Guild Wars 2

They could announce forum posts in-game ahead of time to get more varied participants. There would still be selection bias, but more along the lines of the kind you get when you say “there’s free donuts in the break room.” Might break the forums though.

I’m shocked, but impressed and glad to come back and see all the responses from you Chris.

I think in-game polls could be good, but I think they would need more sophisticated choices than what you had in beta. I seem to remember answering how much I liked an event on a scale of 1-5, or something to that effect, which isn’t going to give you the depth of feedback that I think you need in most cases. I also don’t think they can replace actual interaction.

It’s really important for you to understand why players do or don’t like something. Plus, I think it’s important for us to be able to tell you “why” and feel that we’ve been heard. Your idea to have focused threads in appropriate forums is great. It bothers me when you (dev) start a feedback thread, only to lock or delete it without giving substantive feedback. You get pages and pages of responses and then, poof, it’s gone. Any response that shows you’re engaged, like asking questions or sharing your thought process is so much better. So, I’m really glad to see that you’re on board with more back-and-forth conversations.

Also, when you started “shooting from the hip,” I began to feel a lot better about what you have to say. The carefully-worded market-ese just sets off alarms. And, maybe it’s just me, but it seems that the cross-talk between players calmed down a lot when you started responding, which I think is really good. Your very presence seems to help the tone of the forums.

If you’re looking for suggestions for what to talk about, I’d like to see vertical/horizontal progression covered. The reason that I’m interested in that topic is because I liked playing alternate characters and the changes around progression really impacted that play style for me. I’ll explain more if that ever gets covered, but regardless of what happens, I’m looking forward to this new initiative and am hopeful it will work out. So, thanks!

When I first started playing the game, I made a point of visiting the “player helping other players” section, so that I could focus on the positives. I was never out to get anyone. The last time I posted in these forums, it was a post that showed the numbers for how often ArenaNet gave substantive responses to “popular” posts. It was just data, without any editorial commentary from me. I explained my methodology so that it could be fairly discussed. What can be less inflammatory and more respectful than plain old data? It was promptly dismissed by a community manager.

You couldn’t even take un-editorialized data onboard. Given that, I find it really hard to believe that you listen to feedback. To be honest, I feel dumb posting this.

It appears that you only consider quantitative data, like concurrency numbers. So, while I’d like to log in to level my alts and wait for changes, I feel that just serves to make you more intransigent on issues I care about. And, I wouldn’t mind posting constructive criticism, but it does seem wholly unwelcome and a waste of time.

I really did like the game (especially the art because omg, it’s so good). I’m sorry that you have to deal with so much negativity now. But, I think that you’re not taking enough ownership for your part in creating this environment. And, if you want change, you need to be that change too.

demonbooker.2749:

marnick.4305:

Enikuo.9205:

Threads that do not offer specific suggestions where a response might be expected (community brainstorming and a bug):

1. You are now ArenaNet’s lead designer
2. The top 10 things GW2 needs to improve
3. The Great Dream Patch: Add Your Own!
4. Show Profession Trainers on Hoelbrak map?

That’s just entitled. You don’t have any right to expect or demand that.

I don’t think that was meant as a statement of expectation, I think it was meant as “Threads that may not get a response because they lack a discrete request or suggestion” Such as brainstorming threads, or discussing a bug.

That’s correct. I’ve rephrased it to clarify:
Threads that do not offer a single, specific suggestion to which Anet could reasonably respond (community brainstorming and a bug):

Also, I did not express any expectation that all or even most threads should receive a response, as implied earlier in the thread. In fact, the data is specifically about the 33 highest traffic threads in the Suggestions forum that offer single suggestions – 33 is considerably less than “all.”

(37 – 4 threads that do not offer a single, specific suggestion = 33 threads, in case that confuses anyone)

I changed “concern” to “traffic” to make the presentation more neutral – "I was trying to be fair in selecting a view count that I thought reflected enough traffic in the forum community to warrant a response. "

I intentionally shared the data without an editorial comment on my interpretation. These are not my suggestions. Most are suggestions I have no interest in. The relevant data point is the traffic to response ratio. I shared the suggestions so that the quality of those suggestions and the relevance of the response ratio could be judged by the reader.

