Guild Wars 2

I have seen a few posts inquiring if we could rotate between Alpine and Desert Borderlands faster than quarterly and I just wanted to clarify on why we currently proposed doing it quarterly. When we rotate maps we have to wipe score, objective status, and various other things to give us a clean startup when we swap maps. We also have to swap maps on Tuesdays because it requires a build (and currently production revolves around Tuesday releases and it isn’t reasonable to change the game-wide release schedule). Since rotating the maps currently involves disrupting the active match, the more often we rotate the maps, the more matches we end up disrupting. This manual map rotation is both time consuming for developers and disruptive for players. Assuming the community votes to keep the borderlands map rotation strategy, we’ll want to eventually automate this process, in a non-disruptive way, but before we would start that work, we’d need the community to prioritize that project over other WvW needs.

If you run into a player who you believe is cheating or exploiting the game, you are welcome to report them using the in-game report system. Simply select their character name in chat, then right click, click “Report” and then choose “Botting” from the drop-down menu. (You also may select their character, then right click on their avatar at the top of your screen / “Report” / “Botting.”)

Alternately, you may contact our Customer Support Team via e-mail at the following address: Exploits@Arena.Net. Note: This address is not for general purposes and should be used exclusively to report suspected cheating or exploiting.

Thank you.

At some point, yeah. There’s an open issue on github for this. (EDIT: also this one for backstories).

There’s no rate limit on our end. Be advised though that pulling all items every 5 minutes is probably unnecessary — the existing items won’t change unless the build id from /v2/build increases and new items are only added by hand (infrequently).

nottsgman.8206:

me and my gf had an issue with this as well. the torches cast no light at all in the maze, only the glowing orb that you’re supposed to follow around (but only one person can see that).

we both play full screen mode, so that wasn’t the issue.

edit: added a screenie I took just now. you can see the faint purple glow of the torch on the right side that isn’t casting any light.

it gets slightly lighter with light adaptation turned on (which I don’t play with), but the torches still cast no light.

Thanks for sharing that screenshot. Good to know you were playing in full-screen, as I’m often surprised how much lighting changes when I flip between the two modes. I’ll see if a team member can cast an eye (if not some light ) on this subject.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Gaile Gray.6029:

I completed the Wayandt’s Revenge JP last night

I thought I spied a ranger with a small frog on her shoulder, but I thought I was imagining things, since there is (as yet) no frog-themed armor.

Ah I didn’t see you, sorry I missed the chance to say “howdy.” Funny you should say what you did, because I actually was playing with a small Siamese kitty on my shoulder. Franklin is a dedicated gamer, even though I sometimes make him jump when I pound the “jump-you-feckless-Ranger-dang-you!” space bar too hard.

In truth, I probably missed you because I am pretty terrible at JPs so I was very, very focused. I swear, there should be an achievement: “Go Go Rescue Ranger: Res Gaile at the bottom of a JP.” The only problem is, everyone in the game would get it, so why bother?

A message from the WvW Team,
The next WvW Poll is up!
https://feedback.guildwars2.com
Please share your thoughts and feedback on the poll in this thread!

It hasn’t been implemented yet; there’s an open issue for it.

Grandizer.6278:

I’ve done this JP hundreds of times. The first puzzle section where the glowing orb shows up, you follow the torches to go through the walls that you can walk through to get to the other side, is pitch black. You can’t see anything except for the very entrance area where the orb is. It’s as black as the very last section where you jump on the pillars, waiting for the light to come on to see. I’ve always ran into that first section and just ran the correct path with no issue. Did something change?

Also, I noticed in Diessa, there is a spider nest cave area where a champ is in the back. Near the champ is a small path to the left that is overexposed in contrast and the textures are like glowing silver. The character also takes on this effect. You can see the difference in the lighting from the rest of the cave walls.

I haven’t been to Diessa in a few days, but I completed the Wayandt’s Revenge JP last night and I did not run into the issues you describe. I had some concerns about lighting, but it was system related and I found things were more visible (and lighting was more adjustable) for me if I play in full-screen mode rather than my usual windowed mode. Moving to full-screen wouldn’t address a technical issue, but I wonder if you’ve tried that.

This survey will close today, but I think you have a few more minutes to vote, if you care to do so.

Thanks so much to the thousands of people who took part. Your input is very much appreciated!

Really, you folks are sharing some amazing ideas! I hope you’ve included them within the survey, but don’t worry, I’ll send our partner coordinator a list so she can share it with IAM8BIT.

Keep the ideas coming — we have a few more days for the poll.

Many thanks!

