Guild Wars 2

I don’t think they intended it to be accessible. It’s like finding ways out of the map in Orr of Field of Ruin right after launch.

Intentional or otherwise, people and entire guilds came to rely on it for Roleplaying.

Senryi.4897:

I don’t think they intended it to be accessible.

I think that’s a given.

The question, which they do not particularly owe us an answer to, is whether they need folks to stay out and folks should stay out, or whether they are simply not aware of “all” the people using it for various constructive and entertaining purposes.

People are invested with time & energy. Always a bit of a harsh feelin’ when something you like gets taken away. I’m just curious as to what they’re thinking.

They certainly messed things up for my guild that had been RPing there for several months. Not cool.

Yeah, I’d love to know why. Uninstanced Salma being opened up would be great.

LowestTruth.2635:

Senryi.4897:

I don’t think they intended it to be accessible.

I think that’s a given.

The question, which they do not particularly owe us an answer to, is whether they need folks to stay out and folks should stay out, or whether they are simply not aware of “all” the people using it for various constructive and entertaining purposes.

People are invested with time & energy. Always a bit of a harsh feelin’ when something you like gets taken away. I’m just curious as to what they’re thinking.

That was particularly cogent and reasonable.

I hope you get an answer, but if you don’t, I certainly sympathize. The RP community for this game generally strikes me as courteous and fun and I have no doubt they make the playerbase better on the whole.

Unfortunately I know very little about accessing this area and thus I can’t speculate as to why any changes were made. I do know that some previously-accessible areas that were not intentional were shut down because players occupying those spaces in the gameworld could actually cause server-side errors or even, in the worst case, crashes for people in that zone.

I throw in my lot with the rest of these folks. There is – in my sincere opinion – no reason to close it off, and it is a lot more convenient for larger-scale socialisation than just the five-man groups you have for going into instanced Salma. It does not harm anyone (rather the contrary) and not an exploit in the form of sneaking into WvW forts or rushing sPvP. Therefore, I wish you will, at the very least, consider to remove these walls.

ANet has a habit of doing this.

First it was Minister Zamon’s Manor, then it was Canach’s House in Garrenhoff. Now an entire district. ANet don’t seem to like leaving anything accessible or “empty” if they’re done using it.

What they don’t understand is that there is a portion of the game community that would love access to more of these places, places that they can hold events in, interact with each other in, and call more of the world their own, because even though the world is vast, a lot of it is closed off. You can rescue cities, but you cannot enter their buildings. You can only take a total of five people into your Home Instance, or any instance.

There are people who are asking for gathering places. The least ANet can do is leave these little unintended holes and open doors into empty houses open for us, but if they cannot, it would be nice if we were provided with an alternative.

I’m saying this as someone who doesn’t utilize the uninstanced Salma area for very much, but it sets a precedent that I’m not sure I can appreciate. If the only thing that troubles ANet is that they want empty space in their game either removed or filled… we’ll fill it.

It’s a shame! They make very interesting spaces that I, personally, would love to use past their “personal story” use. As a roleplayer, every time I find some beautiful little nook or an empty building I hadn’t encountered before, I get excited. I just wish that instead of creating something and then “barring the door” when they are done with it, Anet would leave the more innocuous things open to player use. Let us enjoy what you’ve built, Anet!!

I support this thread wholeheartedly. This is a kick in the groin for many roleplayers, as well as explorers. I didn’t use it that often myself, but c’mon now – what’s the harm in it? Why wall this off? There’s nothing wrong with people using the district, is there? It doesn’t harm anyone.
I fail to see the logic behind this decision.

The role playing community is relatively quiet on the forum here (for the most part) because of one reason: Arena Net did a good job of keeping role players entertained by giving us access to certain locations and allowing us to find ways to create our own stories without getting stressed in the process.

