Guild Wars 2

In the spirit of recycling communication posted before, I’ll just quote myself.

I think ArenaNet aspire to the Valve approach, by which I of course mean that they intend to do as much talking to their community as a brick wall made of mute buttons sealed within a vacuum who have recently sworn an oath of silence in accordance with their Religion of Absolute Quiet.

Sure, they have a “Forum Communication Team” (which is a funny way of referring to Gaile Gray). Sure, they’ve posted to say that they will communicate more. Sure, there is a but. But. They rarely engage with us about the Big Issues. It’s usually about small stuff when it’s not saccharine thumb-ups on flavour posts or play nice admonishments as moderation.

Much has been said about a lack of speaking. When your customers actually want to engage you more, the customer imagines conversation, the business imagines compensation. ArenaNet need to have more courage. Not worry that everything they say will be enshrined forever online, picked over by thousands of malcontents, held up as an example of their failings when their words and reality differ. Because there’s something worse than all that, it’s the perceived inadequacies that silence fosters.

As far as the posts on Reddit go, it’s a good start, perhaps ArenaNet can address their systematic failings that engenders the situation where staff post about their job in an open environment is preferable to their home turf.

While I can see why Anet is reluctant to talk to the fan base, I have little down that the fan base reacts more strongly when they’re not talked to. It’s a self-perpetuating cycle.

Fan base reacts badly.
Anet responds by withholding comments.
Fan base reacts even worse.

To be more specific there is always an element of the fan base that is going to react strongly in a negative manner. By letting those people have their say in response, more reasonable people will simply learn to ignore those people and those posts.

Right now, Anet is in a situation where people can talk and they don’t get to present their side…whatever their side is.

My guess is Anet is tired of being called names. If people called me a liar or lazy I wouldn’t want to tell them anything either.

But I think it’s a mistake. Tactically and just for the good of the game, it would be better if Anet ignored the unreasonable posts and let the fan base stand for them. The problem is they waited so long to bring the fan base into the fold, it’s harder and harder for reasonable people to side with them. After all, we’re not hearing their side at all.

Tspatula.9086:

gwaimui.3819:

So someone who runs a red light (only once!) in their car should get a free pass?
Someone who steals out of the cash register at work (only once!) should only get a tap on the wrist?
You do the wrong thing, even once, there’s a chance you’ll get caught. He did.. & now he’s sorry about it only because he got repercussions.

And everyone going on about “oh, unfair IP banning for everyone in the house!”
Did they say that’s what happened? Because all I heard were that his account was banned for botting, and her account was banned probably because the 200g he sent her was a profit from botting. She was complicit whether she knew about it or not.
If she truly didn’t know about it I think it’s fair she gets the account back but, honestly, I’m skeptical.

First of all, your argument is irrelevant, botting and running red lights are not related. Nor are any of your other “examples”. Personally, I don’t feel I have the facts or the right to lay down judgment. And, I never suggested that his ban be lifted, did I? You were ok to that point, but now you are in your own fantasyland, maybe he made a million gold!!! maybe he saved 1000 puppies!!! maybe he’s really a terrorist, maybe he and his sister are BOTH terrorists, or maybe they are simple fallible human beings just like everyone else… Are you saying that if I sent 200g to someone that I should be banned, because I certainly have sent similar sums to people more than once.

Personally, I think it’s a little harsh to ban them both for a single 60 second incidence to grab a quick map completion that was never repeated, it’s not like any rewards gotten can’t be removed, but on the other hand, it’s pretty clearly botting, and totally Anet’s call, they know all the facts.

That’s all Anet spoke about (and ANet prefers not to give out details as those details help hackers figure out how to get around detection). Once ANet said that, then that’s what he admitted to. No more, no less.

He spent time researching hacks, speaking on a forum to hackers then downloading his selected hack. If anyone thinks that after all that time and effort he only used it for one minute then I’ve got some land in Florida to sell to them, with only a minor crocodile problem.