P.S. I would buy that pawprint if it was feline. Looks sorta ursine to me, but it’s great!

BTW, is there somewhere to find the poll link regularly, or do we just have to hope we see it? Is there even one up right now?

Any currently active poll is available at: https://feedback.guildwars2.com/

The last poll just ended, a new poll will start early next week.

wouw.5837:

Toilet in shape of a mystic forge.

This one made me laugh. I can see the ad: “20% off Guild Wars 2 Plumbing Fixtures!”

Seabreeze.8437:

Malediktus.9250:

I would not buy any merchandise at all, I did not find this option in the survey sadly. I keep gaming and real life stuff strictly seperated so I never buy any merchandise ever for any game.

There actually is an option for that. It’s called “don’t take the survey at all, broski.” :/

That’s right — the survey is not for you. That’s fine, please feel free to not participate. (Just as forum members should not participate in a thread in which they have no interest, rather than posting “I have no interest.” )

The survey asks “What would you like the opportunity to buy?” This in directed only towards those who potentially are interested in GW2-related merch and might like to have a voice in what we offer in the future.

As Evga pointed out, we have a long-standing thread with merchandise ideas on the forums. I’ve locked it to try to keep the conversation topical and current, but if you want to take a look, it’s on this link.

Steven.7534:

Can’t A-net just use the 77 pages of items that people want in the Gem Shop??? is that what that was it was created for?

Yep, and the Gem Store Suggestion thread was and continues to be very helpful. I guess the idea was to condense and refine player input from that thread into a poll, so it was more focused and offered selected ideas for community members to highlight as something they desire.

LyrWar.4382:

I want that griffon plushie that appeared at the first Wintersday. I remember legit screaming when I first saw it.

This guy? Dear heavenly Dwayna, yes!!!

Randulf.7614:

Think they mean CD + digital as a combined option, in the same way vinyl and digital (i think) was an option. I suspect it wasn’t offered since it easier to convert cds to digital for most people than it is vinyl

Oh, of course they do! Silly me, I thought it meant both were missing.

But perhaps you’re right about why that option is not mentioned.

Budman.2934:

i’d like to see a poll on what items players want on the Gem store

I think this is a really interesting idea. Let me talk with the team about doing that sometime in the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

Rising Dusk.2408:

Someone on Reddit suggest a Slothasor Plush. We need a Slothasor Plush badly.

Moyayuki.3619:

Quaggan plushies, of course! (Unless that already exists. But just about any plushie related to the creatures of GW2 would be nice.)

I was wondering when those two ideas would surface. [/quote]

Jhoul.6923:

SLIPPERS!!!!!! I saw this after I did the survey… How can I add this awesome idea.

The idea of charr slippers started (I think) with a comment I made at a fan event back in 2004 or 2005. And darned if a wonderful community member named Purple Llama didn’t make me a personalize set (which I treasure to this day)! The slippers are awesome — so awesome I don’t really wear them I keep going back to the concept as a wonderful idea, and something that would be uniquely GW/GW2.

But having said that, I don’t have a clue how easily they could be mass-produced, nor how much the asking price would need to be.

On the other hand, I confess I still <3 <3 <3 this idea!

Budman.2934:

i’d like to see a poll on what items players want on the Gem store

I think this is a really interesting idea. Let me talk with the team about doing that sometime in the future. Thanks for the suggestion.

Rising Dusk.2408:

Someone on Reddit suggest a Slothasor Plush. We need a Slothasor Plush badly.

Moyayuki.3619:

Quaggan plushies, of course! (Unless that already exists. But just about any plushie related to the creatures of GW2 would be nice.)

I was wondering when those two ideas would surface.

Behellagh.1468:

I’m liking the Charr slippers idea. But if you thought you had surplus inventory issues with just t-shirts, shoes are a whole different ball of wax.

I just thought of car window decals. Imagine the “family” decal being an outline of Destiny’s Edge or whatever we have in HoT. Or just the logo.

Oh man, I would definitely put that “family” decal in my car window — that’s a great idea!

Garambola.2461:

The option for CD and Digital music was not offered.

I believe you’ll find that CD was offered. I looked for it and that’s what I voted for, so I’m nearly 100% certain that was one option.

Velaethia.6820:

In any case I actually have a question regarding her. Not sure if it is known. But she says something about being a mesmer helps her with her transition. But I’m curious can mesmer permanently shapeshift or does she only craft illusions to make her appear as her appearance has changed but has not actually?

