone of his evident quality will do just fine. Here is to moving on up. Cheers.

Galtrix.7369:

Mesket.5728:

GW2: Morphing to WOW – 34% complete

Hah, I’d still be playing this game if it were anything like WoW. It’s giving itself a virus and it’s more like 78% complete.

They started with the grinding and flashy-glowing skins… LA certainly looks ugly now. Lets see what’s next on Azeroth, I mean Tyria.

heh, the only reason why I haven’t gone back to WoW, is because of the sub-fee, I’ve already invested into this game, but nothing has really happened in the year yet.

Charak.9761:

heh, the only reason why I haven’t gone back to WoW, is because of the sub-fee, I’ve already invested into this game, but nothing has really happened in the year yet.

There are many reasons why I can’t go back there… but the one that pushes me farther away is the horrible concept art. More than 50% of the characters are the newborn satan dressed in fire and lightnings. Its so ridiculously childish that I can´t play a game where my character will look like that. I’m crossing fingers for a hide armor and weapons FX in GW2.

Mungrul.9358:

milo.6942:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ArenaNet-Reviews-E255820.htm

Most of the other veterans have left the company and many are still leaving.

Wow, that page is one of the most revealing and depressing things I’ve read about this game, and explains a lot.
Thanks for the link.
Makes me realise that it isn’t really going to get any better.
I’ve gotten down to just doing my daily this week. I may experiment with not even doing that this weekend. Then I can finally walk away from this game.
I got to this stage with MMOs once before and took a long hiatus. This may just be the final nail in the coffin.
I’m fed up of being exploited as a player.

I totally agree with you man, they can’t even have dogs at the office, I mean what kind of business doesn’t let you have fido at your desk, ARENA NET. /quits

Mesket.5728:

GW2: Morphing to WOW – 34% complete

yeah? Funny how most WoWheads here complain the loudest about the temporary content (vs. permanent), which is the new course of GW2, and lack of trinity, which hasn´t been exactly introduced into the game either. But I guess it is more fun bashing with negative buzz phrases than thinking your arguments through.

1. sad to see someone lose their job.
2. No I dont think this is indicative of any downward spiral within arenanet. Stop being naysayers.
3. SAB brings nothing to the game than a side game.. much like all of the other side games added to the game instead of..I dont know, actual content?
4. The game morphing toward a wow clone. Gone are the days we play for fun and cosmetics. Hello to the days we play for currencies, minis, rewards, rewards, rewards and smiley faces.

Lunar Sunset.8742:

Mungrul.9358:

milo.6942:

http://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/ArenaNet-Reviews-E255820.htm

Most of the other veterans have left the company and many are still leaving.

Wow, that page is one of the most revealing and depressing things I’ve read about this game, and explains a lot.
Thanks for the link.
Makes me realise that it isn’t really going to get any better.
I’ve gotten down to just doing my daily this week. I may experiment with not even doing that this weekend. Then I can finally walk away from this game.
I got to this stage with MMOs once before and took a long hiatus. This may just be the final nail in the coffin.
I’m fed up of being exploited as a player.

I totally agree with you man, they can’t even have dogs at the office, I mean what kind of business doesn’t let you have fido at your desk, ARENA NET. /quits

I also found this funny, it seems a bit entitled to list “no pets” as a con to working for a company

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well this means one of two things i guess…

1. The employees got fed up with being forced to release sub-par bug ridden content and demanded a higher standard and were fired for it. (Bad)

or

2. The higher ups finally have realized the sub par bug ridden content every 2 week model isn’t working and they fired the people responsible for it and will switch to a more reasonable model (good)

We probably won’t see the results of these layoffs for another 2-3 months, but we will be able to tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing in a few months based on the quality of content coming out at that time.

Frankly, I don’t believe I could sum it up better myself. Colin’s blog post on the future says the right things, but I don’t have confidence I know where Anet is on any issue really.

Raine.1394:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

Well this means one of two things i guess…

1. The employees got fed up with being forced to release sub-par bug ridden content and demanded a higher standard and were fired for it. (Bad)

or

2. The higher ups finally have realized the sub par bug ridden content every 2 week model isn’t working and they fired the people responsible for it and will switch to a more reasonable model (good)

We probably won’t see the results of these layoffs for another 2-3 months, but we will be able to tell if this was a good thing or a bad thing in a few months based on the quality of content coming out at that time.