Eldbrand Charging.8902:

Sarika.3756:

Why can’t all guildies access the guild buffs? I don’t see what’s special about a karma or xp boost that should require HOT…

It’s part of the expansion. Don’t see why some should be able to cherry pick some content and not the rest.

Before the expansion, everyone could get buffs, not just free players but people who bought the original game. Now people who bought the original game can’t get guild buffs.

I don’t care as much about free to play players not getting it, but people who paid for the game? They shouldn’t lose the ability to get guild buffs when they once had it.

Eldbrand Charging.8902:

Sarika.3756:

Why can’t all guildies access the guild buffs? I don’t see what’s special about a karma or xp boost that should require HOT…

It’s part of the expansion. Don’t see why some should be able to cherry pick some content and not the rest.

But they had access to guild buffs BEFORE HoT was launched. Why was something TAKEN AWAY from players who chose not to buy HoT? It would be entirely different if guild buffs was something that came with HoT. But guild buffs came with the core game. Why was a core game featured moved to expansion pack content?

It’s not like anyone is saying those without HoT should be able to create Revenants or have access to the elite specializations.

All players here are asking for is for content that came with the base game to be available to those who just have the base game.

Garambola.2461:

I have not seen anyone react to these tiny buffs missing with ‘I must get HoT right now’. I have seen it cause dissatisfaction and that may cause people to delay the purchase.

Okay, as much as I think everyone should have access to this buff, this statement is just silly.

A million people, most of whom are used to paying for really bad cash shops and face book games are free to play players. People are used to having to pay for stuff these days. Really.

I’ve been recruiting for my guild and I get new people in all the time and not a single person I’ve said they can’t get the buff has said they’re not likely to buy the game because of it. However, when I said that not all the guild feature are accessible to them, a few of them have said they’re going to buy the game.

To an older player like me, stuff like this leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but there are so many people who have grown up in a completely different world.

I agree that content players had access to before HoT, they should still have access to. New HoT content should be available to HoT purchasers. Not a fan of taking away content in general.

I don’t really think it’s “fair” but let’s be honest, if you’re even remotely serious about this game, you have / are planning to get HoT. Like come on, it’s $50. You could pay that much for a game that you play for 25 hours and never pick up again. It’s really not that much to ask, and frankly, if you’re going into an MMO not expecting to buy the expansions, idk what you’re thinking.

Manthas.6234:

Vayne.8563:

Manthas.6234:

Vayne.8563:

Manthas.6234:

It’s not about cinematics, voice actors or something like that. It’s about quality of the story/lore developers are creating. And that quality is low, compared to the original GW2.

For example, could anyone give me any name of a new, HoT NPC? Describe his/her character?
In my opinion, there are no new characters in HoT, only new races, which will be forgotten in the next expansion since there’s no one to represent them.

Ibli. I love him. Sorry but I do.

Googled him. If that’s the best HoT story character, then it just describes how low quality is.
I kind of remember him myself for being one of the first NPC of some importance. After a mission (wiki says he’s in two missions) that guy is dropped.

Nothing wrong with the character. He’s cartoony, he has a great voice and I like him. You may not remember him, but it doesn’t make him a bad character. There was a bit of writing that I really didn’t like from HoT, but aside from that one incident, the writing was fine. And the delivery was better than anything we’ve seen so far.

If I can’t remember a character, it kind of makes him a bad character. Look how you describe him “he’s cartoony, he has a great voice and I like him”. That is all. Anet didn’t even bother to make his character model stand out. If I present you with 3 random Itzel and one of them would be Ibli, you couldn’t even point at him. Lazy developer?

You not remembering a character doesn’t make him a bad character. He makes him a bad character to you. There’s nothing wrong with Ibli. You don’t believe he stood out, which is fine. I do. That’s fine too.

It’s an opinion. You’re entitled to yours, I’m entitled to mine.

The reason why stories in these games are as they are is because in single player games you have a lot more time to work on them, and they probably don’t change as much. Single player games don’t evolve as they go.

MMOs need more and faster, often with teams of people changing all the time. It’s not so easy to get everything in by that deadline all the time. But the deadline for a game that’s not out yet is very different from the deadline of a game that is constantly needed you for the next thing.