However, when locations start to get closed off after players have been using certain locations for months at a time, it’s extremely upsetting to those participating in such places. A building or a house being shut away is one thing, but an entire district of Divinity’s Reach is a whole different story.

Now I can understand why Arena Net might want to close off an area like that. Reducing the amount of players visiting that location probably saves a bundle on memory usage across the server, but so does removing unnecessary objects, scripted events, etc. from certain locations. I can understand you want your world to feel more alive, Arena Net, but at the very same time if your servers are over cluttered and you need to conserve memory, removing some stuff would be a good choice. For example: You could set it where the NPCs and such only appear in Instanced Salma during personal story quests, but then remove the NPCs running around in Uninstanced Salma District because there’s no reason for them to be there if nobody can see them.

Optimization. I can understand the desire to clean up your world a bit to smooth performance, but don’t do it at the expense of the players’ enjoyment. Remove mobs from a location that gets WAY too much action (such as saving the Ascalon Settlement with those centaurs that never stop spawning up at the Dwayna Courtyard), and that’s just an example. There have always been a lot of places that need more attention and more bug / glitch solving than a location such as Uninstanced Salma.

Which again begs the question of why Arena Net would choose to close the location off.

It’s been said already that role players have been using that location for their own role play for about nine months (give or take) and so it’s a popular location with establishments that players have created (such as a tea house) and it helps them find enjoyment in their evening hours (or whenever time it is when you hooligans decide to role play).

The problem is that not everyone who plays MMO games is a hardcore PvP / WvW / PvE player. Not everyone wants to spend their evening hours farming for tier 6 materials in Orr or Frostgorge for their legendary weapon. Not everyone wants to get all of their characters to max level with the best gear and the best builds and the best dungeon farming solo groups and blah blah blah. There are a LOT of people who play the game to role play, but it seems more and more that the role playing community is being punished while new PvE / PvP / WvW content is released.

So... why close off such a heavily used location? Really we just want an honest answer, not a quick "It was an exploit that we closed off" answer. From what I’ve seen, the role play community within Guild Wars 2 is very understanding and mature (for the most part), so we’ll understand if it was a real issue that was causing trouble on your end, Arena Net. Just please be honest with us.

I’m a little irked by this. Vertigale is right, ANet! Let us enjoy what you’ve built, please! This game has so so so much hidden potential, all barred up behind invisible walls/doors. We’ll fill the empty spaces!

I’d prefer to keep the face-slapping, groin-kicking, and roleplayer oppression out of it for the time being, but it’s your 2c.

If it’s a game-breaking, server-error-causing issue (as it HAS been in the past), then reason would call for us to stay out.

If they are unaware of the widespread use of the area, perhaps they will rethink restricting the area. Even cracking one of the other doors? Optimistically thinking, of course.

If they are aware that people are using, it is not causing issues, and they are trying to shut it down because, then you may commence with having your face slapped, your groin kicked, your roleplay oppressed, and the great crusade of ANet against we beleagured knights of imagination.

Okay, I’ve had caffeine.

Yes, lets be careful of our tone and be as constructive as possible

A band wagon?
Leaps aboard

People have already (and for more eloquently than me!) put forth the main arguements, but I just thought I’d add my voice to the crowd.

I doubt the memory usage is a problem as you have a great deal of areas in the game that are never visited. The more the game goes on, the more people follow a certain pattern to either roleplay, grind, farm for gold, etc.
I am truly saddened about the closing of the Uninstanced Salma. It brought rich community to those that are here to roleplay and I am one of those users that spend much of his gems in tools that will allow for better character development; thus participating to the finances of this game as well as its economy.

I would like to politely request that the instance is returned, or that we are able to enter more buildings in the available districts.

I and others don’t like how you can never access Claw Island again after the Personal Story is finished, how you can never access a friendly version of Cragstead or North Nolan Hatchery, and… heck, ANet, why would you make a WHOLE INSTANCE like the Molten Facility and then leave THAT inaccessible forever after a mere two weeks?