Threads that do not offer a single, specific suggestion to which Anet could reasonably respond (community brainstorming and a bug):

1. You are now ArenaNet’s lead designer
2. The top 10 things GW2 needs to improve
3. The Great Dream Patch: Add Your Own!
4. Show Profession Trainers on Hoelbrak map?

Posts are too long to edit. Here are the links.

No response from Anet:

1. A client for Linux
2. Consider adding cyrillic alphabet
3. There is no real way to be ‘invisible’ or anonymous
4. Camera-Related Issues: Compilation and Lengthy Anaylsis
5. Skinny female in Guild Wars 2
6. Magic find obsession needs to be addressed
7. Should outdoor boss events drop loot?
8. Dyes – Please make them account bound
9. Reforging Orr with WvW mechanics
10. Largos must be a new race
11. Why can’t Superior Runes be Mystic Forged?
12. Change female heavy Arah armor back to its beta model
13. Why don’t transmute stones allow us to look the way we want
14. Solo Dungeons
15. Adjustable Camera Pivot Height
16. Housing? [locked]
17. Why not make legendaries accountbound?
18. ‘Underflow’ Shards – for Underpopulated Zones
19. The multi-guild system & why guilds are pointless.
20. Here’s how to fix the precursor complaints
21. 09/24 midnight has passed, wheres the patch? Oh right..
22. Black Lion Chest- Upgrading or Cheaper keys [Merged]
23. Sexier Armor Plox
24. Waypoint costs

Anet responses:
Aware, but investigating/deciding
1. An option to disable right click targeting
2. Turn off “Titles” below Nameplate
3. No love for condition builds?
4. Traits missing vital informations in tooltips to make info

Non-substantive responses
5. Attention! [April 1st troll face suggestion]
6. Color bling gamers: Issues seeing red circles
7. Weapon scaling and asura
8. Combat UI improvements [locked]

Commitment to fix asap
9. Revert changes in corrupted shortbow

Non-substantive responses
5. Attention! [April 1st troll face suggestion] (45 replies, 5373 views]
Anet response – “Doing something fun on April 1st is a good idea, hmmm…”
6. Color bling gamers: Issues seeing red circles (137 replies, 9891 views)
Anet response – “Thanks for the suggestion, Timebomb. If anyone else has suggestions of their own, don’t be sure to create a thread yourself. That’s what this sub-forum is for.”
7. Weapon scaling and asura (84 replies, 4075 views)
Anet reponse – “Hi Mythazor,
your thread will be moved to the suggestions sub-forum, where it belongs.
Thanks for understanding.”
8. Combat UI improvements [locked] (363 replies, 13131 views)
Anet response – Moderator made the following statement, but did not provide a line to the source, “Since the position of Anet has been stated regarding the use of this mod, this thread is closed.”

Commitment to fix asap
9. Revert changes in corrupted shortbow (33 replies, 5032)
Anet reponse – “Hey guys! Very sorry about this. Looks like the Shortbow had been using the Longbow model and I fixed that when I hooked up their new icons to use the correct model file, not realizing that the Shortbow was so different looking from the Longbow (usually the shortbow versions are just a little shorter than the longbow). You are absolutely correct to be bummed out, the Longbow has a lot of majesty that the Shortbow does not. So we are going to adjust the Shortbow model to look a lot more like the Longbow. Very very sorry about this! It was certainly not my intention to nerf your awesome bows. We are working on this fix as I type. It might be too late to get it into our next bug fixing build (today or tomorrow) but it will definitely get into our February build at the latest. Again, so very sorry!”

Threads that do not offer specific suggestions where a response might be expected (community brainstorming and a bug):

1. You are now ArenaNet’s lead designer (242 replies, 6958 views)
2. The top 10 things GW2 needs to improve (175 replies, 4123 views)
3. The Great Dream Patch: Add Your Own! (67 replies, 9523 views)
4. Show Profession Trainers on Hoelbrak map? (Bug) (5 replies, 4184 views)

Anet responses:

