Guild Wars 2

I got curious… how many people do you have working on new content?l

Basically 2 people dude.

Lol..that is so untrue.

Judging by the quality of Living Story content, yeah about 2 people.

I’ve played an mmo with 2 people on the dev team (rip MxO) , GW2 has way more.

Not sure. I heard they had a gym and that they do work out so hopefully they are not that big.

I know its not a lot at anet. Rumors (so who know how true they are) have said that Anet is actually understaffed and paid under the industry standard, which could explain why they might be having trouble hiring people. NCsoft needs to pay them more imo. They made a killing off this game and they could probably still make a killing.

Deified.7520:

I know its not a lot at anet. Rumors (so who know how true they are) have said that Anet is actually understaffed and paid under the industry standard, which could explain why they might be having trouble hiring people. NCsoft needs to pay them more imo. They made a killing off this game and they could probably still make a killing.

Salary ranges:
http://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/ArenaNet-Salaries-E255820.htm

Do they look underpaid in the video?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_eTwqhZag0g

Zoldyck.6241:

Do they look underpaid in the video?
http://youtu.be/_eTwqhZag0g

Yes: some don’t even have shoes! :P

Best i can tell, 10s of artists, maybe 5 programmers.

Fror.2163:

Zoldyck.6241:

Do they look underpaid in the video?
http://youtu.be/_eTwqhZag0g

Yes: some don’t even have shoes! :P

As we know, that doesn’t have to mean anything. Queen Jennah doesn’t wear shoes either. Even though I’ve personally never noticed that (neither would I mind it)… but people use(d) to say so. ^^

I think I know the issues with the Engineer profession now, they are paying the 1 intern 14k a year to balance it and fix the bugs.

Saturn.6591:

Fror.2163:

Zoldyck.6241:

Do they look underpaid in the video?
http://youtu.be/_eTwqhZag0g

Yes: some don’t even have shoes! :P

As we know, that doesn’t have to mean anything. Queen Jennah doesn’t wear shoes either. Even though I’ve personally never noticed that (neither would I mind it)… but people use(d) to say so. ^^

That was a joke… I thought the “:P” would be self-explanatory. Apparently not.

A few people, all the other developers moved to China.

Here is a partial list:

Executive Producers

Mike O’Brien

Designers

James Phinney
Isaiah Cartwright (User Page)
Darrin Claypool
Emily Diehl (User Page)
Michael Ferguson
Eric Flannum
Kevin Gadd
Jeff Grubb
John Hargrove
Stephen Hwang
Colin Johanson
Curtis Johnson
Albert Liao
Andrew McLeod (User Page)
Kevin Millard
Ben Miller
Joe Mullenix
Linsey Murdock
Mike O’Brien
Jonathan Peters
Brian Porter
Jonathan Sharp
Ree Soesbee
John Stumme

Artists

Daniel Dociu
Scott Albaugh
Richard Anderson
Matthew Barrett
Aaron Coberly
Rebecca Coffman
Dan Cole
Kevin Dalziel
Horia Dociu
David Dunniway
Brant Fitzgerald
Eli Hanselman
Katharine Hargrove
Levi Hopkins
Trevor Howell
Susan Jessup
Wei-Che (Jason) Juan
Jaime Jones
Eric Klokstad
Kekaipo’inalu Kotaki
Darren Lamb
Tonya Lyle
Scott Mayhew
Matthew Medina
Kristen Perry
Hai Phan
Bobby Pontillas
Heron Prior
Delly Sartika
Jason Stokes
Barry Sundt
Xia Taptarakunekane
Matthew Tate
Chris Turnham
Christian Venturini
Billy Wardlaw
Jason Wiggin
Doug Williams

Environment Artists

Dave Beetlestone
Win Arayaphong
Tirzah Bauer
Ely Cannon
Jesse Christensen
Justin Fawcett
Tami Foote
Josh Foreman
Peter Fries
Jens Hauch
Jason Jones
James McMillan