There are a lot of reasons why single player games have a better chance at a better story than MMOs do. The proof is in the fact that it happens so often. It’s not like single player game writers are great and MMO writers suck. That’s not it at all.

It’s a different vehicle with different focus.

If you’re building a racing car you build for speed. If you’re building a family car you build for safety. It changes the design.

For me, the feeling of gritty-ness is gone…the semi-realistic dark feeling of something very very wrong in the game world.What do we have instead? The start of HoT we’re presented with “All of the armies we had are demolished, how will we face such sorrow and hardship!” , and all I’m thinking is “lol get rekt scrubs xD”.
I miss the desolate feeling of Ascalon, where it seemed all life has died, the plague infested districts of Caineng….I could go on about this for quite a long time, but my point is – it’s like the game is hollow now.I don’t feel any real weight in it.
The moment I try to get into it, I get reminded of the mastery points I have to earn in the most stupid gating ever made.
Story?Voice acting? All fails.I’m seriously considering going back to GW1 now…..

Thaddeus.4891:

2) There is a concept in video game of point of exit. You should design point of exit in your game adapted to your target audience and let’s face it. Open World is for casual mostly. They are fun for hardcore as they farm them for reward, but they should be designed for casual. And for the new maps, there is also the entry point. Again, linked to the length of the timer. Most map have an entry and an exit point of 2 hours. Want to join a DS 1 hours after it started? Good luck. Either the map isn’t far enough to succeed or it’s probably full already. You have an entry point of roughly 30min when the maps start. Be there or good luck. So now, you need 2 hours for the map, but more 3 hours since you need to wait 1 hour before doing the content you wanted. SW did that very well. You can start the map at any moment. Hop on a map and taxi ppl in and voila you are good to go.

Yes and more yes.
I lapsed on calling it out, but exit points are vital to humane design. ANet’s urge to keep players on a map for 1-2 hours is brutal to those who don’t have time for it.

On top of the concept of exit points, there is also a time-to-meaningful-play ratio that needs to be satisfied for player retention. Fractal design is great for this now. Hop in, do one chunk get a reward, then decide to do another or move on.
Hours-long map metas don’t let you do that, punish you for taking a break, and don’t offer a meaningful play experience unless you sneak in at the right time to kill the boss or wait the entire time for an organized map to run the meta for an hour or two.

Ayrilana.1396:

This is for those that dislike the events on timers. I’m not trying to make an argument for or against at this point but get some insight as to why it specifically bothers you.

What is it about the timers that you do not like?
What is it that you cannot do but want to do?

Fair questions. (Omitted the last as it’s not specifically relevant to me and is not a function of timers as it would be to flowing populations like Silverwastes.)

I do like consistency for events that would otherwise not be available without it. While that put world bosses on farm, I know when and where I can find them if I need them. It wasn’t fun having to find them after Ascended gear started but Megaserver wasn’t in place, since they could spawn at random.

So it’s not such a horrible sin to do entire maps like that for HoT.

Where it becomes a problem is when the meta events block exploration and character advancement. Canopy exploration is only available 20 minutes of a two hour rotation. Less than a 17% availability. That’s pretty horrible for being respectful of a player’s time.

Trying to use the guild hall to get into Magus Falls, I swear I have a 50% chance to run into that stupid ball of light blocking me from getting into Tarir. My options at that point are to wait over 20 minutes for the event to end (in failure) or waypoint out, unless the character is fresh to the area, at which point …I switch characters because I’m already put off.

The hero challenge buried under Tarir? Bad, bad. Having to rely on the zerg to break in there isn’t a way to enjoy the game. But that’s also hitched to the timer.

Vieux P.1238:

kdaddy.5431:

4) Guild Halls and Scribing
There isnt any thing really fun about this. My guild members and I only go in there to upgrade the hall and even then we are sitting going is this worth our time and mats. Everything about it feels like work.

You have know idea how many times i said so as well & how many arguments i gotten from ppl on the forum saying the opposite.

