Guild Wars 2

During PAX Prime ArenaNet will reveal what the challenging group content in Heart of Thorns will be and by doing so will make clear how the Elite specialisations are going to work or why is chosen for these roles.

However four classes are still waiting for their Elite to be revealed and I am not talking about what we allready know about two of them since much more is not yet revealed. Since these elite specialisations are in some way tied to the new challenging group content (Yes you don’t have to use them in it), it would be nice if all off the players know what their Elite will be/do before the challenging group content gets revealed at PAX. So please ArenaNet do not leave us Engineers, Rangers, Thiefs and Warriors in agony any longer and reveal them before PAX.

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

Diovid.9506:

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

I am not going to do that, I know by it self it is just another begging thread and I know that ArenaNet has its own schedule.

I only think that Elite Specialisations are such a big cornerstone of HoT and challeging group content that I think it is important every class knows what his position is.

I know for 75% sure that what I am asking is not going to happen but for once I wanted to ask for it even though it the chance is small it will happen.

The one thing that I’ve been so looking forward to in these Beta Weekends is trying out the elites for Ranger and Engineer.

Those are my favorite classes to play and I’m super interested in giving my feedback on them as that is where my previous heavy playing experience lies.

Please Anet, sooner rather than later!

edit: to add smilies

It’s ok to know the challenging group content before the row specizalations considering the game still won’t be released until after its all announced anyways. I don’t see the point you are trying to make.

Even if the hard content was released before any of the specizalations what difference would it make?

Ferguson.2157:

The one thing that I’ve been so looking forward to in these Beta Weekends is trying out the elites for Ranger and Engineer.

Those are my favorite classes to play and I’m super interested in giving my feedback on them as that is where my previous heavy playing experience lies.

Please Anet, sooner rather than later!

edit: to add smilies

Great players think alike my comment is exactly like yours. so I rather quote you than re[eating the same thing

OP I honestly don’t think the specializations will have ANY baring on PvE content. From what I’ve played and seen most of the specs are extremely weak in pve compared to their zerker meta counter parts. However, that doesn’t mean that this challenging content wont be easier with specs, I just don’t see how anet could accomplish that with out kittening off half its fan base.

Thats not possible.

Pax is in 2 weeks (Actually 1, if you consder that pax happens in mid of the second week).

We still have 3 elite specs to be revealed. I would wait for 1 more next week, and the last two within september, leading up to a beta late september, and launch late october.

(I will reference to this post in future if all of it turns right).

MauricioCezar.2673:

Thats not possible.

Pax is in 2 weeks (Actually 1, if you consder that pax happens in mid of the second week).

We still have 3 elite specs to be revealed. I would wait for 1 more next week, and the last two within september, leading up to a beta late september, and launch late october.

(I will reference to this post in future if all of it turns right).

My god, do people still believe HoT is coming in 2015 ?

Ambush.3251:

My god, do people still believe HoT is coming in 2015 ?

Yes, most of us tend to not assume ArenaNet is lying with every single statement they make.

HoT in 2015!?
More like parade the game in front of more shows like PAX instead…

If HoT does release in 2015 it will be more like late November/December and if that’s the case HoT will be washed away in the tide of holiday releases and sales. Who is going to buy HoT on Black Friday if it’s the only game not on sale because it released a week prior or even a week after.

We still have more beta weekends which took weeks to even get the first one since announced so it will probably be a couple more weeks for the second as we obviously aren’t getting one this weekend. We still have half of our classes without specialization reveals though Revenant does tip the reveals to 5 with 4 to go. Furthermore the anniversary events are in about two weeks or so and that no doubt will be another week without HoT info.

MMO’s take to much time and I don’t really play them during the holidays as I’m simply far to busy. I don’t preorder anything without a release date but a release in the busy holiday months makes perfect sense when you consider they’ve been acquiring pre-orders for some time now. The only reason any company does such a thing is if they know there going to launch in a bad time so the sheer fact there doing such is further proof there going to release late in the holiday season and that’s why they wanted your money up front. As for me I’ll get HoT in January if it releases anywhere near Halloween or after.

lordkrall.7241:

Ambush.3251:

My god, do people still believe HoT is coming in 2015 ?

Yes, most of us tend to not assume ArenaNet is lying with every single statement they make.

Vague twitter post of “2015 release” without even saying which quarter = binding contract now?

Substance E.4852:

Vague twitter post of “2015 release” without even saying which quarter = binding contract now?

