Guild Wars 2

Shaogin.2679:

The two don’t compare actually. You go into said restaurants with clear information on what you will be receiving. With SAB, the expectations it would be coming back at any certain time was based entirely on assumptions. I know they’ve already released statements saying that SAB is indeed coming back, just no set date yet. If everyone is seeking an apology that is one thing, but demanding a refund for a product they were able to use while SAB was present and will be able to use again when it returns just doesn’t make sense.

Well not really. You don’t see signs in restaurants (usually) saying that “The starter will be served after twenty minutes, the main course will be served after forty minutes, the dessert will be served after one hour.” There is a reasonable expectation of the time required to wait for each course, and in the event that a significant amount of time longer expires you are justified in complaining. In the situation that you have paid in advance, you are justified in asking for a refund.

Heck, I was once in a coffee shop where I was in a rush, and because the food took longer than twenty minutes, I asked for it to take away (I didn’t complain, or ask for a refund). The manager was so apologetic for my wait that they discounted my bill and gave me free extra food. There is an accepted policy of “reasonable wait” and “unreasonable wait”, they don’t give explicit times and dates, but they still acknowledge when they’ve provided service that is below an acceptable standard.

A year and a half is not an acceptable standard of service on a product people paid money for in this case (in my subjective opinion, but I don’t consider it an unreasonable one). That ANet haven’t provided an explanation, refund or even apology for this does not seem to me okay.

If they choose to remove beloved content that is already programmed, and ignore their customers on the issue, that’s up to them (albeit, silly). But taking money for access to SAB, then not giving access to SAB for well over a year is a different matter.

Shaogin.2679:

I don’t get it, did you people not use the coin? If so, how are you justifying getting a return on a used product?

If you go into an all you can eat restaurant, and they give you a wafer, then you would be justified in asking for a refund if the staff went out for a few hours instead of cooking any more food. While the term “infinite” was obviously to be understood in the context of “when its open”, there was also a reasonable expectation that SAB would actually be open at some time within six months to a year of purchase.

Nothing explicit was said, no explicit dates were given, but just as it is reasonable to expect food in a restaurant to come within an hour or so of ordering, it is reasonable to expect use from a product within a year or so of purchasing. At the very least an explanation and apology for the delay is expected. If after two hours of waiting in a restaurant the waiter refused to make eye contact or speak to you even though you had already paid, you’d be rightly angry. This is that, but after seventeen months.

Invictus.1503:

First, you at least put it politely so thank you. That said, this is exactly why they stopped communicating much with the community. If they open up and say something, then get unforeseen delays, or even have to scrap something, they have people up in arms (usually much less polite than this, but the same message).

I miss the early days when they were very open on what they were working on and they’re hopes for the game. Sadly that era ended due to all the negative responses they got when things delayed. They have recently opened up a little (nowhere near what they use to do though) and I’m grateful.

I don’t actually disagree with you in principle here (I think this thread is a good thing, though I think it is a symptom of poor planning of release dates), but I’m not sure that’s quite a fair picture of why people complained.

The issue wasn’t that things were delayed or abandoned. The thing was that things were delayed or abandoned without telling us or giving indication as to why. We didn’t get a “Hey, sorry, precursor crafting will actually be a couple of years for this reason”, the issue just got kind of ignored. We still don’t know why SAB isn’t open, or when it might come back, or if there’s ever any chance of refunds for people who paid cash to get the ICC. We don’t know when traits are being fixed, or how they’re being fixed, or why they haven’t been fixed already.

Also, this thread is good, but it has come basically a day in advance, and without actually giving a basic time frame for when the patch might eventually come. That’s about as bare minimum a level of communication as you can have without simply ignoring the issue altogether. I am appreciative of the thread, but it comes with a feeling of “I have to be nice about this or they might go back to zero communication again, and last minute minimal communication is at least slightly better than what they were doing before.”

While I don’t actually mind a lot of the NPE (some of it is awful, particularly the way telling people about future unlocks is handled), I haven’t recommended the game to anyone since the traits patch. The NPE is over in a few hours (though the starter maps remain boring and lifeless thanks to many of the interesting bits being removed), but the traits fiasco will stick with you well beyond level 80 on every. single. character.

