Guild Wars 2

I understand things take time – trust me, I do. There’s alot of demands being thrown around on the forums; ladders, matchmaking, balance changes, bug fixes, private arenas, new game modes…the list goes on and on and on. I’m sure you guys have a list of priorities – the things you consider most important, and why you feel that way. Why not share some of that information with us?

It’s really very, very disheartening to be kept so in the dark. I enjoy this game – I really do, which is why I keep playing, despite a lack of variety (Conquest only gets very old), the bunker/burst meta of the current system, the list of bugs and design issues with my favored class… this list also goes on and on. My point is, I like the game underneath it all, and I am willing to wait, something I feel alot of players here also feel. You don’t ask me for a monthly fee, and there is no gear race – I could quit tomorrow, come back in 3 months, and not have to worry about power creep. That’s a big deal for me.

But at the moment, I feel it isn’t worth it. I have almost no idea what you’re working on. There’s nothing to keep me interested, because I’ve got nothing to look forward to. It hurts my confidence in the game to sit here and hope the next patch will fix things important to me, and be subsequently disappointed. If you released a list of your priorities, and the thing I cared about wasn’t in the top 5, It would still suck, but at least I would know ANet cared, and it would come along eventually.

I can be patient, I’m an adult. I can’t hold blind faith forever. Give me something to be patient for, rather than let us lose hope.

Note: Again, agree or disagree, please keep things in this post civil. If Anet actually reads and responds, I’d like even dissenting opinions to have a modicum of respect and decency in them.

I went back to playing more LoL, as riot is transparent with tons of their future changes and open discusses their issues on the forums with players letting players be part of the design process or atleast get questions answered.

Maybe when things slow down or Arenanet hires more people….or maybe when they lift some of the NDA that apparently is being enforced on the devs to prevent them from saying anything to us. I dont know which is the main issue, but i feel that one of those things is keeping arenanet from being as awsome as some other game companys out there int he E-sport scene.

I hope they do eventually change, but for me…i’m just playing other stuff, i pay no monthly for this. Majority of my friends already quit..few still seem slightly interested so if they ever fix things and add what i want, i might come back…might even spend some money on it. But for now, no interest….only thing i’m worried is there will be enough people like me, that they wont bring in enough income to ever get it to where iw ant the game to be. And that would suck….but its happend so much in the past i havent ruled it out …but heres hoping cause they really got a good thing going….but their community involvement is simply not something you would expect from a company that supposedly cares about its player base.

I just hang on to the dream that I will log on one day and download a patch that fixes everything. I see POV though, if someone says hey we are doing x, y, or z, and it does not happen, I think there is some liability there that they want to avoid.

Although there has been maybe a handful of posts out there that say hey we recognize things need fixing in x, y, or z, but that is about it. I think that is as far as it has gone into detail.

What kills me though is that I feel like I get more information about things from sources outside of Anet themselves. I do not know how many times I have had to use reddit or facebook or just flat out google to get information on the game. I may be wrong about this, but I feel like the patch notes are posted on gw2guru before they are on this very website.

I know we live in the world of social media, but I would like to see more direct communication about things.

Here’s your answer. They are working on some GREAT stuff, but it’s too good to tell you. Just wait and see…

Pyrial.2917:

Here’s your answer. They are working on some GREAT stuff, but it’s too good to tell you. Just wait and see…

Ohhh…I am so excited to tell you about the HUGE plans we have coming up, but I just can’t tell you right now. When you see them, it will BLOW YOUR EVER LOVING MIND!

change finally comes
Notes: Fixed wolf finisher to make the howl seem more realistic

ArenaNet should just license out the SPvP portion of the game to another developer, they have demonstrated they do not have the competence or manpower to develop this aspect of the game.

Interpret Interrupt.3824:

I just hang on to the dream that I will log on one day and download a patch that fixes everything. I see POV though, if someone says hey we are doing x, y, or z, and it does not happen, I think there is some liability there that they want to avoid.

I can see that argument – I really can. The internet is an unforgiving place, and posting planned changes that may not come to fruition (or even if the timeline changes) is a surefire way to cause a forum firestorm. But those people will always act like that; they’ll whine and cry and threaten to leave over even the slightest of imagined injustices.