Aware, but investigating/deciding
1. An option to disable right click targeting (435 replies, 13263 views)
ANet response – “Our development team reviews play input on a regular basis. They are aware of this suggestion, but have not yet reached a decision on what changes, if any, they will make to targeting.
There is a lot going on right now with the upcoming event, but after that, the team will take a look at a lot of different game elements, and may make some changes in the future.
Sorry I don’t have more specific information, but you can be sure this is not being ignored or rejected without due consideration.
Thanks for understanding.” (low priority statement from another forum section was shared by a player on pg. 8 )
2. Turn off “Titles” below Nameplate (153 replies, 6339 views)
Anet response – “As with any change we are aware of the concerns about titles, nameplates, and screen clutter and we are investigating what we can do about all of these things to try and improve the experience now that you can see so many people on screen.”
3. No love for condition builds? (105 replies, 19075 views)
Anet response – “I certainly agree that we need to improve effectiveness of condition damage builds against objects. We have some ideas, but none of them are simple and easy to implement/test. Rest assured it is something we recognize as a problem.” – “Might as well chime in and say big crowd events where condies are stack capped is also a problem we are investigating.”
4. Traits missing vital informations in tooltips to make info (52 replies, 9598 views)
Anet response – I understand the frustrations that come with inaccurate descriptions. I’ve worked a lot on the skill “fact” system to bring it up to a good point, but I know there is more we can do. This includes making all buffs, upgrades, sigils, and traits affect skill tooltip numbers (some already do), adding additional skill facts based on traits, as well as adding the same or similar “fact” system to trait descriptions.
There are a couple reasons why trait/skill descriptions aren’t as accurate as they could be. They were constantly changing up until ship for balance and polish. This means some of the descriptions are just out of date. Also, each time a number is changed within the text, it needs to get localized again. This means it’s more efficient to make them a little more vague to lessen the localization cost and protect ourselves if that number needs to change again. That’s why skills have “facts” instead of baking the numbers into the descriptions. The last reason it’s difficult to keep skills and traits accurate is because of technical and time limitations. Our skills are complicated, and it takes designers a lot of time to make sure the numerous parts are correct. Sometimes we don’t even have the ability to make the facts accurate (summon’s damage was a tricky one).
I’m personally very passionate about skill descriptions. We know there are improvements that can be made and I’ll push to get time to revisit them because, well, I just like them.

Ratphink.4751:

1) Didn’t use the Dev Tracker actually. I just browse a LOT of Forums, even for parts of the game I don’t actively participate in (PvP and WvW in this case) because I like to stay on top of Class Perceptions and Balance Issues that could effect other parts of the game. I found this thread yesterday in that meandering.

2) If you’re demanding for a Dev Response to something, why aren’t you watching the Dev Tracker? That’s what it’s there for. To Track Dev Response to issues. Yes, I realize the majority of them are by Gaile in the Account Issues forum, but the fact remains it’s your best source of watching what the Devs are up to on the Forums.

3) Low Priority =/= Doesn’t Care. It means that at the moment, there are simply more important things to work on such as class balance issues and getting sPvP up to snuff. This is a world where limited resources mean that you have to pick what you do wisely, and because they do not pick what you want to do first and foremost doesn’t mean that they don’t care it means that they can’t do it yet. The fact that the subject itself is a point of contention means that it’s been a debated topic on numerous occasions. You don’t have numerous debates about something you don’t care about.

Why are players not watching the Dev Tracker for 7 months for a single issue with this many responses? That’s a completely unreasonable expectation is why.

It’s not really a point of contention among players. Players are pretty much aligned on the issue.

They’re not taking care of it, which is all that matters. Couch that in whatever terminology makes you feel better, but it doesn’t change anything for players that it affects or the players that don’t even realize that’s what is causing their problem.

Your patronizing and unreasonable expectations for others is part of what makes this whole forum so toxic. You could have shared the information without the unnecessarily snotty comment, but you didn’t. You and every Pollyanna poster like you should be ashamed.

Ratphink.4751:

Even Lesh, One Day Ago

1) I agree that targeting has been a point of contention around here since everyone has a different opinion on how it should work. We have not forgotten about this issue, but it is pretty low priority, unfortunately. This polish would fall under the umbrella of a combat team.

Source

Implying the Devs don’t know or care about this situation… but then I guess following the Dev tracker takes a lot of work for some people.