Mesmers don’t usually shapeshift in the way that term is usually meant; they use glamors and illusions to fool the senses into perceiving an appearance that is different from what it genuinely is. The exception to that is the “moa” elite skill since, as a polymorph, that affects characters outside themselves. But that’s a pretty specialized skill whose origins remain somewhat mysterious. If Sya has determined a way to use her polymorph abilities to shapeshift it would be pretty revolutionary, and probably very costly!

But mesmers don’t need to use that much magic to keep up smaller illusions, and those that are cast frequently and kept up for long periods might very well be considered “permanent” enough for someone like Sya, and a lot less costly than using a polymorph. Kasmeer herself has alluded in the past to the notion that her clothing might very well just be an illusion, and while there are those who believe that was just her way of being playful, the best mesmers are those who will always leave you wondering whether you can ever trust your senses again. :-)

Konig Des Todes.2086:

• Similarly, written and spoken languages – norn are said to have a different language, but we never see nor hear it; charr used ideograms, but did they always speak “common” – and for that matter, is there a name for the language spoke? Some lines in GW1 called it “Tyrian” while in the Ecology of the Charr it is called “human” – and why do so many minor races (grawl, jotun, ogre, harpy, hylek, etc.) know how to speak it?

Hey there! I was reading through Scott’s posts and saw this question come up and figured I would be the best person to answer since I’ve done so much to help construct the alphabets and language in game.

Norn do (or maybe it’s more appropriate to say did) have their own language, but we don’t name it and really all that survives of it tend to be names of places and people, like Hoelbrak. I think it’s unlikely that we would get into any more detail about it than we already have. Even in Eye of the North the runes we saw were few and far between, and so it was a language that was already being edged out in favor of the common tongue.

Charr ideograms weren’t actually designed to be part of a language – they were warband signs, used to leave each other messages only they could understand, like “ambush ahead” or “this territory belongs to the Smoke warband”. If charr ever had a language all their own, they’re being exceedingly secretive about it. I’ll get to when/why they speak common in more detail below.

Asura do have a spoken/written language that is as complicated as the asura are themselves, which is where the word bookah comes from. The alphabet we see on their screens/displays/signs in game is actually based on a small subset of their written language that they converted into a cipher of the common tongue; specifically the letters are derived from how they write mathematics.

Now, as to where the common language came from and why it’s become so ubiquitous in Tyria – that really goes back to ancient history, at the very least to the last cycle of the Elder Dragons awakening. In the cycle just before the one that Tyria is currently experiencing, we know that five races were shepherded by the dragon champion Glint and survived. Those races too, had their own languages, but as they fought and struggled to survive the predations of the Elder Dragons, they also realized that they would need to communicate, not only amongst themselves in the short term, but to convey to future generations whatever information they learned about the Elder Dragons. It’s not clear whether they adopted one of the race’s languages as the common tongue (in the same way that English or Chinese or Spanish have spread to become more widely spoken), whether the common tongue already existed and pre-dates those races or whether they devised a new “common” tongue that all the races learned and passed on to future generations. But whichever explanation is correct has been lost to history and what we are left with is simply the knowledge that it was that first cooperation among the races who survived the last Elder Dragon cycle which gave birth to the widespread use of a common language that all Tyrians are raised to learn. Over the millennia since the Elder Dragons returned to slumber, it became clear that being able to understand one another was vital for survival, trade, and even war and a common language facilitated this nicely. It probably is appropriate for RP’ers to call this language Tyrian, since its usage (if not the language itself) was initially born of that cooperation between all the races that lived in Tyria at that time, but internally we tend to refer to it most often as “Common” – in homage to Jeff Grubb and the original D&D design team who solved this exact problem years before us. :-D

I can’t remember how much of this information (if any) was included in my blog post about the alphabets from years ago that is unfortunately no longer available. I’d always intended to follow up on Villem Caragan’s journal on the languages with this information but time just got away from all of us. :-)

The poll has ended! After removing all votes for “Don’t Count My Vote”, the final results are:
82.7% – Yes
17.3% – No
This mean that World Linking is now officially a Guild Wars 2 Feature. Thank you to everyone who voted!

SV — I love that idea! I thought I remembered socks were mentioned somewhere along the line when we were developing the survey, but alas, I don’t see them. Great suggested addition!

Hey guys, below is a list of upcoming polls you are likely to see, in roughly the order you are likely to see them.

• World Linking Schedule – How often should we relink worlds?
• Desert Borderlands – Should the map be removed indefinitely?
• Repair Hammer – Do you want to be able to spend supply to repair siege?
• Deployable Mortars – Do you want to be able to buy and deploy Mortars?
• Deployable Cannons – Do you want to be able to buy and deploy Cannons?

