Guild Wars 2

Ohoni.6057:

Yes. As we told you the last time you repeated ANet’s policy to “not tell us stuff until it’s done,” the community’s policy is to “demand that you tell us about stuff before it’s done.” For the zillionth time, please reiterate that point to the developers.

Why?
You are super duper special, great.
It is their policy.

I can’t help but respect all those anet’s employees who keep their end of the bargain about that rule. Not being allowed to talk for sure must be very frustating when you see topics like these, I’m sure they’d like to tell us but they can’t. It’s also amazing that so far nothing has been leaked.
Imagine the pressure, not being able to talk about what you’re doing at work to your family or friend. It must be really hard for them as well.
I’m impressed.

Gene Archer.8560:

Cause I can tell you that if one of your fears is stringing everyone along? Well, you’re doing that at this very moment by keeping everyone in the dark.

Quite right there indeed.

You just have to go into WvW and see how many people have left the game after being strung along for two years without any real content updates.

What exactly are Mike’s plans? To release WvW content in a years time, or a new expansion, and hope all those who already left will come back and stay?
If it’s new WvW content, you may get half to come back to have a look for a month or two. For the other half you have already lost their trust in you as a developer, they are never coming back at all!
It it’s a new expansion, how exactly are you going to get WvW only players interested in a whole new PvE expansion which will provide nothing new for WvW?!

Something is better than nothing, even if that something later becomes nothing.
But silence is a sure way to alienate everyone, it is the worst possible thing any developer can do especially when their game has been released for 2 years!
Being silent before the game was released was OK, but “It’ll be ready when it’s ready” cannot be used now, it just reinforces players’ belief that nothing is really going on.
And when players believe there is nothing more the game will give them, they stop spending money on it. A new expansion wont save the game when players know that once that is released, they will still get the silent treatment regarding further future ideas and plans.

The best course of action is giving the players updates on what is and what may be coming to the game, or what is being considered etc.
Players can then give you feedback on those ideas.

For example, the adopt a dev scheme seemed to grasp out of nowhere the idea that players want white swords removed from WvW. Well the WvW forum was immediately filled with players complaining about how they dont want that!

It just shows how wrong the silent approach is for you as a developer.
You will just end up making all the wrong moves!

Nice to see, that the community still tries to to give tips to Arenanet.

On another note, I was reading the comments on the massively site and saw this wonderfull comment from the user “Vespero”:

So, my house is missing the roof, and i’m wet because it’s raining inside, as you can see, i have a problem.
How to fix it

1) Arenanet method: “we know a roof would be a good idea, you guys are right we are listening! but look at those new wonderful colours.. .and look at those mins! LOOK AT IT!”

2) Every other mmo’s method: Create a Roof to stop the rain

No offense Arenanet, but this post (in my opinion) describes exactly how you guys handle the game. This communtiy gave you really long and constructive posts over the year, but they never seem to get your attention.

aelfric.8536:

Nice to see, that the community still tries to to give tips to Arenanet.

On another note, I was reading the comments on the massively site and saw this wonderfull comment from the user “Vespero”:

So, my house is missing the roof, and i’m wet because it’s raining inside, as you can see, i have a problem.
How to fix it

1) Arenanet method: “we know a roof would be a good idea, you guys are right we are listening! but look at those new wonderful colours.. .and look at those mins! LOOK AT IT!”

2) Every other mmo’s method: Create a Roof to stop the rain

---

No offense Arenanet, but this post (in my opinion) describes exactly how you guys handle the game. This communtiy gave you really long and constructive posts over the year, but they never seem to get your attention.

If your house is missing a roof and you ask others what to do you are really lacking. You fix what you can, maybe ask for quotes for cost of repairs, you do not in any way wander around asking what to do.
Ask for constructive, several are. It does not mean it will get into the game. Huge number are not in any way constructive to the game. Many things have gone into the game due to what is in forums, they have said so, you can see for yourself if you look.

Yargesh.4965:

If your house is missing a roof and you ask others what to do you are really lacking. You fix what you can, maybe ask for quotes for cost of repairs, you do not in any way wander around asking what to do.
Ask for constructive, several are. It does not mean it will get into the game. Huge number are not in any way constructive to the game. Many things have gone into the game due to what is in forums, they have said so, you can see for yourself if you look.

To the bold marked sentence: If you didn’t get the point, I can’t help you.

I’m aware of all the changes they did in the past. And I’m well aware what people asked for in the CDI’s and other threads.

Only wanted to share my opinion. I won’t discuss this even further, I don’t want an angry dlonie.

Yargesh.4965:

If your house is missing a roof and you ask others what to do you are really lacking. You fix what you can, maybe ask for quotes for cost of repairs, you do not in any way wander around asking what to do.
Ask for constructive, several are. It does not mean it will get into the game. Huge number are not in any way constructive to the game. Many things have gone into the game due to what is in forums, they have said so, you can see for yourself if you look.

1) When you’ve paid for it and then find problems with it, you expect the company you bought it from to fix it! You dont turn around and say “We know your house should have come with a roof, but we’re afraid we cant build it right now” and refuse to tell you when they can.

2) You cant ask for quotes when all you get is that they’ll get back to you and hang up and you never hear from them again. And then they start complaining that you keep bugging them about fixing your house 2 years on, they have other houses to not build! Then block your number.

3) When you find out other people have had similar issues, you begin to think that they’re a dodgy builder! Have they even received their qualifications? Or are they fake?

4) I dont think you seem the grasp the idea of a metaphor.

aelfric.8536:

Yargesh.4965:

If your house is missing a roof and you ask others what to do you are really lacking. You fix what you can, maybe ask for quotes for cost of repairs, you do not in any way wander around asking what to do.
Ask for constructive, several are. It does not mean it will get into the game. Huge number are not in any way constructive to the game. Many things have gone into the game due to what is in forums, they have said so, you can see for yourself if you look.

To the bold marked sentence: If you didn’t get the point, I can’t help you.

I’m aware of all the changes they did in the past. And I’m well aware what people asked for in the CDI’s and other threads.

Only wanted to share my opinion. I won’t discuss this even further, I don’t want an angry dlonie.

We can’t have and angry Dlonie now can we?

Yargesh.4965:

We can’t have and angry Dlonie now can we?