This suggestion, which wasn’t the first btw, is 7-months old. That’s 7 months of tracking this issue for some players and you’re wagging your finger because it popped up a day ago in the dev tracker? That’s just unfair. Also, that response, from 1 day ago, in a completely different section, says that it’s a low priority and classifies it as “polish.” That actually proves that they don’t care much about it because they said as much – it’s low priority polish.

Option to disable right-click targeting.

There’s a Scythe Staff – http://argos-soft.net/GW2WeaponGallery/index.php?item=Staff_67

These professions can use a staff – Mesmer, Elementalist, Guardian, Necromancer

I like the dailies now too. I usually finish them just playing normally, while switching between characters – I actually like that it’s not a per-character thing, though I understand the annoyance at the rewards not working with lots of alts.

By it’s very nature, the pug community belongs to the casual crowd – it’s a pickup group. If players want to discriminate, then the onus is on them to discriminate – form guilds, create alliances, and build a friends list of like-minded people. It’s silly to ask casuals to make an extra effort to form casual pick-up groups.

If they add gear inspect, the elitist will just join the first available group, because they won’t want to suffer waiting, and then they’ll try to enforce their rules ad hoc. It will make the entire pug community toxic for casuals.

I agree. The art team really delivers – I’m consistently impressed.

I transferred to Tarnished Coast right before they implemented paid server transfers because every time someone complained about empty zones, dead servers, or the inability to complete dynamic events someone from Tarnished Coast told them it was a server problem and they should just transfer. So, I think the server kinda brought it on itself. But, I understand your complaint – I’ve been noticing lag on big events lately.

I would be happy with this option. I’d rather be able to solo the story to completion, but since that probably won’t happen, it would be nice to just toggle it off. Even minimizing it to a symbol, as some have suggested, would be good.

Vasham.2408:

Arsenic Touch.7960:

Vasham.2408:

If you don’t want to group, don’t play an MMORPG. Simple.

That would be lovely if this game actually promoted grouping, which it does not. Majority of PVE is done solo, all of your personal story except the last mission is done solo. There really is no incentive to group up at all in this game except for dungeons and those have become repetitive activities.

No excuse. There is nothing preventing you from finishing the personal story except you. You don’t want to group, so it’s your fault that you can’t complete the story. When you buy a game in a genre called “Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game” then you should not be surprised or offended when you are required at some point to play with other people.

As people far more eloquent than myself have said in the past: QQ moar, l2p

You would have a point if this particular MMO didn’t go out of it’s way to accommodate solo play with its auto-grouping for dynamic events and world events, but it does. That’s kind of its thing – to not be a typical MMO.

And, though you don’t want to acknowledge it, it is a salient point that you can solo the entire personal story until the end. It would be unreasonable to expect to solo it to completion if you were required to complete dungeons throughout the storyline, but that’s not the case.

Frankly, you come across as high and mighty for the sake of internet points. Snotty retorts and talking down to other posters doesn’t do much to sway anyone to your opinion, it just creates a toxic environment.

I cannot believe this hasn’t been fixed yet and I’m stunned at the lack of communication on it.

I keep checking on this issue and the right-click targeting suggestion and I’m continually disappointed in a lack of response from Anet.

In a game with auto-grouping and shared resources, it seems like a huge oversight to hobble the personal story with a grouping requirement at the very end. It’s doable, but it’s not fun – it’s spoiled when you have to accommodate a random group or helpful guildmates just to “get through it.”

I’m still in the wait and see camp. I won’t spend anymore money on the game and I’ll play a lot less. I’ll dig back into my Steam backlog in the meantime. The AMA didn’t really restore my faith in the brand. I feel like I just need to see what they implement – I don’t trust that I understand where they’re really headed. I thought I understood their philosophy before, but clearly I didn’t. I did appreciate Chris’ willingness to spend so much time answering questions though, including some of the tough ones. That gives me some hope.

cegorach.5624:

If you’re someone who in real life believes that only those who work hard should be rewarded, is that a view you will transpose onto a game and vice versa?

If you believe that everyone deserves an equal chance and should be supported in order to reach their potential, do you apply that to both online and offline activities?

I’d be curious to hear from people who are strongly progressive or conservative in real life but reverse their position in an online game.