I’ll say it again. Guildhall is a waste of tons of resources. In the end, no one spends time in it.

It was a great idea that was badly implemented. & what i mean in badly implemented is that foremost first, a guild hall was meant to be a place to have a guild & guild friends to gather & hang. In the same way & feel when ppl in WoW gathers in front of Ogrimmar. You could spend hours socializing & still be close to your conveniences & friends wile showing off. Man, Anet missed on that one big time by making not only super big maps as guildhalls but also making it it’s own instances. when the only thing that was needed, was to redo the game so that in only major cities, guilds could buy a guild house. Man ppl would hang out & show off & duel in front of the guild house. It would of bin better then WoW Ogrimarr social aspect.

To bad they missed on that one.

Your idea of a guild hall is not THE idea of a guild hall. You think it’s meant to be a place where people gather and hang out. I’m pretty sure that was never the intention of the guild hall.

This didn’t happen in Guild Wars 1 either, so I’m not sure why you’re measuring the success of guild halls against what is essentially an arbitrary standard.

Guild Halls were always about convenience. In this case, it’s measure on guild progression, which some people got into. It’s mean to be a long term goal.

It was never meant to take people out of the open world for extended periods of time. Instead it’s a meeting place, before missions, because the guild portal takes you right to missions. It’s a place to get buffs, work on scribing if you’re nuts enough to do that.

But it was not meant for people to go and live in. That would have been counter productive.

Any game that has managed to make really good housing, suffers a loss of players in the open world. That’s a lose/lose situation.

Inspection for skin details only? Sure, fine
Inspection for gear color, stats? Get out.

Duels? No.

Do I really need to link all the kitten threads for these things?

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gw2+forum+dueling+site:forum-en.guildwars2.com

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=gw2+forum+inspect+site:forum-en.guildwars2.com

Enjoy

Someone find me the “beating a dead horse” gif.

What I find the funniest is how people still defended SaL even after Gaile came by and stated what exactly got the account flagged and banned.

People really think that arenanet would go out of their way to fake evidence on a topic that created this much buzz just to save their hides? Really?

That is waaaay more believable than the alternative: someone f-ing up and trying to get away with it.

NOT.

Bellatrixa.3546:

The thing that amuses me is that it’s a ban for 181.7 days, not a permanent ban. It’s not even half a year. Mirror of the video is pretty hilarious too. ‘We won’t take down any of the videos’… priceless.

This.

Exploiting in this manner (going out of your way to install software, not a bug exploit- which is bad, but doesn’t seem as heinous!) deserves a perma-ban.

Cedric Ambidexter.9174:

Yes I am. Even if I’m a level 1 character, I should experience the greatness of a game, if it so claims to be.

Get my point?

Actually, no. With each successive post, you’ve made it clear that you don’t actually like GW2. You like GW1 and you want GW2 to be more like it, only with cooler stuff. For better or worse, they are different games and even if ANet agreed with you, there’s almost no way they could redesign the game from the ground up.

Your comment about the mesmer class being ruined is one example of your preference for some game that doesn’t exist — the class name is the same in both games, but they have hardly anything in common (unless you count the coincidence of identically named skills). Don’t get me wrong: I, too, miss the concept of GW1’s mesmer (winning by letting the opponent defeat themselves). However, instead of asking ANet to ‘fix’ it, I tried the GW2 mesmer and it’s every bit as fun (for me), just completely different.

tl;dr take a break. If/when you come back, you might enjoy the many things the game has to offer. Or perhaps not. Either way, you’ll be having more fun than you seem to be having now.

It is hilarious and sad that this isn’t the first I’ve seen of stuff like this.

In another MMO I played awhile ago, RMT was extremely popular, and also extremely illegal. On a daily basis, someone would go to the official forums and make the following very specific complaint:

“I was banned unfairly! Someone random person I’ve never met ran up to me, gave me a bunch of gold, and said ‘your order has been filled’, and because of that I was banned for RMTing!”

You’d be surprised how shameless people can be. A conscience isn’t something everybody has. It is something you choose to have.