No, we can’t.

@Pinkamena Diane Pie: Thanks for explaining the point. My english is to bad to write this out.

tl;dr

The potential benefits of transparency outweigh the potential disadvantages as you can always create something but only destroy(critique) what already exists.

Gaile, could you ask the team if they’d be willing to share what did not work and why they think so?

Start with some very small feature that did not make it into the game or the earlier iterations of a feature that did make it and ask for opinions on the concept itself as well as the issues which came up and led to dropping/implementing said feature.

The entertainment business is not an uncertain business by default (that’s why you’ve gotten yourself somebody from Disney), Anet’s approach of trying to revolutionize anyfreakingthing makes it an uncertain business for you because you guys love to try new things where others in the industry – rightfully so – are less inclined to do leaps of faith again and again.
And this is exactly the reason why more transparency on how the drawing board looked like, before certain decisions were made, could improve the understanding and acceptance of Anets decisions.

You guys do great work in being the first but I also believe that you are not getting the return you’d like to have.
Looking at other, more eclectic games must be somewhat painful as they can just look at what you and other pioneers are doing right or wrong and then use this free research to then implement it almost flawlessly.

Gamers just want great games, Anet used to show that they are a innovative, creative and communicative studio but this perception has changed for many, including me. There were some decision made that feel like it was one person/train conductor pushing for it while ignoring any concerns “because players wouldn’t be able to grasp the big picture”.
Like expecting 2 million people to please change their gaming habits because temporary content is somehow better (wtf?).
“People won’t be on vacation, I’m sure”? (2 more months of me beating that dead horse is not really dead yet)

Players do understand that you can’t introduce feature X because it would crash the economy for instance. What players cannot understand is why you didn’t…if you don’t tell us why.

What’s left is a “we dropped the feature because reasons” as well as “hey here’s x, I know you never mentioned x and always asked for y but we thought y can’t work so here’s x”.

One example is the trait system. Players felt like it was lacking and they’d also love to be able to acquire new skills via trainers out there in Tyria because it was such a great experience in GW1, tested
What does Anet do? Well, since you can’t have anything like in GW1 you go not implementing new skills but locking old traits.
Players want to be able to distinguish between commander tags, you triple the price.
Or downright offending things like selling the SOB coin.

And all of this happens somewhere in the design limbo without any knowledge of the development processes and quality assurance.

The CDI’s are great to gather ideas and concepts, testing them superficially and getting feedback in general. But since you can’t tell us anything about what is in development, the only thing left for players is to pray that please, please somebody implements the ideas properly and not make another feature which is a vague derivation of “community ideas”.

Even though you guys play the game, it sometimes feels like you base your decisions on the internal knowledge of what could have been, will be or can be, instead of what is in the game.
Gamers, (my apologies for all the assumptions of “player/gamers/people do”) live and play in the here and now, many of us don’t give to much a quaggan for what happens beyond the game, on your website or in the novels.
I don’t know a single game where I had to visit a website to get “in game” information or read novels to fill in the void the stories have created.

On to more important topics, how many showers are there? I found 5 so far

Also, that new effect/condition…. it’s a bit too nauseating for my taste, still fun though…

And thx for the planks there, seeing the silverwastes from below also gave me a lot of hope for the future of GW2, please don’t fix the break outs

(darkest image I had of the showers to prevent spoilers)

Gaile Gray.6029:

• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”
• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.
• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

The problem i have with these points is as follows.

• Im already being strung along. Because this games core system is great, I have so much time invested and I dont want to stop. But at the moment I dont have anything to do in game. So im being strung along waiting for an announcement of new fractals, new weapons, new skills etc. I just want a very general idea of what things are coming our way. Obviously leave out the things that you cannot be certain of. And you dont even have to give a expected release date. Just tell us what things you are working on.

• The CDI threads are definitely useful. The problem is they also string us along. So far weve had a fractal and a raid CDI. I understand it may be a while before we see the results of either of those. But at the same time im getting false hope that we will actually recieve those things. You have changed your Living Story release method. We no longer have event and adhoc patches between LS releases. So when is the next fractal update? Or is it not coming anymore? Im pretty concerned about that since the release schedule changes. I was expecting one fractal update per season but I dont know what to think anymore.

• This ties into the previous point. The problem is how long till we see that flow. And are we definitely going to see a flow from that topic. Personally I got the impression from the CDI that raids might not happen. Or if they did happen they would appear over 2 years later. I dont want to be strung along for another 2 years with nothing fresh to do or no info until “Hey surprise! Raids are coming next week”. Living Story only provides a days worth of content each week. But its boring because the flavour of the game hasnt changed/grown (no new skills and weapons for classes).

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, here’s some info on these specific comments:
<snip for breavity>

While i’m glad for the response, my personal retort isn’t going to be strictly about what you wrote but more a touch point list of why i think many people have issues with the game itself. The “royal we” would most likely be more interested in above answers on things like internal turn over or policy discussions. These are almost day one feedback, fundamental areas that need improvement.

• At the games core, sits the camera. It’s exactly the way players view the game, and it has problems. No need to go into details, it’s been posted on so many times.

• Particle effects. There is still no change beyond the initial toning down of some skill effects (i.e. Phoenix). No need to go any deeper into this.

• Core mechanics, like targeting, for an action like combat system, is pretty frustrating. If someone can develop a mod that makes the game feel better to play, i find it odd that the dev team can’t tackle incorporating it into the game fairly easily.

• Length of development or addressing fixes. Some folks find it odd how long it actually takes to develop for the game, as if the team is almost working against the tools or lack there of. It’s pretty disheartening to hear it can take up to a year to build and test a single map.

• Heavy focus on the gem shop. I completely understand you guys need to make money and i love convenience items and have spent easily 1000 or more in the shop, but the continued addition of things like weapon skins that depend on a gamble is, quite honestly, abhorred. Not to mention how it ties in with a particular achievement. This also goes along with how long it seems to take to develop armor. I also find that items are a bit on the expensive side or are released without much thought (i.e. the Silver-Fed Salvage-o-Matic).

• Excessive amount of goods. Many players find it frustrating that there are so many items that have either little to no use and many of those items can’t be gotten rid of beyond trashing them completely. They can also not be stored effectively. Some even would go as far to say, in the background, the plan is to get players to just buy more bank tabs.