I just wanted to point out that if you believe in hard work, you kinda have to believe in equal opportunity. Hard work isn’t rewarded in an environment of unequal opportunity, such as a caste system or a system with a divine ruling class. The US political parties might muddy that with their rhetoric, but it’s really not an either/or choice. They’re simply arguing about how to ensure opportunity. Liberals seek to provide it through progressive legislation. Conservatives seek to protect it by reducing government involvement.

I’d just like to know if they have any plans to improve the situation, like giving 80s an incentive to do the lower level DEs, creating “underfill” servers, or introducing a better LFG tool. I don’t care about the actual details of how they address it. I’m just curious if they’re aware of the situation and plan to do anything. Right now it feels like the game starts at 80 and I should just focus on catching up.

I have the same concern about dynamic events, esp group events , in lower levels. I like playing alts, but the lower level areas are pretty sparse now.

I wouldn’t be too comfortable with the idea of the “vocal minority.” Review the post histories. You’d be surprised how many posters are either first-time posters or had mostly positive comments about the game until now.

Lt Latency.7415:

Enikuo.9205:

Lt Latency.7415:

Nerth.3940:

Lt Latency.7415:

xtorma.1283:

Lt Latency.7415:

What else would you do that give you that kind of value for your money??

I went to see the new bond movie and the add was nothing like what I thought the movie was going to be.

That cost me alot more then 10 cents an hour.

But when you went to see the bond movie , it didnt turn into twilight half way through.

Actually it sort of did.

I thought i was going to see a movie about bond a super spy and gadgets like normal but he was a worthless bum who couldn’t pass his training and had no spy tools.

But bond is not the actual point.

What is it then? I bought a product because it was advertised in a certain way. I don’t play games with gear grind (WoW, Rift, SW:TOR, …). I don’t have the time anymore. So, they advertised that this is going to be different, whole game is end-game, play how you want to play, we respect our players, yadda, yadda, yadda. What happens? they do a 180 on us after we bought the game and spent a considerable amount in the gem store.

Oh, just to be clear, I can’t get a refund because I was one of those fools who pre-purchased on the same day it was available to show my support for their so called “manifesto”. I even planned to buy at least 20€ worth of gems every month, just like a subscription to show my support for their efforts.

Makes sense?

Yeah, You paid and played for one style and if they change to something you don’t like you stop.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Paying for 600 hours+ and saying your didn’t get your monies worth not so much. I don’t even think I have played a game for 600 hours, Well maybe counter strike but that is because it’s like 10+ years old.

600 hours that ANet wasted of that player’s time. They can say they didn’t get their money’s worth, because it’s their money. It’s their time. Not yours. That’s the point.

Where they not playing for fun that 600 hours? What were they doing if it was a wasted 600 hours

Some people have more money than time. They don’t value the experience in the same way that you do. Those 600 hours are more valuable to them than the 10 cents. And, those people are often attracted to horizontal progression over vertical progression, which is the main point of contention in this patch. But, they can’t get their time back, just money.

I’m not personally seeking a refund. I’m still hoping that ANet changes their mind. But, I can’t fault others for doing so.

Lt Latency.7415:

Nerth.3940:

Lt Latency.7415:

xtorma.1283:

Lt Latency.7415:

What else would you do that give you that kind of value for your money??

I went to see the new bond movie and the add was nothing like what I thought the movie was going to be.

That cost me alot more then 10 cents an hour.

But when you went to see the bond movie , it didnt turn into twilight half way through.

Actually it sort of did.

I thought i was going to see a movie about bond a super spy and gadgets like normal but he was a worthless bum who couldn’t pass his training and had no spy tools.

But bond is not the actual point.

What is it then? I bought a product because it was advertised in a certain way. I don’t play games with gear grind (WoW, Rift, SW:TOR, …). I don’t have the time anymore. So, they advertised that this is going to be different, whole game is end-game, play how you want to play, we respect our players, yadda, yadda, yadda. What happens? they do a 180 on us after we bought the game and spent a considerable amount in the gem store.

Oh, just to be clear, I can’t get a refund because I was one of those fools who pre-purchased on the same day it was available to show my support for their so called “manifesto”. I even planned to buy at least 20€ worth of gems every month, just like a subscription to show my support for their efforts.

Makes sense?

Yeah, You paid and played for one style and if they change to something you don’t like you stop.