Frankly, I don’t believe I could sum it up better myself. Colin’s blog post on the future says the right things, but I don’t have confidence I know where Anet is on any issue really.

That’s definitely a thing. ANet is great at saying the right things. I really consider ArenaNet to have great ideas. But how they go about it and what they end up doing? Leaves me disappointed.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

I just hope they start listening to their employees instead of firing them.

If they follow the pattern i’ve seen here on forums and more in general regarding community suggestions, i wouldn’t get my hopes too much high.

Well you know what they say about rats and sinking ships.

Ghettoblade.7962:

Well you know what they say about rats and sinking ships.

Ellen Kiel did it?

Mileinnor.7125:

… Looks like I opened a can of worms huh? I won’t get infracted for this right?

I don’t see how. What you’ve posted doesn’t seem to violate the terms of service. It’s not different than any other news.

First, let’s address the ….
@Glassdoor.com reviews:
Only 4 of these reviews are post-launch of the game. The really bad reviews that some have linked are over 2 years old.
The one from September is from a “former employee”, which sounds like a disgruntled employee rant;
December’s review is positive and likes the company;
May’s review is saying that they should dump tons of money into HR, marketing advertisement, and sound department (so… more money on things unrelated to development of the actual game?) The other issue with this review is that it’s all over the place, first mentioning that there can be meetings for multiple days in a row, yet there’s no management? (who’s holding the meetings? what’s the meeting for?). And they mention that their name isn’t in the credits for helping make the game, which makes me believe QA tester position or lower, if there is such a position.
July’s review is a QA tester, which is entry-level position in video game making (see movie Grandma’s Boy). The pay for that position is normally lower as it’s a stepping stone in the business. And of course that position has “many managers” because every manager at every department has to get bug reports from the QA department (i.e. sound, program, art/graphics, UI, and so forth).

Now to the actual issue at hand with Robert Hrounda’s separation from A.Net.

• “Robert Hrouda
  August 20.
  Today marks the release of the last bit of content I built for ArenaNet. I had always hoped my last hurrah would be an epic dungeon that would stand the test of time, and provide entertainment for players to the very end… but instead it’s an instance that will only persist for two weeks, and then go away.
  That’s not to sound gloomy or anything – just that things don’t always go the way you hope they do. I still had a great time, met some amazingly talented and good people, and got to work alongside friends – not just coworkers, but people I consider friends. I feel lucky to have had the opportunity, and just wish I had done more with it.”

That part right there is what bothers me some. It either sounds like the postings of disgruntled employee who had a disagreement/argument with management, or that of someone who left a company based on not liking the direction the company was taking.

I’m just taking the sides of Arena.Net, instead of directly attacking them until one side or another makes a more official response on this company separation.

well, i’ve been saying this for a year lol game’s going downhill at 100 miles an hour he finally seen it and left. In one year the game will be F2P on facebook

Algreg.3629:

Mesket.5728:

GW2: Morphing to WOW – 34% complete

yeah? Funny how most WoWheads here complain the loudest about the temporary content (vs. permanent), which is the new course of GW2, and lack of trinity, which hasn´t been exactly introduced into the game either. But I guess it is more fun bashing with negative buzz phrases than thinking your arguments through.

yeah!? yeah!!?… lol

I said 34% there is still a lot different, enjoy it while is here.

(btw, its easy to remove the trinity if at the same time you remove hard fights).

btw: Blizzard is probably the worst game company IMO. Sad how many kids are blinded by big titles.

“Robert Hrouda
August 20.
“Today marks the release of the last bit of content I built for ArenaNet. I had always hoped my last hurrah would be an epic dungeon that would stand the test of time, and provide entertainment for players to the very end… but instead it’s an instance that will only persist for two weeks, and then go away”. wow this is what he wanted to build? I kinda feel bad right now because its all i wanted and always thought its him who wanted temporary crap. So he left and was the only guy who cared about dungeons, now what? In how many months will we receive fractals update or get a new dungeon? in how loooooooooog?