The twitter post was added AFTER they had said it on a stream in order to clarify it. It is rather unlikely that they would tell us that (both on a stream and on Twitter (and also here on the forums I believe) unless they were 100% sure that it would launch this year (barring massive issues of course).

lordkrall.7241:

Substance E.4852:

Vague twitter post of “2015 release” without even saying which quarter = binding contract now?

The twitter post was added AFTER they had said it on a stream in order to clarify it. It is rather unlikely that they would tell us that (both on a stream and on Twitter (and also here on the forums I believe) unless they were 100% sure that it would launch this year (barring massive issues of course).

The double source does add credibility but if you remember before launch we had a lot of devs being inconstant with each other so staying skeptical never hurts.

Dual warhorns. You’re welcome.

So we’ve just had BWE balancing on specializations that are currently available. So what happens to those that are yet to be revealed and may not make an appearance until the last BWE? Do these not get tested, or balanced after said event?

Embrace The Bold.7619:

The double source does add credibility but if you remember before launch we had a lot of devs being inconstant with each other so staying skeptical never hurts.

Healthy skepticism is a fine thing. I agree you should not blindly believe, caveats should be applied, so forth, so on.

But they are not being inconsistent here. Devs said in live Twitch interviews HoT would launch this year, they said it clearly and with emphasis and repeated it to make sure the message was heard. Then they followed up with the tween as quoted in this article:

http://massivelyop.com/2015/08/06/gamescom-2015-guild-wars-2-confirms-2015-expansion-launch/

So barring disaster, we’ll have HoT this year. ANet has no reason to lie. Unforeseen circumstance (say, a nuclear reactor meltdown forcing a Seattle area mass evacuation?) could intervene but for now they are on track — keep in mind that they historically keep silent when they are unsure of a release, they don’t give a time frame and then ditch it. (The precursor crafting thing being the one exception, but even then I wouldn’t say they were lying about their plans).

As to the thread topic, hmm. I’d love them to double up on reveals, or even triple up. However I think they are going to stick with a full week per elite, so no, we can’t see all the elites before PAX. Alas.

ThFH.6048:

Since these elite specialisations are in some way tied to the new challenging group content

Based on…?

lordkrall.7241:

Ambush.3251:

My god, do people still believe HoT is coming in 2015 ?

Yes, most of us tend to not assume ArenaNet is lying with every single statement they make.

I’m betting on Q1 2016 personally. Likely somewhere around the middle of February.

Diovid.9506:

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

This is not precisely true.

They will be released when they are ABLE to. All signs are the remaining Elite Specs aren’t complete enough yet to show publicly. You can bet good money they aren’t sitting on finished, high octane fuel for the hype train and not using it when they’ve had high visibility events like Gamescon just begging to be exploited. Letting that show go by with nothing new to tickle the vast majority of established players and prospective players who just don’t see GW2 as a e-sport powerhouse was not something they did by choice. And when the highlight of a week is telling us, ‘hey, there’s a big con coming and we’ll announce some stuff there (DUH)‘, you’re looking at a warchest they’ve emptied of good talking points.

I can see Engineer happening after Challenging Content

I can’t imagine it’s going to be easy to talk about Challenging Content without talking about it’s biggest hindrance: AI. Since Forge did seem kinda’ AI-tastic, it’s possible we might need some insight on the new system to put the eSpec in context and understand it’s value.

Come to think of it, Ranger might also qualify for that line of reasoning. Surely any reworking of enemy AI would involve some kind of structural love to the famously under-performing AI profession mechanic (which would have implications for Druid).

I mean, they wouldn’t make savant enemies and saddle us with status quo allies.
Right, guys?
……..right?

Vox Hollow.2736:

I mean, they wouldn’t make savant enemies and saddle us with status quo allies.
Right, guys?
……..right?

That is precisely what they would do.

WHAT DO WE WANT?
WHEN DO WE WANT IT?

lol but srsly, the release schedule on information seems a bit wonky…but it probably fits in with the release which i assume is planned for early q4?

what is a bit weird is that regarding ranger and engineer, the two first teased or “known” elites are not yet fully revealed, which makes me wonder if this was planned all along or if there are issues with their elite specs that need to be ironed out…

Sicarius.4639:

So we’ve just had BWE balancing on specializations that are currently available. So what happens to those that are yet to be revealed and may not make an appearance until the last BWE? Do these not get tested, or balanced after said event?

It’s not like balancing stops after HoT is released. Though I can understand the worry.