Yeah, that makes sense.

Paying for 600 hours+ and saying your didn’t get your monies worth not so much. I don’t even think I have played a game for 600 hours, Well maybe counter strike but that is because it’s like 10+ years old.

600 hours that ANet wasted of that player’s time. They can say they didn’t get their money’s worth, because it’s their money. It’s their time. Not yours. That’s the point.

Lt Latency.7415:

Enikuo.9205:

Lt Latency.7415:

Wow People with 600 hours played after paying 60 bucks.

What joke.

You got your monies worth.

Now you want to unpay for it for what they gave you. If you don’t like stop playing and stop spending money. But if you played for 600 hours, They gave you enough.

I would say that ANet both failed to deliver the product they advertised and wasted 600 hours of that player’s time, so they’re doubly wrong.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to tell someone that they got their money’s worth, especially in this circumstance.

That works out to 10 cents an hour.

As there was no grind so far, You were playing for fun. It’s pretty hard to get fun for 10 cents an hour.

The point is that it’s not your place to make that evaluation. It’s not your money.

Also, you’re not helping ANet. The players asking for refunds either already feel foolish or righteously indignant. You’re really only fanning the flames.

Lt Latency.7415:

Wow People with 600 hours played after paying 60 bucks.

What joke.

You got your monies worth.

Now you want to unpay for it for what they gave you. If you don’t like stop playing and stop spending money. But if you played for 600 hours, They gave you enough.

I would say that ANet both failed to deliver the product they advertised and wasted 600 hours of that player’s time, so they’re doubly wrong.

I don’t think it’s appropriate to tell someone that they got their money’s worth, especially in this circumstance.

Agrik.7465:

Loosifah.4739:

Freyar (Who’s… 3 hours ago
I’m concerned over ascended gear. Is Guild Wars 2 supposed to be moving towards traditional MMO progression? One of the reasons I stepped away from WoW and others was so that I could enjoy an MMO at my own pace without the risk of being excluded by something like Gear Score.
IsaiahCartwright @Freyar (Who’s best… 3 hours ago
I can see your concern, our goal with ascended items is to fill the gap in our progression between exotics and legendary as well as give us a new tool with the infusion slot to give more depth of rewards by offering new and interesting infusions that are directed at different game types.

Unfortunately the actual question wasn’t answered, just a canned non-answer repeating the blogpost

I think he answered the question – we just don’t like the answer.

I won’t stop playing the game, because I paid for it, but it has blunted my enthusiasm to spend more money in the gem shop. I don’t want to throw good money after bad. Personally, I’m concerned that the horizontal progression features I want will never show up because vertical progression will take over, but I’ll just have to wait and see.

Have you tried necromancer? I think it is probably going to give you the best balance of heartiness and damage. They have more health, have a death shroud ability that is like a second health bar, and have minions. Alternately, a shatter build on a mesmer might work for you, but I think it will take more work to learn it. The elementalist does seem really fragile compared to the other scholar classes, though it does seem to make up for it in higher damage and mobility.

Wintyre Fraust.6534:

Mr. Whiteside confirmed that the manifesto is out the door. The design philosophy has changed. Rare gear is no longer about a sense of achievement, but rather must now feed a sense of progression. Linsey directly implicated that the_ “whole game is the end game” philosophy is dead, as they are concentrating on creating “end game content” and new “end game mechanics” for “high-end players” to serve a sense of progression that is, in her mind, a “basic need for players to feel like they are progressing and growing even after hitting max level.”.

This is one thing that confuses me. Down-leveling, loot scaling, and travel costs all work against that idea of the “whole game is the end game” – it funnels everyone into the Orr “endgame.” Did they intend the game to be so linear?

Chris Whiteside.6102:

….
Chris Whiteside – Studio Design Director

Bless your hearts! You keep trying to explain it better, but you just end up confirming players’ fears. I think what many are saying is that they just don’t want any further vertical gear progression. Period. That includes legendaries, which don’t have better stats at the moment.

There’s a fine line between love and hate and people wouldn’t be this upset if they didn’t really love the game.

If infusions only give you resistance to Agony, why would there be three types – offensive, defensive, and omni? Why not just defensive?