Assistant Artist

Chelsea Kibler

Programmers

Brett Vickers
Jim Scott
Brenton Anderson
James Boer
Stephen Clarke-Willson
John Corpening
Brandon Dillon
Kevin Ehmry
Shana Gitnick
Brad Hallisey
Joe Kimmes
Lewis Mohr
Mike O’Brien
Umesh Patel
Eric Rane
Chae Seong Lim
Nicholas Shaffner
Braeden Shosa
Austin Spafford
Jeff Strain
Denis Suhanov
Patrick Wyatt
Mark Young
John Zipperer

Here is some more:

Writers

Stacie Magelssen
Brian Campbell
Sean Ferguson
Cory Herndon
Caitlin Kittredge
Will McDermott
Bobby Stein

Cinematics

Perry Cucinotta
Kirill Federspiel
Daniel Jennings

Producers

Jay Adams
Shawn Sharp

Business Team

Jenny Bendel
Lisa LaFay
Steve Shepard
Kevin Simons

Community

Gaile Gray
Natasha Hoover
Andrew Patrick

IT

Peter Petrucci
Steve Becker
Erin Brooks
Justin Schumacher
Trey Valenta

Localization

Adam Vance
Mehdi Mousavi
Zheren “Jason” Yu
Yuhong Wang

Organized Play

Michael Gills

Quality Assurance

David Stiner
Meg Adams
Kim Chase
Leah Eckstrom
Chuck Jackman
Ben Kirsch
Mori Marchany
Elijah Miller
Nate Robinson
Ryan Scott
Johann Tang
Mike Zadorojny (Userpage)

Web and Visual Design

Ron Critchfield
Samuel Bragg
AJ Thompson
Reagan Wright (User Page)

All those people are working on new content?

And please, next time list all those names in paragraph form, rather than a new return for each name!

Fror.2163:

Saturn.6591:

Fror.2163:

Zoldyck.6241:

Do they look underpaid in the video?
http://youtu.be/_eTwqhZag0g

Yes: some don’t even have shoes! :P

As we know, that doesn’t have to mean anything. Queen Jennah doesn’t wear shoes either. Even though I’ve personally never noticed that (neither would I mind it)… but people use(d) to say so. ^^

That was a joke… I thought the “:P” would be self-explanatory. Apparently not.

It was. But I also thought it’s obvious that my answer isn’t meant in a bad way. If it was, I wouldn’t have mentioned Queen Jennah, but called you out (kinda) for thinking only poor people don’t wear shoes (sometimes). Maybe I should have written it like “But… but… Queen Jennah doesn’t wear shoes either! So it doesn’t have to mean anything! I guess… o.o”

^^

tigirius.9014:

I think I know the issues with the Engineer profession now, they are paying the 1 intern 14k a year to balance it and fix the bugs.

ANet exec: “Wait.. what!?! There is an Engineer profession? Oh ****! We might want to take a look at that one day. But first, make me some more greatsword skins!”

Reihert.1509:

I got curious… how many people do you have working on new content?l

More than the average number of bubbles in 13.6ml of your finest soft drink.

hmm interesting I only knew or heard about Anet hiring, not people leaving. Wonder what happened. Anyone have news links on this because I check three major gaming news sites daily and never heard a thing the entire 10 months? My other question would be who exactly was it that left or was fired (if anyone was fired) and were they from the original team that spoke to people in the pre-launch interviews and/or the manifesto?

There hasn’t been any big news coverage about lay offs, or firings, or large (since synonym I wanted to use is filtered glowers at anet) exodus that I have found. Most likely, as with all companies, people have just migrated to ‘better’ jobs. It is common in this industry. Rarely is there a lot of advancement opportunity as most employers will simply hire to fill the position, as such, in order to ‘grow’ people will change jobs.

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

There hasn’t been any big news coverage about lay offs, or firings, or large (since synonym I wanted to use is filtered glowers at anet) exodus that I have found. Most likely, as with all companies, people have just migrated to ‘better’ jobs. It is common in this industry. Rarely is there a lot of advancement opportunity as most employers will simply hire to fill the position, as such, in order to ‘grow’ people will change jobs.

Well in the context of the passion that people said was lost on this game just after launch I’m sure I’m not the only one who wonders if this occurred in the main pre-launch development team. Not saying this is what happened but one cannot deny it would certainly explain alot if it is the behind the scenes story.