Diovid.9506:

Diovid.9506:

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

This is not precisely true.

They will be released when they are ABLE to. All signs are the remaining Elite Specs aren’t complete enough yet to show publicly. You can bet good money they aren’t sitting on finished, high octane fuel for the hype train and not using it when they’ve had high visibility events like Gamescon just begging to be exploited. Letting that show go by with nothing new to tickle the vast majority of established players and prospective players who just don’t see GW2 as a e-sport powerhouse was not something they did by choice. And when the highlight of a week is telling us, ‘hey, there’s a big con coming and we’ll announce some stuff there (DUH)‘, you’re looking at a warchest they’ve emptied of good talking points.

That’s partially what I meant with being released when Anet is ready to release them. Partially it has to do with the development of the elite specs. However, another part, without a doubt is marketing (i.e. the spreading out of information to maintain some level of interest). These combined determine when and how information is revealed.

December 31, 23:00, somewhere near the northpole:
A selected few people that all consistently wore their tinfoild hats all year long will get a chance to do battle for the first and only HoT box that has already been stamped then.

Weapons and tournment content! will include:
*Debatte if Logan Thackery is a traitor or just a fool, with a dev being the referee and judge of the argument.
*Debatte if Kashmeer is only a 4/10 for some minor reasons. A circle of supermodels act as judges.
*Quaggan circle dance, with Quaggan hand waving and synchronity getting measured at. Also Quaggan dance noises will be put against the real noises of Quaggans that are held in a basin under the headquarters of Anet.
*Tengu flight run battle, teams in Tengu costumes battle it out in a west side story fashion. Again synchronity is key, and only GW1 jaded veterans are allowed.

Ranger will get a staff and be told to go stand in a corner with their pet. They will get a new skill called ‘synergy attack’ that takes 3 times as long as a pet special to charge while staying rooted so 6-10 seconds after you press the attack button a gas cloud is released with a 240 radius around you that damages players in it’s radius for 1k per second for 5 seconds if they stay in it’s range.

Of course in pvp you’ll be dead or the target will be at the other side of the map, but that’s never stopped them giving pets 2-3 second skill activation times…

Notsoperky.4291:

Ranger will get a staff and be told to go stand in a corner with their pet. They will get a new skill called ‘synergy attack’ that takes 3 times as long as a pet special to charge while staying rooted so 6-10 seconds after you press the attack button a gas cloud is released with a 240 radius around you that damages players in it’s radius for 1k per second for 5 seconds if they stay in it’s range.

Of course in pvp you’ll be dead or the target will be at the other side of the map, but that’s never stopped them giving pets 2-3 second skill activation times…

This is why I had some concern over how Anet are doing these BWE’s and their balancing. I’ve got a bad feeling we’re in the last weekend and that many other classes will have had their specializations looked after for quite some time and if anything is broken or not right it will be glazed over.

Doam.8305:

HoT in 2015!?
More like parade the game in front of more shows like PAX instead…

If HoT does release in 2015 it will be more like late November/December and if that’s the case HoT will be washed away in the tide of holiday releases and sales. Who is going to buy HoT on Black Friday if it’s the only game not on sale because it released a week prior or even a week after.

We still have more beta weekends which took weeks to even get the first one since announced so it will probably be a couple more weeks for the second as we obviously aren’t getting one this weekend. We still have half of our classes without specialization reveals though Revenant does tip the reveals to 5 with 4 to go. Furthermore the anniversary events are in about two weeks or so and that no doubt will be another week without HoT info.

MMO’s take to much time and I don’t really play them during the holidays as I’m simply far to busy. I don’t preorder anything without a release date but a release in the busy holiday months makes perfect sense when you consider they’ve been acquiring pre-orders for some time now. The only reason any company does such a thing is if they know there going to launch in a bad time so the sheer fact there doing such is further proof there going to release late in the holiday season and that’s why they wanted your money up front. As for me I’ll get HoT in January if it releases anywhere near Halloween or after.

Was late August a bad time for release? Seemed ok to me. I guess taking pre-purchase orders doesn’t always indicate a release late in the holiday season. Unless there are some holidays in August I’m unaware of. Lol, wouldn’t be the first time I’m found unaware. =P

Sicarius.4639:

Notsoperky.4291:

Ranger will get a staff and be told to go stand in a corner with their pet. They will get a new skill called ‘synergy attack’ that takes 3 times as long as a pet special to charge while staying rooted so 6-10 seconds after you press the attack button a gas cloud is released with a 240 radius around you that damages players in it’s radius for 1k per second for 5 seconds if they stay in it’s range.