If the theme of Guild Wars 2 is that all unique content is temporary all empty space needs to be purge, I’m not thrilled with this direction both as a player and as a roleplayer.

Gray.1704:

The role playing community is relatively quiet on the forum here (for the most part) because of one reason: Arena Net did a good job of keeping role players entertained by giving us access to certain locations and allowing us to find ways to create our own stories without getting stressed in the process.

This is probably my favorite part of your post. Yes, I like the logistics too, but this stands out to me. We are quiet. It isn’t because we don’t love the game. It’s because we’re too busy in the world RPing in it and using the vast and wonderful lore that the devs have created for us. That being said, Uninstanced Salma was used to help some of these storylines. I know that Tarnished Coast, had a handful of guilds and avid roleplayers that hung out in Salma In fact, when someone from the arenanet team was confronted on the U. Salma, they stated it wasn’t much of a big deal to use, and that such a thing wasn’t being worried about.

So why take it away?

We’re not 1 shotting people, or exploiting loot. We’re using an area you designed, and making it something more. We’re developing story. I know that the RP community isn’t in the favorite seat, but hey this doesn’t affect anyone but us.

I’d like it to be brought back, mostly just because. . . well, I’m an RPer, and I feel for the large community of people (over 7400 and counting), who can no longer access this place to develop their story lines.

Probably repeating things already said but hey, here’s my voice <3

I think at this point, what is the harm of creating two zones for it. One is open and accessible to everyone and the other is for private missions and quests.

Lets be honest, the home district is lack luster. It doesn’t reflect much of anything, it’s just an instance that we can’t do anything to in order to have our phase stand out from another’s. I’m of the opinion that it may as well be opened up because nothing would be lost, quest NPCs walk around and when you talk to them they pull you into a portion of the map that becomes phased, like everything else beyond home districts. Just square off an area for a private phase during a home-district quest and voila. The game already does this in areas like Queens Dale and so on but keep in mind it will take development work, not necessarily easy-peasy but arguably worth the effort.

Mint Rain.6798:

In fact, when someone from the arenanet team was confronted on the U. Salma, they stated it wasn’t much of a big deal to use, and that such a thing wasn’t being worried about.

Do you have a source for this?

The only mention of it by an official ANet person I could find was by Jason King, Live Response Embed, five months ago. He confirmed reaching it was a bug, got a video, and thanked the folks who reported it — and ignored the other responses in the thread about the roleplayers using it, a request to leave it alone, etc.

Agreed, would like to know why they felt the need to take this away, especially after so long and with so many people using it.

I will be perfectly honest, i am kitten ed off by this action. I am trying to see the reason behind it, but there is none whatsoever. On the other hand, i can give a few reasons why its a bad move.

“MMORPG” is not what i bought. I bought an MMO*RP*G. It was enough that ANet gently forgot to label specific RP worlds, players can get past that, and we did. Piken Square and Tarnished Coast both have stable and well working RP communities. And yes, many of the RP takes place where we were not supposed to go originally. But we did and used it for fun that didnt hurt anybody in any way.

This invisible wall is more alienating than anything i ever saw. I rarely ragequit. Im really trying to see reason or alternative or something. But im this ][ close to just throw up my arms and send whoever decided this to a warmer underground climate, and leave the game if it doesnt get resolved. Fast.

LowestTruth.2635:

Do you have a source for this?

It was said in a mumble meeting between guilds on TC, back when ShadowedSin (AC) was doing guild-gathering-mumble meetings.

Yes indeed! An Anet rep even attended one of those meetings.

lakdav.3694:

I will be perfectly honest, i am kitten ed off by this action. I am trying to see the reason behind it, but there is none whatsoever. On the other hand, i can give a few reasons why its a bad move.

There is a valid reason for it; the area was not meant to be accessible and can only be accessible via some convoluted methods. That’s pretty standard and common sensical for an MMO. All kinds of Bad Things happen when players are allowed into areas they shouldn’t be.