• I often feel like a guinea pig as you “test” out different ideas. In general i often don’t feel a sense of direction from the development plan. The Mac client still being labeled as “Beta” 2 years out is pretty troubling to say the least. There is also the fact you guys have changed strategies/directions so many times, i as a player, literally have no idea what to expect anymore. Something like the megaserver being released, when the game has a mode entirely based around world rivalries is a pretty mind-boggling decision.

In closing, i like to think i’m fairly smart, but right now i’m completely baffled by some of the past choice. I honestly keep getting the sense that this game is really trying to be the swiss army knife of MMO’s. One that is founded on metrics and data and not so much on fun. I also am not alone in the sense that Arena is the company that created the original game and with that comes a varying degree of expectations, not only on content releases, but on improvements to fundamental flaws. I know i’m an outlier, i’ve actually put a great deal of time and money that revolves around this game and our world community, so i’m literally torn as to what to do at this point. But i know i’m not alone, i read and hear it constantly. I really want to play and support the game for the length of its life cycle, but i’m continually disheartened. Any reference to “we” in this feedback should be taken as the “royal we” and is not intended to speak on behalf of more than myself.

aelfric.8536:

Yargesh.4965:

We can’t have and angry Dlonie now can we?

No, we can’t.

You….wouldn’t like me…when I’m angry….

Rawr. <3

Gaile Gray.6029:

Linken.6345:

3 days and 4 pages with no reply have Gaile forsaken us?

Never! I was in England for a few days. Lots and lots of meetings, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post too much while I was away!

Welcome back

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.

These activities (working and talking) are not mutually exclusive, Gaile. You know that.

• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”

We’re well aware of his quote and his policy. In fact, this entire thread is a result of this policy. It’s making players lose hope, trust, and faith in ArenaNet and their ability to keep this game successful. Players are leaving with bad opinions of the game, and many of us who stay are fed up waiting for “the cake.” Is it a lie?

• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)

Not being snarky, this is a serious question: What do you mean by substantial? Do you mean “on par with industry standards for a two year old MMO” (as I would interpret it), or something else?

• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.

CDIs have a very narrow focus, and happen sporadically. As an example, a lot of us want to know if the themed multipath dungeons will return to active development. What CDI gives us that information? None of them.

They aren’t sufficient for communicating a road map, unless we are to assume that if there isn’t a CDI on a topic, then that area of the game is not seeing any development.

Then there’s the complete lack of follow-through on them. Take the fractal CDI — we were told “leaderboards” and “better rewards.” These are long overdue, and there has been zero communication about why we haven’t seen them, as per the silence policy. Does ArenaNet honestly think that not communicating delays/changes concerning the few features we have been promised is a good idea?

• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.

It would be wonderful if someone could put that in perspective to us. As you can see in this thread, the policy is doing a lot of damage to the game’s health. I’m genuinely interested in hearing what advantages/benefits the policy provides to balance out the disadvantages/harm. The latter is obvious to us, the former is not, and it raises serious concerns over the future of this game and our community.

• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

Gaile….this is the sad thing. We’re in a flow right now. We’re seeing more red posts than we have in over a year. Your team is starting to address small issues like hobosacks, but we still have no clear communication about what the game’s overall direction is.

Hello guys,

I have an awesome ideea that will blow you’re mind away!

I had this vision for living world: what you guys have started with Lion’s Arch MUST continue on the living world but with a few major tweaks:

1. The player should be allowed to choose the SIDE that he or she is figthing for and if he or she chooses evil and evil wins then the face of the living world is changed for the evil side. This way all the players in the game would want to participate and be engaged in the battle because the OUTCOME WILL DETERMINE the face of Tyria. Here I might add that ENTIRE GUILDS should be able to enroll in different factions and carry their bidding.

2. The player or the guild should be allowed to enroll in different factions of the game (evil or good) and participate in that faction missions. Example: enroll in the Flame Legion and carry missions against the charr.

3. Missions on the map from different factions in the game that will be playable on both sides! Enough with the boring missions where everyone kills one boss! NO! How about 500 good players vs 500 bad players engaged in a mortal combat for the outcome of that mission? Does that sounds booring? I think not.

4. The cities of Tyria SHOULD be conquerable by factions or by guilds. Example: my guild or myself are enrolled in the Flame Legion and carry an assault on the charr citadel. If we win then my faction and my guild (if enrolled in the Flame Legion) will rule the city until it is taken by another faction.

5. If the player or the guild is enrolled in a faction then the players from the different factions should be able to attack each other freely on the face of Tyria. If you’re thinking that Tyria would be a very difficult and dangerous place for new players there is a workaround I thought about (new and old players alike can benefit from this one). If you are in a guild you have two options: represent and stand down. If a player is or his/her guild is enrolled in a faction and he doesn’t want to fight then all he/she needs to do is stand down and not represent the guild and they are safe from other faction players attacks.

THIS WAY the living world would be SO ENGAGING that every time a player would logon they will wonder what the face of Tyria would look like. After all, the game is called GUILD WARS no? The GUILD WARS should not be only on the WwW and PvP but on TYRIA also!

I promise you that if you implement this mind blowing changes Tyria would be full of players.

People are quiting GW2 because they are bored but with this changes I’m proposing? No player would afford NOT to logon and play this already AWESOME game!

Thank you all for reading and I hope the developers are taking notes. They should!

These conversations and “feedback” from Anet remind me of a recurring line in the movie Monty Python’s Life of Brian. When faced with something serious, the characters’ first response, very dramatically portrayed: “THIS CALLS FOR IMMEDIATE DISCUSSION!”

well if I posted in the wrong place the redirect me to the right one.

thanks.

Valdur.2679:

well if I posted in the wrong place the redirect me to the right one.

thanks.

Whoa. I wasn’t making that comment to you. Rather that was a dig at Anet. When faced with increasing apathy from its user-base, their immediate reaction is to have more discussions. That’s all. This had nothing to do with your suggestions.

ok, but what did you think of my sugestions? did you find them exciting or not?

I find it would make for an interesting NEW game, but I doubt it would fit into the current GW2 model. Hell, someone make a game like you suggested, and I would be there in a heartbeat.

Valdur.2679:

ok, but what did you think of my sugestions? did you find them exciting or not?