Special Mention

• WvW Priorities – What do you want the WvW team to prioritize next?
  • We’ll run this poll after completing major milestones with whatever feature last won the Prioritization vote. So in this case: Scoring Improvements.

Okay, I’ve done my best in the time that I have; I haven’t gotten to everyone yet, and internally we are exploring the best process to get all the questions we can answer organized, answered, and distributed.

So this thread may not go on much longer, but until ANet has a plan for how to efficiently address all the stuff being raised here, I’ll keep answering as much and as best I can.

NOTE: this will be my last round of answers for this week. I’m starting my long weekend early so I’ll be off line until early next week.

Aaron Ansari/Jaken: Format
I think bolding and bulleting the questions would be a huge help; side discussions can and should continue, but if we bold and bullet the parts that are aimed at ANet, it’ll help me find them and reply faster.

I appreciate the collected and simplified list of questions that was compiled for me; I’ll be referring to it going forward.

Thanks!

smitske: heartfelt loaded question (but still a loaded question)
I appreciate you have a strongly held opinion.

However, this is a good example of the type of question I will not answer until you rephrase it as a non-loaded question without insults baked right in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loaded_question

PetboyJoshua: Mordremoth influence over sylvari
Sylvari are a special case/special type of Elder Dragon minion, and their situation is made even more unique by Mordy’s influence over minds in general (and theirs in particular).

Mordremoth’s corruption is analogous to weeds and moss invading a garden and totally taking it over. The invader (for the purposes of this analogy, the weeds and moss) claims the nutrients and resources that would otherwise go to the existing plants, surrounds and envelops the native plants and digests them/converts them into more raw material it can use to grow, and then spreads outward, colonizing as it goes. The invader continues to get stronger and expand while the native plants are choked out/starved/digested and wither away. This sort of overwhelming growth/colonization can also be seen in the bodies of its minions like the Mordrem Wolf or Mordrem Troll (who were originally something else before they became Mordremoth minions—I’d call out an analogy to Alan Moore’s excellent classic Swamp Thing story, “The Anatomy Lesson,” where the creature’s original body is slowly replaced by plant material until you have essentially a plant version of the original that has the same general form but not necessarily the same function); there are also things like the Mordrem Vine Crawlers and Tendril Roots, which Mordy basically crafted from scratch using the plant material at hand.

A Mordrem Guard’s appearance is more due to Mordremoth’s ability to control and shape plant life—sylvari are plants, after all, and once Mordy’s mental influence takes hold of a sylvari, it then twists their physical form into this more formidable configuration. It is related to/a dark mirror of a sylvari’s ability to change their own appearance, but in this case it’s being directed by Mordy and not the individual.

It is entirely possible for a sylvari to be emerge from their pod mute, or blind, or otherwise physically challenged/disabled. I don’t believe there are any examples of this currently in game, but that’s down to the Pale Tree’s creation of new sylvari being so solid and reliable. If something injured a sylvari in the pod before they emerged, or if there was the human equivalent of a genetic quirk that affected them during gestation, it could happen.

I will also say that it’s possible for sylvari to be emerge from their pods with psychological problems (that can also develop after they emerge as a result of trauma, abuse, etc.). Ceara (who would become Scarlet), for example, emerged with and immediately demonstrated an extreme lack of empathy for others that, in humans, would be associated with antisocial or borderline personality disorder.

I have no further info to share regarding the Mordrem Guard who seemed to revert back to their original personality once given a reprieve from Mordy’s influence, Stavemaster Adryn’s backstory, the sylvari society’s approach to “reclaiming” someone from Nightmare, and the impact of the Pale Tree’s coma on new sylvari.

wouw: Balthek
I’m afraid I have no additional information to provide on this mysterious GW1 character.

Spyritdragon: mesmers and magic tricks
A. Mesmers routinely cast convincing illusions, some of which have substance, so their magic is more than just tricking people’s minds. But they do have control over what people see or how they see it, so that things that aren’t really there seem to be, and things that are really there seem not to be—this control is limited by their power and experience in casting illusions.

Using the Tower of Nightmares as an example, there was mesmer magic concealing the huge tower so that anyone who happened by wouldn’t see it. The spell that concealed the tower was on the tower itself, rather than on all the people who might happen by.

As Angel and Yojimaru said, top-level mesmers may be able to exert genuine mind control, but if they can, they’re keeping it secret—if everyone knew, someone would work out a countermeasure. Apart from that, most mesmers use spells to create something like a post-hypnotic suggestion rather than turning a sentient being into their puppet. As such, they can get people to do small or seemingly unimportant things based in misdirection, but the larger or more obvious/contrary to their preference the thing a mesmer wants them to do is, the more likely the target will resist/their brains will say, “Hang on, why am I doing this again?”