It’s sad to see a good dev leave. It’s disheartening to know he was one of the champions of rangers. Next big patch will show the true colors of what happens there. If rangers get nerfed into oblivion, it’ll be clear just how much he was on our side.

cesmode.4257:

1. sad to see someone lose their job.
2. No I dont think this is indicative of any downward spiral within arenanet. Stop being naysayers.
3. SAB brings nothing to the game than a side game.. much like all of the other side games added to the game instead of..I dont know, actual content?
4. The game morphing toward a wow clone. Gone are the days we play for fun and cosmetics. Hello to the days we play for currencies, minis, rewards, rewards, rewards and smiley faces.

#1: True… but lost or quit by own accord? (don’t have full story)

#2: Very true. Naysayers need to zip their lips and stop puckering them for other games. Why wish for any company/product to fail (unless it’s a chemical company…bleh!): That’s just wishing more people unemployed and more static mediocrity within the genre.

#3: Disagree. SAB is actual content. It’s a stylized dungeon with a different set of mechanics. The dungeon can be soloed or it can be party oriented (way more fun the latter). It still has a rewards system much like other dungeons, with baubles running similar to tokens to get a specific set of themed items from the SAB. It also has bosses, trash mobs, secrets, and more. After they add in World #3 and #4, which completes the thing, it will be a permanent addition to the game’s world (as said by developers multiple times now).

#4: Disagree completely. This is not a morph of the game, so much a morph of the ambitions and actions of the game’s community/player base. The game still has “fun content” if you actually play it for the sake of fun. However, if you run with the champion-farm-zergs or start to party with those of that mindset, you’ll get into that pace as well. SAB, for example, is something that is very fun and enjoyable; yet you’ll see a large portion of players running it continually for the sake of rewards to get weapons and for nothing else (they’ll even complain saying that they “hate” the content but still “run it just to get a shiny”).

Let us start a petition for a change…and to get our Robert back!

If he left for real cause he wasn’t in agreement with the push on LS bi-weekly c*rap over permanent content and fixing current DGs, then it’s all there again: he was in touch with players, unlike somebody else.

I heard the whole original team who made gw1 left, Robert left so who is still with anet that has passion for gw as whole? Time will only tell i guess but its not looking pretty (especially endgame content)

R.I.P. dungeons.=(((

Nuka Cola.8520:

I heard the whole original team who made gw1 left, Robert left so who is still with anet that has passion for gw as whole? Time will only tell i guess but its not looking pretty (especially endgame content)

You are aware that he wasn’t an “original team who made GW1”, right? His linkedin page puts him at A.Net for just over 2.5years from 2011. He was a hire on most likely only for Guild Wars 2.

Siphaed.9235:

Nuka Cola.8520:

I heard the whole original team who made gw1 left, Robert left so who is still with anet that has passion for gw as whole? Time will only tell i guess but its not looking pretty (especially endgame content)

You are aware that he wasn’t an “original team who made GW1”, right? His linkedin page puts him at A.Net for just over 2.5years from 2011. He was a hire on most likely only for Guild Wars 2.

Owned.

Siphaed.9235:

Nuka Cola.8520:

I heard the whole original team who made gw1 left, Robert left so who is still with anet that has passion for gw as whole? Time will only tell i guess but its not looking pretty (especially endgame content)

You are aware that he wasn’t an “original team who made GW1”, right? His linkedin page puts him at A.Net for just over 2.5years from 2011. He was a hire on most likely only for Guild Wars 2.

It’s better to not pay attention to anything that Nuka Cola posts on the forums. He likes to say a lot of “facts” that have no factual basis and is really just what he feels is happening, it’s all over the Dungeon forums. Him and the rest of his guild is the main reason I don’t even read the dungeon forums anymore tbh.

Anyway back on point, it really sucks that Robert H. is gone, like everyone else has said he seemed to have his fingers on the pulse of what the community was feeling, but I think that was because he enjoyed playing the game unlike what I see with a good portion of the rest of the devs who post on the forums.

Edit: Added some more input.

how artist felt when their art is turned to another business..

Grounder.7381:

how artist felt when their art is turned to another business..

Depends how full were his pockets ofc.

“Robert Hrouda
August 20.
“Today marks the release of the last bit of content I built for ArenaNet. I had always hoped my last hurrah would be an epic dungeon that would stand the test of time, and provide entertainment for players to the very end… but instead it’s an instance that will only persist for two weeks, and then go away”.

Well there you have it… he wanted the game to have actual permanent content (the horror!) and Anet fired him for it. Guess we know what direction this game is going at least..