Pretty much the defining type of post in this thread.

Gaile Gray.6029:

The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.

You guys misunderstand the problem. Miscommunication is not about you guys not talking about the future content you’re workin on or you might be working one. The real problem that gets everyone worked up every time is the patch changes that are talked about only after those changes are in effect.
Good examples:
- Fractal Reset
- Leveling
- Traits
- Skill Unlocking
- Gem conversion

Some of the most fierce issues that people are freaking out over are the ones that no light been shed till the very end. We understand the story shouldn’t be spoiled. The exciting updates that are far from being finished shouldn’t be talked about. Even the updates that will make TP speculators go nuts shouldn’t be shared till very end.

But when you adjusting our gameplay, changing the way we play, reset our levels, or even limit our purchasing abilities for the sake of it being too “complicated to begin with”, those changes should be brought up.

PvP is a great example of how those changes are handled. “We gonna change this, this and this next month”, leaving it open for discussion and still more than enough time to make little changes and tweaks before patch goes live. That would go immesurably far with PvE and WvW community if you gave us same oppenness like PvP receives. You can keep major stuff a secret and make it a surprise, but if something is gonna completely change the way I play my game, please give me a heads up, so at least we can give you our opinion on it before it hits the fan after it’s released.

Gaile Gray, are you implying that all this this, for more than a year, WvW Developers have been working on new maps and scoring fix? Personally, I find it very unconvincing. What happened do C.Devon? There’s literally no communication between WvW developers and Community.

What about those major background projects mentioned by Colin Johanson last year?
Again, after all this time, after not seeing anything, no progress or tease, I find it extremely hard to believe what he said last year was true.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.

Gaile,

Personally, I have little issue with how Anet has chosen to develop and communicate about the game, with two significant exception.

Both of these are a direct result of this blog post from Colin Johanson on July 18, 2013:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/

In that post, Colin made very definitive statements about future activities. While most of those things did make it into the game, there are two that are still just hanging out there.

I do not think it is unfair of the community to ask for an update on these items. At least let us know if they are still part of the plan.

Those two items are:

1. Progression Advancement

• Colin’s Quote: “We’ll begin regularly adding new skills and traits to the game for each profession to expand your characters and builds!”

This progression never came into being. Is it still on the table?

2. Legendary Gear and Precursors

• Colin’s Quote: “you’ll also see new legendary weapons and new types of legendary gear in 2013. Building your precursor will require a large amount of the new crafting material rewards listed above, 500 in crafting, and likely a combination of other items earned for completing more specific content in the game.”

Again, is this still a thing?

I trust ArenaNet to continue making an amazing game and care less than most about futuristic speculations. However, at the same time, the two items above were mentioned in definitive terms as part of the plan in 2013.

Were almost a year and a half out from that post. If ArenaNet has abandoned these ideas – or if they had to reconsider or delay them for any reason, that is understandable. The issue comes with making the definitive statements and then not communicating about them after all of this time.

It isnt 2013 anymore, so we can assume the original plans fell through. All we want to know is if the plans were just delayed or were they completely scrapped.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)

yes , they are important , but where are the CONTENT patch: new city , new maps with vistas , hearts , secret jumping puzzle , new dungeon or new challenge istance where we can obtainn new decent armor or weapon skins , new races , new weapon and utility skills , new legendaries (i want a different legendary staff for my female norn guardian , the actual legendary staff it’s ugly) ecc… ecc…

this game is not only story ( i really like gw lore unfortunately the LS is toooOOOooooOOO slow , over 2 year for only a new dragon and only 3 new maps , i want to see Crystal Desert , Northern Shiverpeaks ecc..).

dlonie.6547:

Not being snarky, this is a serious question: What do you mean by substantial? Do you mean “on par with industry standards for a two year old MMO” (as I would interpret it), or something else?

I’d like to touch on this too. Do we find it extremely odd that something like a ladder system for a competitive mode such as PvP wasn’t a day one thing or at the very least at the top of the list of something that needs to be added/improved? That and it’s considered a substantial addition to a game mode that lacks a lot of basics? Ones that are often found in most other games that have such a mode?

I definitely think the players differ on what we define as substantial improvements over fixing fundamental flaws and missing features. Look at how long it’s taken just to make crafting function in a user friendly way or improvements to the trading post that players have been requesting for the life of the game, and that’s mostly just a web interface.

I think substantial means, from their end, that it “takes a lot of work”, where from the players end, it means a lot more than just piecemeal improvements that severally lack forethought, i’m looking at you, initial release of the gem exchange update. Or the commander tag color system, i mean someone had to have the thought that it would kitten of players to charge per color? Kudos to the person that worked the weekend to fix that cluster.

This isn’t a stab at the teams, i’m absolutely certain they work hard and a ton of stuff has improved the game ten-fold, but there are also a ton of things left to do that are basically missing/broken or otherwise frustratingly dysfunctional. I think you can see how, from a player perspective, stuff doesn’t seem thought out, lacks direction or are simply features one would expect to find in the game already.

Thank you for responding Gaile. I’d like to make an observation about one of your points.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”

I know you’re quoting Mike but I want to address this point. I believe the clearest example in the past of communication gone wrong was the suggestion of pre-cursor crafting. I believe it was Linsey Murdock who said she would think about pre-cursor crafting and over a period of six months chinese whispers turned that into a dead-set promise. This upset a lot more people as time passed and pre-cursor crafting never made it into the game. Then in July 2013 Colin Posted this:

Legendary Gear and Precursors
We aren’t quite ready to go into all the details here, but what I can say is you will see a specific way to build precursor items on your way to a legendary. On top of this, you’ll also see new legendary weapons and new types of legendary gear in 2013.

That sounded really cool but it never materialised in 2013 (we are approaching the end of 2014 and it’s looking doubtful it will happen). This is a thorn in your side that will never go away but I believe communication could treat the pain. Obviously something changed for you and either the system isn’t ready or you decided it wasn’t right for the game. We don’t know that – I don’t believe you’ve updated us on this specific topic. Obviously ArenaNet got burned by talking about precursor crafting so early, by committing to it in a blog post before they can deliver, but I genuinely believe the bigger issue isn’t a communication flub over precursor crafting, it’s that the state of precursors currently is not a good system and in over two years ArenaNet hasn’t offered a better one. I believe most players care less about communication problems than they care that precursors are still in a state of crazy RNG or mass amounts of gold. ArenaNet may have gotten burned by communication, but you were going to get burned anyway because the issue exists whether you talk about it or not. To a lesser extent we saw pushback from the pre-launch manifesto and GW2 marketing.