Of course in pvp you’ll be dead or the target will be at the other side of the map, but that’s never stopped them giving pets 2-3 second skill activation times…

This is why I had some concern over how Anet are doing these BWE’s and their balancing. I’ve got a bad feeling we’re in the last weekend and that many other classes will have had their specializations looked after for quite some time and if anything is broken or not right it will be glazed over.

This.
So much this.
All of my this.

Halan.7931:

Diovid.9506:

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

But I’m sure most art, skill effects and general concepts are already done. So why not show them, so we just know what to expect, and do the balancing part later? Time from Chronomancer reveal to playable BWE was huge.

I’m starting a new account for HoT, but not buying it yet, because I can’t decide which class to make my main, Ranger of Thief, and I need to see both specializations.

Art assets and concept take significantly less time to make than the programing and skill design.
It would take an afternoon to come up with “Druid”. Less than 5 minutes later you’ve got the logical weapon for a druid. Two weeks or so later you have the druid shoulders and staff we’ve seen already. Evidently the skills/traits themselves take 6+ months to work out.

Diovid.9506:

Repeat after me: They will be released when Anet is ready to release them.

I’m confident that both tempest and dragonhunter were ready to be released. xD

lordkrall.7241:

Yes, most of us tend to not assume ArenaNet is lying with every single statement they make.

Being committed only states their intent. It only means anet wishes HoT be released in 2015.

Misguided.5139:

Based on…?

Most are focused on supportive aspect which isn’t needed in the current content.

rotten.9753:

lordkrall.7241:

Yes, most of us tend to not assume ArenaNet is lying with every single statement they make.

Being committed only states their intent. It only means anet wishes HoT be released in 2015.

After wich their official twitter confirmed it. Seriously when a company known for saying “when it’s ready” commits for release this year, you can count on release this year

Fox.3469:

After wich their official twitter confirmed it. Seriously when a company known for saying “when it’s ready” commits for release this year, you can count on release this year

Being committed in IT slang means they are on a track to deliver a product within the acceptable timeframe. You cannot count on lack of any unforeseen accidents. If, for example, beta feedback had been extremely negative, I’m pretty confident the release window would have been moved.

rotten.9753:

Fox.3469:

After wich their official twitter confirmed it. Seriously when a company known for saying “when it’s ready” commits for release this year, you can count on release this year

Being committed in IT slang means they are on a track to deliver a product within the acceptable timeframe. You cannot count on lack of any unforeseen accidents. If, for example, beta feedback had been extremely negative, I’m pretty confident the release window would have been moved.

Wich is why they are using those terms, but they wouldn’t share it if they weren’t pretty kitten confident in the date. Seriously i waited 4 years after GW1 for a kitten date, i know that when this company releases dates they aren’t messing around anymore and they are 99% certain.

well, there isnt that much you can still announce
day/night cycle
more masteries
guild halls
remaining specializations
maybe some xxx stuff
but looking at the past schedule, we should be through with everything latest in october…so a release then is likely… maybe they aim for the holiday season? or they are stupid and release it the same time fallout 4 comes out…

Nemesis.6938:

well, there isnt that much you can still announce
day/night cycle
more masteries
guild halls
remaining specializations
maybe some xxx stuff
but looking at the past schedule, we should be through with everything latest in october…so a release then is likely… maybe they aim for the holiday season? or they are stupid and release it the same time fallout 4 comes out…

Day/Night cycle have already been talked about when they talked about the map.
We already know all masteries coming with HoT.
Guild Halls had a full week with many blog posts so not really anything else to talk about there.

The only announced feature that is left to talk about is Challenging Group Content (being talked about at Pax) and the rest of the Elite Specializations.

Turbo Modus won’t work. Anet will take it’s time to keep the hype flame going. We are not close enough to the release is what they keep telling us with those slow reveals. At best they will reveal the release at Pax and the elite specs in due time, but i actually doubt that. Still 4 reveals left means basically +/- 4 weeks, we are getting closer … either way they can keep that hype flame burning only for so long…

Fox.3469:

Seriously when a company known for saying “when it’s ready” commits for release this year, you can count on release this year

Seeing how they still didn’t get VB to work properly in this betah, I fail to see how they can confidently say that everything else will in the 4 something months that’s left, especially when it looks like that elite specs aren’t even done yet. It’s bad enough that we’ll get 4 maps (very likely) that will be absolutely untested save their internal testers, I can’t see how they can address all the issues that will come up with their unfinished specs.