B. Spellcasting is a strenuous discipline and magic is an unpredictable form of high-octane energy, so the kind of tiny, precise spell impacts you’re describing are beyond the skill of most spellcasters. It’s analogous to painting a wall with a can of spray paint vs. painting a photorealistic image of a duck on a postage stamp with a brush—casting a giant ice spike to crush somebody is a lot more accessible and doable than casting a spell that boils a tiny bit of the water in somebody’s brain, especially in a combat situation.

C. Not sure I fully understand the C question about magic being restricted to skills; there are definitely spells in the world that do not appear on a player’s skill bar. People channel and focus raw ambient magic via specific spells and skills, and also through devices and constructs, but unfocused magic can also produce strange and unpredictable effects spontaneously (such as in the Thaumanova reactor, where the disaster led to raw magic creating all sorts of strangeness without anyone directing it or focusing it).

D. Rata Sum politics is a complicated beast. The Inquest hold a seat on the Arcane Council, and that advocacy at the highest level of government buys them a lot more leeway than they’d have if they didn’t hold such a powerful position. Think of a parliamentary government with lots of different parties; there are often fringe parties that hold controversial, even dangerous views, but they have representation in the government and are part of the body politic, and therefore part of the political/social landscape. If they commit crimes, the local constabulary steps in to address it—this is what you’re seeing when Inquest and Peacemakers skirmish. The Inquest is allowed to operate, and as long as they aren’t openly committing crimes or atrocities, the Peacemakers let them be. There’s also the question of corruption and officials being rewarded or threatened to look the other way, but in general the Inquest is allowed to operate because they’re part of the rich tapestry of Rata Sum’s social and political structure.

The Inquest doesn’t like its members to leave, and they have taken extreme steps to punish or reclaim those who try. They’re especially tough on those who try to get out if those people have valuable or incriminating information the Inquest wants to keep to themselves. That said, it’s not an automatic death sentence/those who leave always have to spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders. To bring it back around to politics, if the person who wants to leave has leverage (i.e., “kill me and this box full of incriminating evidence goes to the Arcane Eye (or worse, a competitor’s krewe)”) and/or it’s not politically expedient to exact retribution at the moment (because the person in question has friends in high places, or the heat is on and the Arcane Council is currently watching the Inquest’s activities closely), the Inquest will bide its time and wait for an opportunity to act…and they’re very patient.

Follicle-wise, I’m afraid we’ll have to wait and see if asura can grow beards on their faces (or anywhere else).

Juniterio: GW1 Characters returning?
Can’t confirm or deny; see above’s blanket answer about upcoming story and character arcs.

Captain Vanguard: side NPC stories from the NPC’s POV
This is a great idea and one that ArenaNet did in GW1 with the Bonus Mission Pack. Right now ANet resources are focused on telling the mainline story of the Elder Dragons and their impact on the world. Belinda’s story (for example) would be fun and illuminating, but tangential to the larger story we’re telling.

Redfeather: GW1 Path to Revelations
I’m afraid I have no additional information to provide on this mystery.

That’s all for now, folks. Have a great holiday weekend!

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

Lol, my answer was too long…too many ideas for small items.

Totally with you there, Ic. I helped formulate the list, and I think it’s pretty good. However, I confess I could have gone a little nuts, you know:

• “Guild Wars 2 wine glasses: red, white, champagne, cordials!”
• “Beach towels and goggles!”
• “Formalwear!”
• “Charr slippers!”
• ….

:D

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Just to be clear. This is real life merchandise, not gemstore offerings.

Yes. Gem Store items are called… Gem Store items.

Merchandise specifically refers to real world items.

I have amended my initial post to make that clearer, in case someone would be confused by the term.

Have you participated in our latest survey? It gives you the chance to share your ideas on the type of GW2 merchandise we offer in the future. The survey is about real-world merchandise, like t-shirts or plushies. (We have other threads for Gem Store items.)

Dive in and vote! It only take about 2 minutes, tops.

Feel free to share your thoughts in this thread, as well.

Proper matches is subjective, but as for the relinking schedule we plan to hold a poll to determine how often it should happen (this is assuming World Linking wins the current poll).

It is also important to clarify that even though we might be able to hold relinking more regularly than quarterly there will still need to be some amount of weeks, we are still determining how many, before we can hold another relink because of glicko and time spent to make the match ups.