More specific to the consequences of little to no communication I want to talk about what happened just before the September Feature Pack. Specifically I am thinking about the fallout from (iirc) the Gamescom Guildmag interview that upset a lot of vocal players. Two major reveals came from that interview (I’m paraphrasing from memory):

1. Players should expect no new dungeon content any time soon.
2. Player should expect no SAB any time soon.

Both of these things were greatly upsetting for a lot of people because they are big parts of the game (SAB less than dungeons) and partly because players had incorrectly assumed they were being worked on. Without a road map and communication from ArenaNet, players set their expectations at what they thought was happening – communication allows us (and you!) to manage our expectations. We knew from 2013 that SAB was a recurring feature and expected another release this year, dungeons are a core feature of an MMO and a daily activity for many (that is wearing thin due to repetition and stagnation). To go a full year without any additions to the tired and stagnant meta, to see a feature you love seemingly abandoned (a year is a long time) and to have hope taken away, it was a huge shock to a lot of us. It would have been less of a shock if players didn’t manage their expectations for a year as if these things would come soon. Without communications players substitute their own speculation.

I think Mike O’Brien’s quote simplifies the situation too much as a black and white situation. I believe there is some grey between making “promises” that might change in development (or be scrapped completely) and simply not saying anything at all until a few weeks before release. Players want to know what is on the horizon, not a month from now but six months from now or even a year. We want to know if there will be an expansion, we want to know if Living Story and Feature Packs are the pinnacles of GW2. I know you get burned when you promise what you might not deliver, but the community suffers when you don’t communicate enough (and I’m talking the big picture direction of the company – not just CDIs).

Valandil Dragonhart.2371:

• These ‘substantial updates’ have very little actual content involved. It may be an LS update where a new zone comes out, but that’s hardly what a lot of people here are looking forward to. When you see quite a lot of complaints about LS being pushed too hard over actual player-retaining content releases (ie. stuff people actually want in the game and have been crying out for for over 2 years), then ‘what’ is substantial to ‘whom’ would have to be brought into question….

Now, I may be missing the point, but I think you are, too. Hands down, the thing people have been lamenting the absolute very most over the last two years is lack of end game content and options; something which Anet have been knocking out of the park with Season 2 of the LS. Players complained (maybe rightfully so) about lack of permanent end-game content, then as soon as that is remedied they start having issues with everything else, completely forgetting their previous focus.

The hardcore community is never going to be happy, but that’s no reason to forget how much Anet HAS been listening in regards to permanent content and meaningful updates.

Gaile Gray.6029:

Linken.6345:

3 days and 4 pages with no reply have Gaile forsaken us?

Never! I was in England for a few days. Lots and lots of meetings, and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post too much while I was away!

Vlad Morbius.1759:

The whole lack of direct communication now has me feeling like the direction of the game itself might be in limbo and that is worrisome. Isn’t it odd that all these new hires and ads for specific people (one would associate with expansion like content) have hit so far down the road, 2 years in? I think to be honest the silence is a way to keep us all distracted from the truth, LS and rehashed holiday content is all that is on the horizon for a very long time and if they do lay out the roadmap the fear is that many will simply walk away and stop supporting the game.
Think about it and tell me you don’t draw the same conclusions at this point. Why the silence, why the lack of a roadmap, why the lack of specific answers regarding things like dungeons, classes, traits, races?

Ok, here’s some info on these specific comments:

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.
• Game companies, like most major industries, experience a certain level of turnover, and hire to fill those spaces. They also hire for new or expanded roles. Nothing startling here whatsoever.
• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”
• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)
• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.
• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.
• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

This is a really useful post, but it still comes back to the roadmap problem. I have absolutely no doubt you have a plan and a vision and are working on tons. But, you get visibility on that so everything no doubt looks rosy and exciting.

Now step back and try and forget what you know, and put yourself in our shoes. Now what do you see? What do players turning away from the game see is being added to the game? Where do prospective players see the game going?

I’m pretty certain there are almost no specifics beyond “there will be more Living World”. I thoroughly enjoy this game, but I have no clue whatsoever what is on the horizon and have nothing exciting to talk about to people I want to join this game.

As a side note, the CDI’s are part of the equation I know, but the raid one got shut down illogically. It was an excellent discussion thread, which suffered not because of the “bullying agendas” which I barely saw, but because 2 devs set cross purpose discussions and everything got confusing and messy. Blaming the community for finally getting the chance to talk about something long awaited was a tad unfair I thought.

Valdur.2679:

-snip-

This has very little to do with the topic in this thread. Please start a new thread with your specific ideas — plus, very few people are going to see your suggestion on page 10 of the 100th incarnation of this thread.

McBrightside.6471:

Hands down, the thing people have been lamenting the absolute very most over the last two years is lack of end game content and options; something which Anet have been knocking out of the park with Season 2 of the LS. Players complained (maybe rightfully so) about lack of permanent end-game content, then as soon as that is remedied they start having issues with everything else, completely forgetting their previous focus.

I never complained about endgame or lack thereof — until they started tampering with my endgame: creating alts. The trait system redesign is the worst of it, but elements of NPE and LS2 have contributed, and as a result I won’t be buying any new character slots. Even though I’d like to.

No new races, no new professions, no new weapons, no new weapon skills.

Too kitten much ‘no’ for a two-year old MMO.

Shiren.9532:

1. Players should expect no new dungeon content any time soon.
2. Player should expect no SAB any time soon.

Both of these things were greatly upsetting for a lot of people because they are big parts of the game (SAB less than dungeons) and partly because players had incorrectly assumed they were being worked on. Without a road map and communication from ArenaNet, players set their expectations at what they thought was happening – communication allows us (and you!) to manage our expectations. We knew from 2013 that SAB was a recurring feature and expected another release this year, dungeons are a core feature of an MMO and a daily activity for many (that is wearing thin due to repetition and stagnation). To go a full year without any additions to the tired and stagnant meta, to see a feature you love seemingly abandoned (a year is a long time) and to have hope taken away, it was a huge shock to a lot of us. It would have been less of a shock if players didn’t manage their expectations for a year as if these things would come soon. Without communications players substitute their own speculation.