What we are asking for here is a clarification and an exception. A clarification to find out whether we, the players, will be breaking something and causing problems on the back-end if we use the area as we have been using it.

An exception if it is not causing any problems, because a community has flourished based on this area. It is an unintentional good thing, world-building, community encouraging, happiness causing. Shutting it down to bureacracy would be poorly received.

That said, their game and their time. We are not demanding an answer, only seeking one.

Mint Rain.6798:

It was said in a mumble meeting between guilds on TC, back when ShadowSin (AC) was doing guild-gathering-mumble meetings.

Thanks! Got a link, perchance?

While I sympathize with the inconvenience to a small section of people, it’s not as if anyone was unaware that this was an area that was intended to be walled off. Being able to access it at all outside of an instance is, essentially, a bug, and ArenaNet has every right to fix bugs in their game, whether they were bugs that hurt anything or not. Just because a bug is enjoyable to a few does not mean it should not be corrected.

I mean, everyone loved sit-jumping, too. It didn’t hurt anything, and it was really funny to watch. We all missed it when it disappeared, but it was a bug, and ANet fixed it. This is no different.

I have to agree with Lowest Truth. It was obviously an area not meant to be accessible, because you had to jump over all sorts of obstacles to get in.

The questions we’d like to discuss are whether or not this area really needs to be closed off. Are there technical reasons? Client-side or server-side reasons? Story reasons? Is it possible to allow this section of the world to be open to use?

Seems to me like pretty much any instanced area should be accessible as an empty non-instance considering they all fit within the world map anyway.

This is very disheartening for the RP Community on a whole. People have built a place in the Community using what Anet had available for them. With lack of guild halls and structure this was an amazing option. I really hope they bring this back so we can once again pursue using what we have all worked so kitten.

I’m going to second what other folks have said already. Uninstanced Salma was a great spot for many roleplayers on Tarnished Coast at least. No one was bugging things or crashing the server so I have no idea why there were more invisible walls put in.

All this does is drive more rpers from this game and let me tell you, rpers are a group you want. We buy stuff. A lot. We support you and stick around long after the die-hard PVE fans and PvPers are gone.

You have to give us something to work with A-net, and not keep taking things away.

Ease up on the hyperbole.

/futile thread policing

I can see the position of closing bugs. But I’m really not sure why uninstanced Salma district is inaccessible in the first place.

Consider an alternate setup:

The front door near the waypoint brings you into the instance. Whether that’s for personal story or just walking around seeing the sights, it’s the obvious way for players to get to the zone. Just like it is now.

The side door is opened — that’s the door along the road to the Plaza of Lyssa, on the south eastern side of the area. This would allow players to walk into an uninstanced version of the Salma district. Perhaps with a few NPCs, but mostly unoccupied.

In this setup, there are no bugs, since the access is entirely allowed. Roleplayers have their potential RP spots available, and other players will still enter and exit the Salma district as usual (avoiding any confusion for new players).

I am entirely heartbroken by this change, but I understand it was a bug in the first place. It was one everyone on TC liked because we could go to Salma and RP more, especially with the only working hospital AND orphanage in the city. I would honestly love it if the district was opened up as Nkuvu said so that we wouldn’t be bugging anything, but with how harmless bugs like the weapon swap bug and the sit jump bug got fixed, I sadly doubt the Salma district will be usable. It really does suck too, because it takes up a big portion of the map and limits what we, as roleplayers, can do.

I do not understand.
The role player were installed in this kind of neighborhood. Why closed?
They already have very little place. or settle.

Even Asuras have no place or install their community or home, detail of life…

Arena net, put the open instances, and living spaces!

I used it for roleplaying … and I will miss it a lot. Please, juste tell us why :’/

Meanwhile at the Anet boardroom…

“So ladies and gents, let’s conjure up new ways to inconvenience roleplayers. You know, that demographic who is probably the most loyal to this casual game and is pretty much responsible for purchasing all the fluff items we offer through the gem store.”