Miku.9521:

[EU] Hello, I love buying Dyes, so I would really appreciate if someone send me some gold/gems so I can buy lots of them

I’m a dye collector, too. Rather than asking for gold or gems, it might be more practical to list a few dyes that you’re looking for and if people have extras they can share with you. I find that working with my guilds, it’s a lot easier to share dyes than to part with currency.

I’ll quote Tyler for this thread:

Tyler Bearce.3427:

The Tier 1 Weapons will be made available in an upcoming Reward Track, much like the armor already is.

We haven’t fully decided how to distribute the T2 Weapons and Armor yet. Though, we are currently leaning towards players purchasing them with a currency that they’d earn as a match reward. We may also set rank requirements for the various pieces, so you’d need to be a relatively high rank(1-2k) to purchase a full set.

Thanks everyone. The response was mixed, but there was a general lack of interest in the idea, so we’ll pass on it.

Forfeits (the result you get when a teammate abandons the game) do not count towards the loss streak but is included in games played.

Sonneilon.5601:

A significant part of my storyline seems to have been skipped.

Show Spoiler

hide spoiler

Following the Battle of Fort Trinity we, my friend and I who were completely the story together, were sent to confront a betrayer who was a disguised mesmer of Zhaitan. This betrayer while still in disguise and several minor characters who we interacted with referenced events that we did not take part in but our character’s were explicitly a part of, specifically the firing of some canon upon Vigil troops.

These were with new characters made earlier this year.

Did you do this Personal Story step?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Shell_Shock

Whew! Lots of questions to get through, and I’ll do my best.

One housekeeping note: Kalavier, I think this thread has gone beyond your original request for a response from Ree. What do you say to changing the title of this thread to something like “Lore Q&A?” I think it would help folks find it and contribute to it if it had a broader, more descriptive title. Otherwise, I’m inclined to start a new thread with a title that better reflects this discussion.

On to my answers—the first round, anyway. Questions about marriage and languages and calendars require more time, thought, and fact-checking, and I’m already pushing the envelope of how many hours per day I can devote to the forums.

I apologize in advance for not quoting the questions before each answer, but that quickly became a logistical nightmare. Instead, I have called out the questioner by name so you know to whom I’m responding:

Jaken, et. al.: General unresolved plots and specific plot/character questions

Firstly, regarding unresolved plot lines, I’m going to have to refer you to my answer above: while we’d love to get into the details of what stories and characters we are/are not going to explore in the near future, we can’t and won’t. Partly because it’s our company policy not to talk about future releases, and partly because doing so creates spoilers and undermines the impact of future stories no matter how carefully we phrase the answer.

So if I seem to have skipped your question, it’s probably because I can neither confirm nor deny anything about the topic you’ve raised.

But to Jaken’s specific point: Yes, we are aware that there are multiple unresolved plot threads in the Guild Wars universe, and it’s best for everyone if we stop adding to that list. The Narrative team is dedicated to resolving as many as we can while introducing as few new ones as we can; with the caveat that we will be doing those things organically, as part of the current story we’re telling.

Shiren: Elite Specs lore and Revenant legend interaction

GW2 has never delved very deeply into how the professions came about/were pioneered, in part due to character creation which starts you off as an established practitioner of that profession from the very first moment you enter the game. Players have room to develop their skills, but from the start they have basic spells and skills available without having a tutorial that teaches them how/shows them starting from zero and becoming a specific profession. That was mostly to get players in the world and playing as quickly as possible.

We opted to continue this approach for elite specializations in HoT. There is definitely a story behind how Rytlock became a revenant, but players don’t absolutely need to know that story in order to be a revenant themselves, any more than they need to know how an elementalist learns to channel earth/air/fire/water to play as an ele. For the purposes of gameplay, our introduction of the revenant and the other elite specs focused on exactly what they could do rather than exactly how they learned to do it.

Revenant legends do have personalities and opinions and we do catch glimpses of them, but each legend also represents a snapshot of the character, a Mist-echo of the actual person and not the person themselves. As such, the revenant legend doesn’t necessarily have the full range of memories & thoughts as the original.

Rytlock certainly could interact with the Glint legend he summons, but that legend wouldn’t automatically know everything that Glint knew/have all the knowledge that Glint acquired during her life. Given their history, I agree it would be interesting to see what Rytlock and a sentient snapshot of Glint might say to each other in the present-day game situation.

Shiren: Chronomancers and time manipulation

For both story and gameplay, actual time travel is a quagmire that has to be handled carefully.