I think Mike O’Brien’s quote simplifies the situation too much as a black and white situation. I believe there is some grey between making “promises” that might change in development (or be scrapped completely) and simply not saying anything at all until a few weeks before release. Players want to know what is on the horizon, not a month from now but six months from now or even a year. We want to know if there will be an expansion, we want to know if Living Story and Feature Packs are the pinnacles of GW2. I know you get burned when you promise what you might not deliver, but the community suffers when you don’t communicate enough (and I’m talking the big picture direction of the company – not just CDIs).

Very good post. The bolded part, especially.

@McBrightside.6471

I think ArenaNet has done well with end-game additions this year but nothing close to knocking it out of the park. End-game that caters to the tastes of most of the dissatisfied people would come in the form of instanced raids, additional five man dungeons (and appropriate rewards) and elite missions like the Underworld, Urgoz’s Warren, Fissure of Woe etc. Dry Top as raid content received a tepid reception and has already died, Silverwastes is fun but also grows old fairly quickly. Even considering those two maps, that’s three total zones in two years.

Season 2 is a huge improvement on Season 1 imo, but in regards to adressing some of player’s biggest issues with GW2 I don’t believe ArenaNet is there yet, especially in regards to end-game. Right now GW2’s end-game additions this year are relatively casual (Living Story) and shadllow (Dry Top map meta and to a lesser extent Silverwastes map meta).

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, here’s some info on these specific comments:

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.
• Game companies, like most major industries, experience a certain level of turnover, and hire to fill those spaces. They also hire for new or expanded roles. Nothing startling here whatsoever.
• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”
• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)
• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.
• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.
• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

Spot on, Gaile I think what you said here is very valid and sensible; a lot of players get scared when it’s quiet, but they do need to realize that quiet is not inherently bad, and ANet has a solid track record going back almost 10 years of delivering quality, consistent content. The most major failure ANet has had in this regard was the cancellation of the last GW expansion pack (Utopia? I think that’s what it was called), which really was only because they were too busy working on GW2; IMO that was the right call to make in the end.

I do think, though, that it’s important for ANet to realize that this is just a (misguided) way for players to say that they are hungry for more substantive content and we do feel at present that GW2 has moved a bit slowly in terms of content additions, and we’re ready for some more serious expansions to the game; It’s been 2 years since launch and we have yet to see new playable races or professions, new weapons, or other things that tend to be part of MMO long-term growth. We love the new content that has been brought so far, but I think that people are definitely hungry for some bigger jumps and are anxious to find out whether or not we can expect these any time soon.

For what it’s worth, the second you guys announce a paid expansion to GW2 I will be on the preorder list.

I really just want to see another “Looking ahead” blog post. That was something people could get excited about. Now, if you would also keep us informed if there are changes to that outline instead of just never mentioning it again or giving us platitudes, that would go a long way.

McBrightside.6471:

Valandil Dragonhart.2371:

• These ‘substantial updates’ have very little actual content involved. It may be an LS update where a new zone comes out, but that’s hardly what a lot of people here are looking forward to. When you see quite a lot of complaints about LS being pushed too hard over actual player-retaining content releases (ie. stuff people actually want in the game and have been crying out for for over 2 years), then ‘what’ is substantial to ‘whom’ would have to be brought into question….

Now, I may be missing the point, but I think you are, too. Hands down, the thing people have been lamenting the absolute very most over the last two years is lack of end game content and options; something which Anet have been knocking out of the park with Season 2 of the LS. Players complained (maybe rightfully so) about lack of permanent end-game content, then as soon as that is remedied they start having issues with everything else, completely forgetting their previous focus.

The hardcore community is never going to be happy, but that’s no reason to forget how much Anet HAS been listening in regards to permanent content and meaningful updates.

A significantly improved Personal Story 2.0 is not ‘end-game content’. Which is what the LS:S2 pretty much is.
That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but don’t take it as something else.

People have been asking for repeatable end-game content.
Now we see a little of that in both dry top and silverwastes, but you can’t deny that if that’s all they delivered in a full year than people obviously want more.

Aside from that kind of content, after 2 years there’s still very lacking ‘expansion type content’.

We’ve got ascended tier (personally I like how they handled that).
A handful of useful healing skills.
A handful of new traits.

So when Anet says they don’t want to string us along, when there’s no clear sight of anything substantial to add to the game… People get to their own conclusions.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction

Maybe that’s part of the problem.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.

Maybe. The problem is, we have absolutely no idea about what you are working on. And i don’t even mean specifics. You might be working on an expansion, new classes, maps, skill, gamemodes. Or on some changes in the NPE style. Or maybe just on a next LS arc, that will start half a year from now, and will consist of 5 parts (each done in 15 minutes) done at one month intervals, and based mostly on grind. We have no idea.

When we talk about having a vision, the last 2 years (and some of the CDIs) bring that into question. As i see it now, GW2 currently either has no guiding vision at all, one that keeps changing constantly, several confliction ones, or one that is so wide it can as well be nonexisting. It certainly doesn’t have the same vision that was communicated to the community before the game launched.

So, you saying you have the vision is not really helping, if you are not willing to share it with us.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”

Silence about things you are not planning to implement, and directions you are not willing to go should be also considered “stringing along”. Yes, there are people that keep playing, because they wait for things that will never arrive. Because you are too afraid to tell them they won’t.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)

okay, i will bite. When will we see those substantial updates coming out on regular basis?

Gaile Gray.6029:

• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.”

Actually, no. Roadmap is the communication from devs to community. CDI’s are a communication in the opposite direction. Also, you have always been very careful to point out that they aren’t any roadmap – they are a sounding board, place where you can gather community opinion, but you are always very careful to remind us that the CDI’s are no indication that anything from those topics will ever be implemented (or even worked on).

Gaile Gray.6029:

• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.

Yes, you have chosen to not communicate.

Gaile Gray.6029:

• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

As has been mentioned already, what we have now is not an ebb. It’s the high tide. And yet it’s still telling us almost nothing.

See guys? Thats the meta. Active use of dodges, no passive defense.