That’s unfortunate that there aren’t any Guild War 1 remaining; staffs, except 3 on that list.

I guess there will Never be any changes to the Irony of Imbalance Thief Stealth.

As the saying goes, “The Majority Wins”

Sad truth is, the Remaining Guild wars 1 members are restricted to implement their visions to this next series,

see thread “we want Robert Hrouda back”

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/we-want-Robert-Hrouda-back/first#post2266572

I truly Miss the Guild War 1 team
Their Vision will alwayd be Remembered A World Without Stealth and “The Hero”

That was Exhilarating

Manifesto

Godspeed

Guild War 1

tigirius.9014:

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

There hasn’t been any big news coverage about lay offs, or firings, or large (since synonym I wanted to use is filtered glowers at anet) exodus that I have found. Most likely, as with all companies, people have just migrated to ‘better’ jobs. It is common in this industry. Rarely is there a lot of advancement opportunity as most employers will simply hire to fill the position, as such, in order to ‘grow’ people will change jobs.

Well in the context of the passion that people said was lost on this game just after launch I’m sure I’m not the only one who wonders if this occurred in the main pre-launch development team. Not saying this is what happened but one cannot deny it would certainly explain alot if it is the behind the scenes story.

Possibly, but not really any way to know the why or how behind a lot of it. I don’t ‘feel’ as though the team has lost its passion, but I look at the game from a different perspective, I’m sure. I do feel that they seem to be a bit misguided in their decisions.

tigirius.9014:

hmm interesting I only knew or heard about Anet hiring, not people leaving. Wonder what happened. Anyone have news links on this because I check three major gaming news sites daily and never heard a thing the entire 10 months? My other question would be who exactly was it that left or was fired (if anyone was fired) and were they from the original team that spoke to people in the pre-launch interviews and/or the manifesto?

A couple developers have left on their own, basically they get offered a better job at another company so they take it. Like would you stay a jr. concept artist at arenanet or take the senior level position at another company for a decent bump in pay.

Over 5 years time this sort of thing can happen several times. I know a few of the Anet staff that have left over the years and the ones that I know left have gotten positions in other companies. In sort, they weren’t fired or laid off but took a reasonable offer for career advancement.

I also know arenanets total staff number has grown – and is still growing.

Why do you want to know how many people work at ANet? Seems like a desperate attempt at explaining your dislike for content, or desperate attempt for an argument that they have too little staff? I really have no idea lol, I’m just curious why it even matters. Can a games company not have a natural turn-around of staff like every other company?

Draygo.9473:

I also know arenanets total staff number has grown – and is still growing.

I really hope this is not just some internet rumor.
As seeing those pitiful Dev-numbers on the Glassdoor page just makes me sad.
Most of those need to be doubled, tripled even.

And then the content they awesomely manage to create gets discarded like a used bottle. Like the molten dungeon and surely the upcoming Aetherblade one too.

Most infuriating as they would be great additions to the (now) stale Fractals rotation.

If I had to guess I’d say that most of the programmers are working on the expansion that NCSoft doesn’t know what to do with. One week it exists, the next they’ve never heard of it and the next it is far along in development. But since the company making the expansion doesn’t even know about it then I doubt they have any notable programmers working on it.

So who knows.

Ah well, I got it from our current wiki. Guess someone needs to update that. My bad. =P

Is that glassdoor estimate accurate? If so, then YES! they are underpaid by a good 20-30%.

isnt like 125 people? something over 100 is memory serves

Probably somewhere around 15-20 people I’d say work as the live team. But this is a number range I pulled from my hindquarters.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Ah well, I got it from our current wiki. Guess someone needs to update that. My bad. =P

you followed the link to the gw1 wiki. the gw2 credits list is incomplete.

BobbyStein.2315:

The credits list that Inculpatus cedo.9234 posted is way out of date (probably from the Nightfall days if memory serves), so don’t refer to it for GW2-related discussions, please. Many of those folks have change roles or moved on to other companies.

Yet you avoided the OP question ?