“Bill… great idea, have a promotion.”

In other words, why fix what was not harming the game or hampering players in any way? After nine months why now do you decide to limit RPers even more, Anet?

Zurkian.1276:

In other words, why fix what was not harming the game or hampering players in any way?

Because it was a bug that was reported. I’m not sure why this is so hard.

HOWEVER

It would be nice if we could talk about it with ANet and come to a compromise, like Nkuvu’s excellent suggestion.

Add me to the voices. We need more places to RP, not less.

I really want truly personaliable places to set up and invite/make public. But until that occurs Selma was a serviceable compromise. If they removed it, in preparation for personal housing, great! but tell us, please. If not I don’t see the reasoning.

THIS IS STUPID.. CHANGE IT BACK!

LowestTruth.2635:

Zurkian.1276:

In other words, why fix what was not harming the game or hampering players in any way?

Because it was a bug that was reported. I’m not sure why this is so hard.

Except common sense would dictate bugs usually impact the game in some negative manner, uninstanced Salma (that we know of) did no such thing … not sure why that is so hard.

I’ll join in all the rational comments here. While I haven’t used uninstanced Salma much (or at all, I’m trying to remember if/when I did), the timing is really bad since a guild plotline scene set for tomorrow night was meant to be played in there.

Even if I had no plans I’d still be boggling at this “fix” to something that wasn’t broken. Granted the NPC’s in there are oddly pathed but the terrain itself is a wonderful stage dressing for so many stories. As others have asked, I’ll also request that we get some explanation of why this was deemed necessary.

Zurkian.1276:

LowestTruth.2635:

Zurkian.1276:

In other words, why fix what was not harming the game or hampering players in any way?

Because it was a bug that was reported. I’m not sure why this is so hard.

Except common sense would dictate bugs usually impact the game in some negative manner, uninstanced Salma (that we know of) did no such thing … not sure why that is so hard.

No, bugs are anything that does not function as intended, negative or positive. This was obviously a bug, as confirmed by an ANet rep five months ago and just now fixed. Also obviously because you can’t get into the place without gyrations. Accept it, move to “now what can we do about it?” phase.

Anet, opening Salma like the other districts is hardly a massive feat so how about you go do it eh, afterall, look at all our hard earned money we spend on your transmutation stones.

Haha, yes! We RPers are cash cows for town clothes, transmutation stones, style kits, and name-change documents. Not to mention bank slots, for all those RP clothes! Seriously, I bought three to house my character’s wardrobe >_>

We like giving you money, Anet!

For all of those who still want to use uninstanced salma, you can still get inside fairly easy plus get others inside easily too, here’s how:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m77TdY6wrtE

Im with the crowd on this one. Why would Anet close off the uninstanced Salma District? It was honestly a great resource to have and I only wish that there were more places like that. Maybe not all of them, but a handful of those one-time uses locations would be pretty sweet. But I digress I’ll settle for just having the uninstanced Salma District back. And if I’m being completely honest I never understood why it was completely instanced off to begin with.

Although I agree that places such as this shouldn’t be cut off if they’re popular, I have to say I prefer seeing RP out in the world rather than in a single cramped district .

LowestTruth.2635:

No, bugs are anything that does not function as intended, negative or positive. This was obviously a bug, as confirmed by an ANet rep five months ago and just now fixed. Also obviously because you can’t get into the place without gyrations. Accept it, move to “now what can we do about it?” phase.

I’m fairly certain understanding why Anet decided to patch Salma, whether it was causing glitches in the game or not, comes before pleading with the devs to reevaluate their decision and give us RPers a compromise. Understand it or not, there is likely a much broader answer other than “because it is a bug” as this game has many, some much more game breaking than uninstanced Salma and Anet has neglected to fix those.