On a serious note i still don’t feel we moved forward with this new reply to be honest … :/

Dalanor.5387:

See guys? Thats the meta. Active use of dodges, no passive defense.

On a serious note i still don’t feel we moved forward with this new reply to be honest … :/

Gaile can’t move this forward, she’s forbidden to discuss anything substantial related to the issue.

The non-answers:

- “we’re working instead of talking!” (C’mon, that one was almost insulting)
- “The content is substantial, despite the many dissatisfied players saying it isn’t and giving straightforward comparisons to other games”
- “but spoilers!”
- “LS is content!”

and quotes from Mike’s post to reiterate the policy is pretty much the extent of what she can do without risking her job.

All we can hope is that underneath the “safe” responses, she really does understand our frustration, is communicating it upwards, and that the people higher up actually give a flying kitten. It’s the last part that I have the most doubts about.

As mentioned, we just want to be able to manage our expectations. Summarizing my OP again, I don’t want to wait another year hoping for a new dungeon, just to find out that it’s not even an option in ANet’s eyes.

I would like to see a poll of how many current players are satisfied with the overall additions to the game in the full 2+ years since release. I don’t think the results would be that positive, and those stats themselves would be lacking the input of the countless people the players above me have mentioned as leaving GW2 in the last 6-12 months. In terms of players who I know were loyal all through the history of GW1 and played GW2 with the same initial loyalty, I could make a list of friends alone big enough to roll tequatl that have seemingly logged off permanently.

We are at a turning point with the end of Season 2. The vocal community of gw2forums and of reddit are clearly unimpressed with both communication and depth of releases thus far. When this season ends, we don’t have anything else visible on the horizon. Undoubtedly we will see the christmas rehash, which will again face backlash for lack of new content.

So – if we wrap up bringing the fight to Mordry, it better happen in Ep. 8. Otherwise, what I foresee is based purely on experience: a lackluster feature pack after a couple months, and as has been said so many times in this thread, a LS with little-to-no replayability that I can wrap up in an hour or two after in drops. LS, however entertaining, can not be the focal point of releases in its current state. This will not perpetuate the game. It may slow down loss of players, but this is not the correct medication for the sickness we’re facing. It cannot correctly heal the affliction.

P.S. I know I’ve said enough already. However, I want to note on the example I think most reflects Colin’s hesitance to share with us. The mention of ‘new legendary gear and precursor crafting by the end of 2013’ was something players GENUINELY wanted to hear. This wasn’t a kitten half-hour story book, this was a game-changing, heavily desired feature that was clear it would have long-lasting, significant effects on the game. I know, I know, things get pushed ‘back to the drawing board’ for this reason or that. But seriously – where in the world is our update. Simply hearing ‘hey that might not happen actually’ in some stream somewhere? Trickle-down-disappointment for the entire playerbase, and at this point ANet is acting like they never said it. It’s been pulled back into the shadow-realm. The only reason I can think of to keep quiet on the updates you’re doing is because it’s better than what happened with that statement, but here’s the thing. THAT WAS BETTER. JUST KEEP TALKING ABOUT IT.

TL;DR for PS: Don’t sweep precursor crafting/new legendaries under the rug because you made a mistake in production. Acting like it never happened doesn’t work. We can still link to the page…. https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/
see? Notice that says looking ahead ‘IN 2013’? This is a principle reason why people claim lack of communication.

The Guild Wars 2 experience, presented as a pitch for an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The players are passengers on a plane flying toward regions unknown, a plane with no windows and one door marked ‘can i has ur stuff’. They are being shown over and over a movie that makes less and less sense with each repeat, and if anyone asks where the plane is going, the flight attendant just smiles and says “We are on course, maintaining altitude, the pilots are on board and unafraid, and all is well. This movie is entertaining, is it not?”

While this might make for an entertaining (or not) Twilight Zone episode, the reality is, why would anyone get aboard a plane with no destination posted on the flight information board?

We have asked this since 2 years , do you really think anet gonna change anything ? Feedback in closed and open beta has been mostly ignored , not many community request came into the game and about the collin quote , there came new skills.. 3 new heal skills ! HURRA ..

It´s cool that the core mechanics are finished 2 years after release but i wouldnt hope for any changes game whise.. I dont expect new maps , new skill , new profession , new elite maps , hard mode , new dungeons , hard titles or anything we loved in gw1 .. This train is gone and its gone for a long time now

Gaile, I’d like you to hear from someone who thinks the game is amazing and isn’t lacking direction or goals or innovation, or fun. I play nearly every day and I love the Living Story. I’m having a blast with the Silverwastes and I can’t wait to see what’s coming next. I know the people who write the most on forums are the unhappy ones, and I wanted you to see something from a happy customer.

Ok, here’s some info on these specific comments:
• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.

What direction are you going, what is your vision going forward? Not a single soul has a minute to come here and lay that out for us?

• Game companies, like most major industries, experience a certain level of turnover, and hire to fill those spaces. They also hire for new or expanded roles. Nothing startling here whatsoever.

Granted I can give you some on that, I know I’m in the same boat but there are others that are certainly a clear direction of future plans (raid designer comes to mind).

• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”

This policy is inherently designed to string us along, and anybody who has ever played an MMO understands that not everything makes it into the final product. Right now there is far more uncertainty on what is happening behind the scenes more than ever and that is far more damaging than certain items not getting done.
Anet was up front and more than willing to present information leading up to the sale of the game resulting in a very successful launch one of the most in industry today, so I ask what’s changed. Why is there now a need to make this policy change when the other approach was so bloody successful, that’s where doubt comes in about what the future holds? It isn’t us, fostering these doubts it’s Anet and you cannot blame us for misunderstanding this approach and feeling so frustrated.

• Living World and holidays are important, yes. They are not the only thing on which the team is working, quite clearly, when you see substantial updates coming out on a regular basis. (Case in point: feature packs, the coming PvP update, etc.)
LW is a story driven and I get that, holidays are part of the world and I get that, features are usually quality of life improvements and are mostly welcomed changes but what we are looking for and has been presented here is where is the meat and potatoes content wise. A great many examples have been posted regarding a lot of things we would like to see coming and not all of them will make it at least not all in one fell swoop but again we have no bloody clue as to what they are.

• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.

I know Mike quoted the CDI’s are a form of roadmap but that simply isn’t true and Chris himself has pointed out that it is a forum to discuss ideas that may or may not be implemented and in fact not everything discussed will make it into the game. So how can that be a roadmap of what’s being worked on? It’s an idea sharing process with no clear defining outline to how the game will progress.

• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.

It isn’t working and that’s what we are so desperately trying to tell you. The information isn’t nearly enough and what you can give us “in the here and now” isn’t what we keep asking you for. As far as being fearful, if there was no fear then it would have been laid out plain and simple consequences be kitten ed.

• In general, with nearly anything, there are ebbs and flows in communication. If we’re in an ebb right now, you can count on there being a flow in the future. That’s just logical.

I’m a very logical person, my wife says sometimes far too much for my own good, which is why I challenge the logic of not coming forward with the future plans. Logic dictates that it was a strategy that worked incredibly well with the launch and now you’ve reversed that and the result is all of these threads and confused and angry players, how is that logical?

Gaile Gray.6029:

Ok, here’s some info on these specific comments:

• No, the game is not lacking direction. Nor is it lacking vision or goals, plans, ideas, concepts, or any of the other properties that guide our future. The quiet now is not an indicator of anything other than the fact that, at this time, the company is not talking about the future but is, instead, working on it.
• The silence is decidedly not a distraction effort. As Mike O’Brien said, "We’ve set a clear policy in the past year: “We don’t talk speculatively about future development. We don’t want to string you along. Creating fun is an uncertain business: sometimes things work out and sometimes they don’t; sometimes we go back to the drawing board over and over before we get something right. If we make optimistic promises and then can’t deliver on them, everyone suffers. So when we attend a trade show or give an interview, we’re there to talk about what we’re getting ready to ship, not to speculate on what we might ship someday.”
• We are not “afraid” to lay out a roadmap. Quoting Mike again, “The intention of the CDI threads is to talk with you about the roadmap.” If you’re not participating, you’re missing out on a means of sharing your feedback and a method that we may use to give information, when the time is right.
• No, we’re not fearful of player reaction to our plans; we’re simply choosing a different path in communicating in the here and now.

TL;DR: What we’re doing now is sufficient. Deal with it.

Honestly, you guys put out such little information. I wonder if some of the devs actually play their game. There IS a lack in vision/goals/plans/etc. There IS a lack in content.

I still can’t get over the time when you guys flat out said no new dungeons because it’s too much work. The one thing that would add any replay value to this game that wasn’t completely a waste of time/effort (fractals) was “too much work”.

Gaile,

Don’t let the obsessives and forum warriors get you down. There are millions of people enjoying the game and playing. Happy players are playing, not posting.

Well, I’m posting as a counterpoint (probably lost in the rancor) to the incessantly unhappy. Nothing ANet does will satisfy the hardcore dissatisfied.

I’d love to know what’s coming. I understand why you don’t tell us. People have unrealistic expectations of software companies that they do not apply to car makers, TV shows, authors, construction, or other industries. No one (almost) demands Ford have a public detailed five-year plan, or that an architect make detailed plans available to everyone who might someday walk into the new building.

This is the internet; rationality is in short supply.

ANet is one of the most responsive game developers I know, and I’ve been an avid/active player/dev since the days of Wolfenstein 3D (yes, I’m in my 50s). Guild Wars 2 is a game, free-to-play after initial purchase, and it’s great for most of your players (at least the ones I know personally).

Thank you for being communicative.

Let’s put it another way: Were I young, whole, and on the West Coast, I’d be thrilled to work on GW2. No, not a job hunt, I’m happily employed in another industry. But I do appreciate what you do.

Arcade Fire.4895:

I still can’t get over the time when you guys flat out said no new dungeons because it’s too much work. The one thing that would add any replay value to this game that wasn’t completely a waste of time/effort (fractals) was “too much work”.

That depends on their plans and desired target population. If, hypothetically speaking, they decided to aim the game purely at casuals, then they might indeed decide that dungeons is not something they should be concentrating on.
…except the Raiding CDI was specifically aimed at the same part of the community dungeons earlier were being made for. That’s one of the communication mixed signals i was thinking of in my earlier posts. Each of these alone might make sense, and would tell us something about planned game direction. Taken together, suggest that the vision is either insonsistend and conflicted, or simply missing.

Hi Sytherek, I do not wish to argue with you, but I felt some of our complaints weren’t accurately represented by your post.

Sytherek.7689:

People have unrealistic expectations of software companies that they do not apply to car makers, TV shows, authors, construction, or other industries.

We have unrealistic expectations because we aren’t given any clue what to expect. Personally, in the absence of information from ArenaNet, I was expecting a new dungeon at some point. I don’t think that expecting an MMO to put in a new dungeon was unrealistic, and the dungeon community wouldn’t have been crushed if ArenaNet would have made it clear early on that new dungeons just weren’t in the cards.

No one (almost) demands Ford have a public detailed five-year plan, or that an architect make detailed plans available to everyone who might someday walk into the new building.

Ford makes vehicles, and will continue their line of staple models. GW2 released with several varieties of gameplay, and has let it slip that one of them (dungeons, an MMO staple) will being ignored for the time being. We just want to know what areas of gameplay will or will not continue to be developed. Again, I feel this is a reasonable request.

We aren’t looking for a detailed 5 year plan, we’re just asking Ford if they’re planning to continue their Focus line.

This is the internet; rationality is in short supply.

No argument there :-) Some people, especially on my side of the discussion, can be less than reasonable when talking on this subject. Frustration and neglect will do that.

I can’t say that I agree with your opinion that ArenaNet is a communicative company (especially when their blanket policy for discussing the game’s future is “don’t”), but I respect it. I love the game, too, it really is a solid foundation for future content. I just want to know which other aspects of the game have been axed, since there are a lot of players who hope to see their favorite content fixed/updated/expanded, and get disappointed with every patch. If the company would set reasonable expectations for us, we could avoid a lot of the rage you see on these forums.

Thanks for sharing your views, and being reasonable in your tone about them

salute

The bug is hungry…fixing the thread…

If they’re working on an expansion, why not just say it? They don’t need to give the details. By just announcing “An expansion is in the works” they would satisfy a massive amount of players.