Crawford.4135:

BobbyStein.2315:

The credits list that Inculpatus cedo.9234 posted is way out of date (probably from the Nightfall days if memory serves), so don’t refer to it for GW2-related discussions, please. Many of those folks have change roles or moved on to other companies.

Yet you avoided the OP question ?

SHHHH, it’s a secret.

Draygo.9473:

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Ah well, I got it from our current wiki. Guess someone needs to update that. My bad. =P

you followed the link to the gw1 wiki. the gw2 credits list is incomplete.

As the information from following the link is no longer valid, my suggestion to update the page seems reasonable. I would do it myself, but I never really like to change others’ posts on the wiki; I’m just a part-time contributor. =)

Crawford.4135:

BobbyStein.2315:

The credits list that Inculpatus cedo.9234 posted is way out of date (probably from the Nightfall days if memory serves), so don’t refer to it for GW2-related discussions, please. Many of those folks have change roles or moved on to other companies.

Yet you avoided the OP question ?

Mine won’t be answered either, I simply want to know if the people from the manifesto are still there.

I doubt I’ll get an answer.

tigirius.9014:

Crawford.4135:

BobbyStein.2315:

The credits list that Inculpatus cedo.9234 posted is way out of date (probably from the Nightfall days if memory serves), so don’t refer to it for GW2-related discussions, please. Many of those folks have change roles or moved on to other companies.

Yet you avoided the OP question ?

Mine won’t be answered either, I simply want to know if the people from the manifesto are still there.

I doubt I’ll get an answer.

Everyone from the manifesto is still there as far as I know. Certainly Ree Soesbee, Colin Johanson and Mike O’brien are still there. And as far as I know so is the lead artist, so yes. everyone is here.

Reihert.1509:

I got curious… how many people do you have working on new content?l

Whoever they are, they are some pretty poor players, because the content they put in is so easy my pets play through it for me.

HawkMeister.4758:

And then the content they awesomely manage to create gets discarded like a used bottle. Like the molten dungeon and surely the upcoming Aetherblade one too.

Most infuriating as they would be great additions to the (now) stale Fractals rotation.

This indeed. All temp content NEEDS to become fractals! Then you’re expanding fractals and sating the people that weren’t there for the events / want to do them more.

BobbyStein.2315:

The credits list that Inculpatus cedo.9234 posted is way out of date (probably from the Nightfall days if memory serves), so don’t refer to it for GW2-related discussions, please. Many of those folks have change roles or moved on to other companies.

Not to be rude here, but if there was some more up to date info, there would be less errors i’d guess..

And to the OP yes those pay rates seem lowish to me.

People move a lot in software. That’s part of the job expectation. Companies tend to hire what they need to have a “full” staff for normal operation. When more work comes in than is typical, like extra contracts are scored, a company may tend to hire contractors instead of new full-time employees. Contractors stick around for a year and then either get their contract renewed, are offered a full-time position if one is open, or they move on. This is to avoid lay-offs in the lull between contracts.

That company culture ends up with the people on the top (Department heads, senior engineers, lead designers) sticking where they are comfortable since there are fewer of those positions available and there is a certain amount of risk in moving to a new studio. That leaves people lower on the ladder with no where to go. A programmer might go from SE1 to SE2 within a company, but is never going to make senior unless another senior leaves, which they are less unlikely to do.

At that point, once you have gone as far as you can in a company, the only other option is to update your resume and look for somewhere that has a higher potential for growth. Developers also have specialties they don’t necessary get to work in all the time. Someone that has a passion for AI might end up working on feature development. If a comparable position opens up elsewhere that lets them focus on developing AI, they are likely to migrate.

Thats your game (or sim) development insight for the day.

http://goo.gl/Bl9ja

So… instead of answering us with a number, they said info X is outdated =/

btw, i think the dev team is pretty big. the 2 people thing isn’t the dev team, but the balance team only.

Jaall.3420:

Why do you want to know how many people work at ANet? Seems like a desperate attempt at explaining your dislike for content, or desperate attempt for an argument that they have too little staff? I really have no idea lol, I’m just curious why it even matters. Can a games company not have a natural turn-around of staff like every other company?

Then OP should go read https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mythical_Man-Month