The more level-headed among us deserve some sort of information. Not just snippets here and there; a stickied, all-encompassing post which addresses planned changes(Like ladder, matchmaking, etc…), class bugs, class balances, and fixes to underperforming weaponsets, utilities, and elites. I’ve seen the argument from Dev’s “Every minute I spend here is a minute I’m not working” – Fine, take a day. I’m fairly sure anyone who actually cares about this game will wait a whole additional day for some information about where this is all going, rather than what little we’ve been getting since launch.

felivear.1536:

Pyrial.2917:

Here’s your answer. They are working on some GREAT stuff, but it’s too good to tell you. Just wait and see…

Ohhh…I am so excited to tell you about the HUGE plans we have coming up, but I just can’t tell you right now. When you see them, it will BLOW YOUR EVER LOVING MIND!

change finally comes
Notes: Fixed wolf finisher to make the howl seem more realistic

This is a very good point and as such I will quote it for truth…

I think many of us would be more than happy with general information (avoiding liabilities) to let us know that things are, in fact, in the works.

Many MMOs just give their players the PvP portion and leave it at that.

As evilapprentice said, I enjoy the game beneath. It’s a breath of fresh air to get visceral combat without the avalanche of never or rarely used skills, etc, etc, etc.

But we have questions. Are balance adjustments being looked into (regardless of specifics), or is bunker-burst a competitive meta which is here to stay as-is? Has the game achieved the desired meta, or are tweaks being considered? This is a simple, yet somewhat game-defining question. Knowing just a little general direction, one way or another, would be a comfort.

Questions about game types are similar. Even if they weren’t rated, I’d enjoy more modes for spvp. Obviously, pretty much everyone feels the same way. While I, too, have no problem waiting, I’d prefer “We intend to add more game types when we have finished higher priorities” over “We’ll think about it, maybe.”

While I’ll continue to play the game because it’s fun and stop, like anyone else, when it’s not, part of that is knowing what we’re playing. What kind of game are we learning all the classes and skills and builds for? What kind of game are we ranking up and gearing characters for? Where’s it heading?

I love the game, but I too would appreciate a little bit of communication, however general. Tiered PvE gear (surprise!) being the best available to WvW raises enough questions. A few answers would be welcome.

So I noticed someone has resurrected an extremely similar post on this forum from about a month ago…which actually got a Dev response, promising most of the things I’ve asked for. Seeing as we still haven’t gotten it, I’d say is fair to start worrying.

While I do wholeheartedly agree with Anet’s theory of “when it’s ready”, because no one wants to make a promise that they can’t keep, I personally think they’re taking it a bit too far. Rather than creating an enigmatic sort of anticipation (which is what I believe Anet’s striving for) I get the feeling that the PvP Devs are either seriously understaffed, incompetent, or both, and they hiding behind this “when it’s ready” shroud.

Suggestion

Give us a biweekly, informal update. It doesn’t have to be set in stone, but just give us an idea that you are in fact working on this game.

Example:

Hey nerds, it’s (insert expendable intern here) again with a PvP update. Here’s a list of a few things we’ve accomplished recently.

11/15: Big Patch! Hope Everyone Enjoys it!

11/17: Logged some hours in game to see the balance changes firsthand. Looks like we’re moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet!

11/19: Worked on squashing those pesky bugs (maybe an example or two?)

11/20: Prank called Jon Peters, had most of the office in on it by the end of the day. (Comments like this help readers to take everything with a grain of salt)

11/23: After a week of building ladders, it looks like our programming team is getting ready to run some initial tests. Cross your fingers!

11/25: Nothing accomplished on this particular Sunday. It felt great.

11/28: Wrote these update notes, and, after a bit of controversy I got the green light to hint at a new PvP mode (Obscure reference to CTF goes here)

Honestly, this is all I want. Something lighthearted and lightweight, but that makes us players feel like we’re in the loop, and not like we’re being driven around town, blindfolded, in the back of our friend’s musty station wagon, all the while being reassured that the surprise will be “totally worth it”.

P.s. Cynicism aside, I’m still having a blast playing this game.

Pyrial.2917:

Here’s your answer. They are working on some GREAT stuff, but it’s too good to tell you. Just wait and see…

I recall seeing this some few months ago for another game. This certain FPS had devs who promised players the next release they had was going to be “worth the wait”. This led to rampant rumors among the players, everything from new weapons and maps to new game modes.

They labeled a month as the release timeframe in advance so everyone knew something was coming, but days turned to weeks in that month and nothing came. That is, until about 5 days remained in said month. And I’ll just say the community didn’t feel the same way as the devs did, and the content came no where near the expectations.

To put it simply, they did something like this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am-Qdx6vky0&feature=player_detailpage#t=31s

..except in the videogame world..

TL;DR … When a developer makes a comment that general and open for false rumors and hype, they just shot themselves in the foot IMO.