I had hoped for more horizontal progression – player housing, guild housing, wardrobes for armor skins, more town clothes, emotes, new content, better reward structures in down-leveled areas, etc. I am not excited about Ascended gear at all. It sounds like an easy fix to a problem that is going to quickly reappear.

It’s a little hyperbolic to say people are refusing to help their friends and have their priorities messed up. The real impact is people choosing not to volunteer to help someone they don’t know very well in their guild or ignoring requests for help from person in map chat. They’ll do that by simply being silent. It’s the social connections that aren’t getting made because of that decision point around travel cost.

Solid Gold – I get your point and I agree. My point was that the argument of it being a money sink is moot, because players avoid traveling. So, not only does it discourage social gameplay, it doesn’t even work as a money sink as supporters claim.

I’ve read that some of the set is given as rewards for the personal story – specifically the coat.

It’s not a money sink if people avoid it, which is what’s happening. Players avoiding travel to save money hurts the experience for everyone.

Jemmi.6058:

There are 7 different development teams

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/colin-johanson-outlines-guild-wars-2-live-game-development/

Here are the two relevant teams to this dicsussion.

Live Response—The Live Response team is focused on fixing bugs, addressing game feedback, and balancing the game. You’ve seen a lot of their work already in the update notes.

Living World—The Living World team is focused on adding new content to the game world. This team will be adding and refining the types of content you already know in PvE and WvW, as well as developing new features and rewards.

---

I also wanted to add my 2 cents to the topic. I have run into very few bugs over the past month. A couple halloween ones right off the bat and The Hatchery bug. Then maybe a couple dynamic event bugs here or there. There are way fewer bugs in the game now compared to 1.5 months ago. IMO they are doing a great job, keep it up.

That really is strange to have a dedicated bug-fix team. I’m accustomed to escalation teams that handle one-offs and emergency fixes, but I’ve never seen that.

I can understand the OPs frustration. A lot of the profession bugs seem rather long in the tooth at this point. Maybe they need to prioritize hiring for the Live Response team.

Everywhere I’ve worked, the guys that wrote the code also fixed the bugs. That includes a gaming company and enterprise software. I’m curious where you guys get the info that there’s actually a separate bug-fix team. Is there an article about the ArenaNet organization structure somewhere?

I just looked this thread up again to, once again, express how very annoying right-click select is. I am sick to death of randomly attacking stuff when I am just trying to move my camera.

But, wasn’t there a little of everything? You can grind to get all the mats for the weapon skins. You can luck out on drops in the dungeon, labyrinth, or chests. You could buy stuff from the cash shop. You could get a pair of nice boots with skill in the clock tower. And, there was the quest line for the tome back piece and its upgrade. It seems like they had it all covered to me.

I have a level 69 mesmer and I just power-leveled a necromancer to 29 for the Halloween event. I love them both and they’re both sturdy professions. But, here’s how they compare to me:

My mesmer is slow. She runs slow, she takes time to set up her illusions, and she kills slowly. She has virtually no area of effect spells. Compared to my other characters, she’s more complicated and requires more thoughtful play. But, she can be very powerful when I’m on my game and she has a lot of unique abilities for clever combat. Her play style really does emulate being a master at manipulation.

My little necromancer, on the other hand, feels very “rawr.” She has loads of area effect spells. And, she has this death shroud ability with super-powered attacks. She even runs faster thanks to a passive signet buff. I don’t use minions on her because I think most of them look gross, which it works out just fine (no offense minion lovers). I just run into groups of monsters and start big ole fights. She is “death incarnate” and she is never scared.

Are waypoints really working as a gold sink when players just avoid using them or use the sparingly? And, if waypoint cost is discouraging players to help others, wouldn’t that be hard to see since players just won’t respond in guild/map chat when someone asks for help? I mean, they wouldn’t say “no, it costs too much.” They’d just be silent.

I had a lot of fun grabbing screenshots during the event

It seems like people are talking about two different things in this thread – the cost of waypoints while soloing and the cost for playing socially (helping low-level guildies and people in map chat).

I agree that this would be a huge improvement for me. It seems like such a small thing, but it’s so pervasive. I finally learned how to work around it on my mesmer and now reading MithranArkanere’s comment, I realize it’s the reason my engineer’s turrets keep randomly disappearing.