DeathReign.7821:

Pandaman.4758:

Zomaarwat.3912:

Maybe they were on shortbow? And they thought Anet would never catch them, that they’d be way too slow?

You can’t use any weapon or utility skills in the Wintersday JP. You can only run, jump, roll, and die.

Oh, and open the chest at the end if you manage not to die.

He’s making a reference to one of their songs.

The lyrics were: “out of my way cause I am on short bow, you’ll never catch me cause you are way too slow.”

Ahh, my bad. Never really bothered paying attention to the GW2 youtubers, was even less interested in giving this particular one any more attention than they deserved.

Haha some of the apologetics in this thread are ludicrous, yet hilarious. Maybe they were lagging and falling… yeah, good one.

I’ve played MMORPGs for over a decade and I’ve seen this all so many times. It’s amazing the length some people will go to try and convince others they’re innocent despite full well knowing they are not. It never ceases to amaze that people still stand up for them after the fact, too.

I agree that the thread has served it’s purpose now and there doesn’t seem to be much worth discussing. Someone cheated and are upset they got caught, what’s new?

aerial.7021:

Siobhan.5273:

TexZero.7910:

But don’t worry they’ll get unbanned.

Meanwhile a fellow guild mate of mine pretty much got told by support to suck it up and there’s no chance of reversing his actions (accused of botting for multi-boxing).

Yep good stuff.

29 map points in under 60 seconds? No. I think they’re done for. At least this account that got banned is.

I’ll never understanding cheating in a video game. What is the point of playing if you feel you have to cheat? Why bother?

Grind Wars is a name however deserved by Guild Wars.

DeWolfe.2174:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Customer Support has carefully reviewed the data that resulted in the termination of the game account in question. They verified that this account accessed 29 map points in under 60 seconds. It is not possible to accomplish this without the use of a third-party program, the kind of program that is expressly forbidden by our User Agreement and our Rules of Conduct.

Because of these facts, the account termination will not be reversed.

Gaile, been thinking about this a bit while waiting in PvP Q’s. Maybe Anet should carefully review what’s motivating people to “break bad” if you will? Maybe the economic policies of late should be reviewed? Since HoT launched there’s been a lot of threads complaining of the grind, the feeling of hopelessness toward goals, and general lack of “good feeling” about the game. If this ban wave had such volume, I’m concerned what drove a player to choose such behavior.

That’s where I’d be looking, the problem comes from being able to use gems to buy gold I think, it’s too easy to just spend real world money and utterly mess the market up with flood loads of gold, in Guild Wars 1 we actually had to put effort into becoming wealthy that being to farm, there are somethings I’ve no idea how people afford them at all, and I’m not talking about “want” things but fundamental armor upgrades so that a new player can play and experiment with things the system is very restrictive by means of gold.

Grind Wars is a named deserve by over 90% of MMORPGs imo. It was easy to obtain gold in GW1 just by salvaging for the materials and selling the mats in Kamadan.

Not really surprising they suck at love when they suck at honesty.

Iceblue.8051:

I was in a jp instance yesterday. A guy had probably pressed down on auto run. He kept porting to the started area (the bonfire) and running off the ledge. He was probably dying and reappearing every half a second – so 29 ports in under a minute makes sense to me. I don’t know? Is pushing down auto running and going AFK botting?

It happens to be I asked in chat if it was a bot, and others said it was probably someone who just wanted to stay in the instance. The instance actually bugged when the timer got to zero. Me and 2 others stayed in the instance and were able to continue jumping and getting rewards with out a problem. I was worried it was against the EULA to stay in that bugged instance, so after doing the jp twice or three times I left.

td;lr I can see how someone could “accessed 29 map points in under 60 seconds” and it shouldn’t be considered botting.

As much as I want to believe Suck At Love didn’t bot, their reaction in the video and then the reaction of making it private after being called out by Gaile aren’t the reactions of an innocent person. I personally would be furious and confused, and would raise even more hell. I would certainly not delete/private the video and other videos (vlogs).