I see the chronomancer as much more a case of manipulating the local perception of time rather than manipulating time itself. The Continuum Split skill text specifically mentions a rift in time and space continuum, but I’m like you in that I take that to mean “continuum” as a perceived possibility that the chronomancer is working with rather than an actual time jump. It visually appears to let the chronomancer rewind time, but functionally it’s a highly advanced, specialized mesmer clone that players directly control for a short duration while their real body is phased out—thus any damage, etc. happens to the Continuum Split clone (who disappears when the skill expires), and the PC resumes control of their real body unchanged from the moment they activated the skill (although they do retain any XP, etc. they garnered while in Continuum Split).

Draxynnic: Sylvari are jungle dragon minions reveal

The Mordremoth/sylvari connection (specifically Mordremoth as the “grandfather” / ultimate source of the sylvari race) was planned from the very beginning of GW2 story development and world-building. When I started at ArenaNet back in 2008, that was well established canon and one of the first lore bits I was entrusted with and told to keep entirely secret until we had the chance to reveal it in game. As such, we put clues in the game to hint at that conclusion, and people took the hints and figured it out. I was surprised how quickly people figured it out, but I was more impressed at our community’s theorycrafting than I was unhappy they had guessed the correct answer.

Jaken: Warrior’s banner a physical thing?

I say yes, because once it’s created, other players can pick it up and wield it.

Regarding golems “teleporting” to catch up/cross otherwise impassable gaps: it’s much more of a game mechanic/suspension of disbelief thing than a lore/continuity thing. As a rule, players move faster than NPCs, and have movement abilities/skills that NPC AI can’t employ as effectively as a living person, so NPCs need an additional mechanism to keep up. The same thing happens with ranger pets and necro minions. Players rely on having their NPC companions around to back them up, and story characters need to be there to participate in the story, so we make sure they are included.

Valento: bring back short stories

I will do my best. No promises, but I was also fond of the short stories we published in support of Living World Season 1 and 2 and would like to see more of them in the future (and for them to be included in game).

This thread was inadvertently locked, but we’re reopening it because the processes outlined here are and continue to be helpful to players.

So again, one of the major advantages of world linking is that worlds will be periodically relinked as populations drift over time. To keep relative world populations roughly in balance. So if hypothetically the triple linked T4 worlds all filled and became supermassive T1 worlds, then that advantage would be normalized at the next relinking.

Yes, your ping will be the same. All NA worlds are located in the same datacenter.

Ah, just to clarify. These hypothetical new worlds would be linked upon creation, and they’d be linked to the lowest/lower tiers (depending on how many we created.)

Using existing T4 NA as an example:

• HoD + Ebay + New1
• DH + FC + New2
• NSP + SF + New3

Thank you! We will look into it.

Fairly regularly, I see posts that say something to the effect of:

“The world that most of our guild is on is Full, so we’ve been having our new/returning guild members transfer to the Guest world, but what will happen if the Guest world gets relinked? Will we have to pay to transfer all those members again?”

This solution would give guilds like that an opportunity to freely reform on a world with plenty of space for their entire guild.

Now of course it’s still entirely possible that guilds won’t actually be willing to transfer off their current worlds, even for the opportunity to get all of their members onto the same world. However, that’s exactly why I made this post, just to confirm either case.

Yes, we do have a handful of small worlds, but the more smaller worlds we have, the more balanced linked populations can be. As a quick smaller scale example of current linking dilemma, lets say we have to link worlds with the following populations:

• World 1: 95%
• World 2: 82%
• World 3: 81%
• World 4: 60%
• World 5: 30%
• World 6: 10%

Since our final world total needs to be divisible by 3, we either need to avoid linking any of the worlds, or link some worlds even if they give a large population advantage.

• Worlds 1+6: 105%
• Worlds 2+5: 112%
• Worlds 3+4: 141%

After linking, the difference in population between the highest and lowers teams is much narrower, but we’ve made the 3rd rank server now have significantly more population than the previously 1st ranked server. Also all worlds are now over our goal population cap, and probably have moderate to heavy queues.

However, imagine that instead we had twice as many, half as populated, worlds. It becomes much easier to link them in a way that gives every linked team a similar population.

Thanks for reporting this! I have a couple questions that may help us solve this issue faster.

1. Did you immediately spawn into the wall after taking the spawn teleporter onto the map?
2. Do you remember where your character was when you first became stuck in the wall?

Since it’s seeming increasingly likely that World Linking is going to win the community vote and become a permanent Gw2 feature, the team has been discussing ways to improve the system, especially around further improving population balance, while still allowing players to reliably play with their friends and guildmates.

Hypothetically speaking, if we were to open some additional worlds (and at this point I still don’t know how much work, or how safe a change like that would be), but if we did, would there be player interest in transferring to these new worlds? The new worlds would have lowered population caps, be free to transfer to for a period of time and be immediately linked with existing lower tier worlds..