What’s more likely is that they’ll release it unfinished and patch it later, or delay further. Either way, this can’t be good.

PorceleinEve.2973:

What’s more likely is that they’ll release it unfinished and patch it later, or delay further.

All games these days are released unfinished, that’s why pretty much all games have day-1 patches. This is doubly so for mmos which are never ‘done’. The question is, is it finished enough to be playable and enjoyable? From what I’ve played so far, that answer is yes. But everybody will give one’s own answer to that question.

Yep. I decided long ago that I will not Purchase / Pre-purchase HoT until I, at the very least, see all of the Elite specs. I don’t know why they are being so secretive about it or why it’s taking them so long.

Maybe someone that works in marketing / sales can tell me. Does a product sell more when the consumer knows less about what they’re buying or more about what they’re buying?

SenorMoody.5908:

Yep. I decided long ago that I will not Purchase / Pre-purchase HoT until I, at the very least, see all of the Elite specs. I don’t know why they are being so secretive about it or why it’s taking them so long.

Maybe someone that works in marketing / sales can tell me. Does a product sell more when the consumer knows less about what they’re buying or more about what they’re buying?

Maybe they are simply not ready to show them yet? They know that if they do show us something and then it ends up being changed between now and release all kitten breaks loose, and thus they tend to not tell us things until they are sure that that is actually set in stone.

PorceleinEve.2973:

Fox.3469:

Seriously when a company known for saying “when it’s ready” commits for release this year, you can count on release this year

Seeing how they still didn’t get VB to work properly in this betah, I fail to see how they can confidently say that everything else will in the 4 something months that’s left, especially when it looks like that elite specs aren’t even done yet. It’s bad enough that we’ll get 4 maps (very likely) that will be absolutely untested save their internal testers, I can’t see how they can address all the issues that will come up with their unfinished specs.

What’s more likely is that they’ll release it unfinished and patch it later, or delay further. Either way, this can’t be good.

I guess you’ll have to wait, see, realise you were wrong, and then kitten about something else entirely. Seriously i’ve had it with the kitten negativity. GW2 itself was hardly finished in the BWE’s and released just fine a bit later that year, in fact better then any mmo i’ve seen.
If you don’t have confidence in it, don’t buy the expansion till a few weeks after release, simple as that.
But stop making it seem like A-Net are purposely kittening us over for money. I’ve played since the start of GW1 and i’ve never felt any of their expansions or games had a lack of content. In fact there isn’t a single one of their releases that hasn’t amazed me in terms of content for the money we were paying. If that doesn’t give you some faith i don’t know what will.

SenorMoody.5908:

Maybe someone that works in marketing / sales can tell me. Does a product sell more when the consumer knows less about what they’re buying or more about what they’re buying?

Sadly, that is a question that can´t be answered with a yes or a no from the outside of a given company, it´s goals and the data it has collected.

Marketing is not a science like statistical mathematics where proof is king, but a wild perception and basically a bloated but educated guess, depending on how you collect your data(active passive), what your competition does in the mean time, your market share and therefore your market power, the time you are willing on spending watching the market, and how flexible the attention and desire for your product is(penicilin or screwdriver? BIG difference) for your product is, your brand power and a multitude of other factors.

From my point of view, Anet drives a very slow campaign building on anticipation which is bound to fail miserably because the large majority of players are casuals, who quickly loose interest of the product to wait for is neither shiny or without competition

Fox.3469:

I’ve played since the start of GW1 and i’ve never felt any of their expansions or games had a lack of content. In fact there isn’t a single one of their releases that hasn’t amazed me in terms of content for the money we were paying. If that doesn’t give you some faith i don’t know what will.

I officially declare that I am now full of faith in anet because you, yes you, told me that there hasn’t been a single one of their releases that didn’t amaze you. That’s all I wanted to hear. Now I can put my fears to rest. YOU were amazed by them, and that’s all I need to know.

Do I need to go on or we’re ok now?

lordkrall.7241:

Maybe they are simply not ready to show them yet? They know that if they do show us something and then it ends up being changed between now and release all kitten breaks loose, and thus they tend to not tell us things until they are sure that that is actually set in stone.

Imagine that. But no, that’s to logical. They must be screwing us behind our backs.
/sarcasm

Obiously this is the case.