The ultimate goal of this hypothetical plan would be two-fold:
1) Give players/guilds that are too big for their ‘Full’ status world an opportunity to move to new worlds, enabling them to grow more easily again.
2) Achieve a larger number of smaller worlds that we can link together to achieve more balanced numbers for each team.

Again, this isn’t something we necessarily can or will do. The purpose of this post is just to quickly feel out community interest, to see if it was worth spending the time it would take to seriously investigate this option.

Update: Thanks everyone. The response was mixed, but there was a general lack of interest in the idea, so we’ll pass on it.

Please don’t bump threads that are a year old.

This topic is addressed in a merged thread in the HoT Sub-forum.

First, this should not be in GW2 Discussion, but in Support Issues. We’ll move it there.

Second, we use two terms:

• Account termination, which means a permanent closure of the account.
• Account suspension, which is a temporary “time out” or a few hours or days.

If you have questions about the suspension or termination of your account, you are more than welcome to contact Customer Support with your questions. This forum is not the space to discuss actions on individual accounts. If an error was made, it will be reversed. If no error was made, the decision will be upheld.

You may be interested to know that forum claims of errors or “false positives” have been disproved many, many times. Accurately judging an individual player’s situation based on what they post in the forums simply isn’t possible, because none of us has access to the account records and we’re only seeing one person’s perspective on the situation.

Please contact support with questions.
Please do not use the forums to protest GM decisions, as the rules clearly prohibit such discussions and, again, it’s not possible to have an informed decision about the topic.

smashie.3074:

Thank you Tyler and Chris for the additional information.
I have to say, even with the changes that are undesirable to ME, I welcome the communication and effort of the WvW team I hope this continues to go on.

Even with the additional information you’ve given us, I still have a problem that I’d like to see addressed. Unfortunately, it’s quite a brutal point in my opinion but a point that needs to be raised.

1) Toxicity and the effects on the community

If many of the WvW posters in the forum are anything to go by, there are many individuals here who constantly berate people of their idea of WvW, their idea of “blobbing”, what WvW should be, or how “server pride” or whatever reason you’d like to include.

The very same people are also telling people to quit the game or WvW.

Speaking for my girlfriend and I, we simply do not want to play with these players.
And I’m fairly certain that many other people would feel the same way.

Problem with the server link, because it’s going to be updated quarterly or whatever the timescale is, there’s a danger of being linked with server with THOSE people. If the toxicity of each server gets to server wide instead of just individual spats, the teamwork that’s required to play WvW is completely eroded. The match-up for that duration will stale. Only the server with those individuals will continue playing.

That’s why, it’s still a resounding no for me

At the previous state of WvW, had we chosen a server with that kind of toxicity, we simply would have upped and left, if we had the gems.
Now, with the updates, we can’t even stay in one server and hop to another one, just in-case, the Glicko decides that we should be linked with the server we desired to leave behind.

I ask many of you to consider this scenario.
Perhaps it’s a very pessimistic view, but at the moment, it’s happening right now in my server.

Thanks for your measured response not claiming to represent an unidentified majority.

Your particular linked pair of worlds may be having a rougher time of things than most. By world, you’re among one or ones that have a higher than average percentage of “No” votes. So I’m hopeful it’s something more to do with your particular pairing, rather than something with linking itself, or with any specific players. Time and a change of linked worlds will help tell.

As a reminder, please do report anyone engaging in toxic behavior. There’s little immediate feedback beyond that player’s chat being blocked for you, but reports do help.

sionnach.5391:

Whatever happens, please address the ‘guest’ server identity in any ways which are feasible, and the more the better – in fact do away with the host/guest concept and treat both servers as partners. If we flip a keep, messages should show the server majority who flipped it – if that’s not feasible, then list both servers. Sounds petty but it really isn’t; this would go a fair way towards addressing morale problems in T7-8.

Not to disagree with the idea that server identity is important, but something that’s been interesting to see is that “guest” worlds are tending to have higher ratios of “Yes” votes in favor of keeping world linking. Which I’m definitely seeing as more of a “this improves my day-to-day gameplay”, and not as a “I don’t care about my world identity”.

One problem with showing both world names is that the strings of text can get very long. When/if more than two worlds are linked together, it gets very long. Much too long for the UI.

I do like the idea of showing, for example, “Devona’s Rest captured Durios Gulch”, if Devona’s Rest had more members involved in capturing the objective. Though for the moment this isn’t among our top priorities. Such a change requires programming support, and right now we’re mostly focused on the large task of scoring improvements previously voted on.

Thank you guys for the responses so far!