Gaile Gray.6029:

There’s no new information on SAB at this time as far as a return date. You know it will come back at some point in the future, but there is no date to announce right now.

Is there any chance we can get a date on when infinite continue coins will start being refunded? It’s been a year and a half since people paid cash for a service they haven’t been provided.

While I’m definitely on the side of “Let’s appreciate them communicating on this”, I think there are a couple of issues:

1) Why are things being done on a schedule where this happens? Patches are often undergoing last minute updates, and coming out at random times. Wouldn’t it just be easier to set the dates slightly less optimistically in the first place?

2) While communication is great when it happens, what actually is the system? We can’t be given information about SAB (a year and a half after people paid real cash to be able to play it and have been denied refunds since), we can’t be given information about traits (oh my how is that still happening), but we are given information about this?

More positively, yay SAB for the 31st!!!

Snow.2048:

We’re gunna get locked for being off topic if we keep this up… But tbh I don’t know what to add to the actual discussion that hasn’t be suggested or said already, if not here then the previous thread.

It would be nice though if we could get a bit of direction in the discussion.

I think the big issue is, being off topic and annoyed is actually the most productive thing we can do (which I’m obviously not advocating). We have nothing to discuss, they’ve had nearly a year of input from the information we have. All we can do at this stage to have any influence whatsoever is to demonstrate that this is an issue we are extremely unhappy about, and aren’t going to forget just because we’re ignored for months and threads are closed down.

The best case scenario seems to be that some dev, or admin, takes this thread (and the last) to someone with the power to end the silence. I don’t see any other productive outcome here.

While we have no reason to think it will be back on April 1st, I think that it could still be a significant date. SAB riots last year were supposed to lead to increased communication, but we still haven’t heard anything about the focus point of the riots. I don’t think it’s implausible that a significant date passing with no word could lead to the same thing.

This is especially true as it marks the 18th month mark on the infinite continue coin being bought by many with real money. That’s not a small issue. ANet took people’s cash and have basically wandered off with it, and haven’t even given an explanation let alone a refund.

It’s a shame. Between SAB and the traits fiasco, so much good will from HoT and camera changes is being wasted. They just need to turn the thing back on as it was, or at least explain why that isn’t as simple as it sounds.

I think there’s some pretty needless aggression towards people who find value skins needing to be earned (especially in a game where aesthetics are the endgame), and that’s from someone who doesn’t care if these are gem store or not. Wanting rewards for your efforts is perfectly reasonable, just as wanting to be able to buy them is. Having differing opinions on this is no need for hostility.

That aside, I hope that this skin (and the wings that I assume will follow it) overwrites your glider skin. So that you actually use the wings to glide if you have them equipped. Having wings that big, but using a glider instead, would look weird.

Okay, while the titling and the phrasing of the OP might have been slightly more productive, I think we might be a little more open to discussing the starter bank space. In the early days, it really wasn’t a problem, but I don’t think it’s controversial to say that the amount of non-depositable festival stuff has gone up significantly in the last year or so. Add to that boosters, banners and tonics that drop from missions etc. and 30 slots is a bit on the slim side.

I’m not saying that it’s a problem that demands attention, but there are plenty of players who complain about their inventories filling with junk. A bigger inventory would solve that pretty easily. It’s not like people wouldn’t still want to buy extra tabs if they started with 60 slots instead of 30. Nor would (many) people complain about having bought tabs if they were gifted an extra tab now.

I’d also note that while it is true that personal guild banks and mule characters are an option. I’m not sure that this is really the intended functionality of those features.

Rin.1046:

All that said, I do not think SAB was removed because some people disliked it. I think they have just needed to put it on hold while they concentrated on other things. I am sure once HoT is out of the way they can free up resources again and continue finishing the other worlds and eventually bring SAB back into the game. I just hope that when they do it will be permanent, not temporary.

I really hope that’s not true. But if it is, I really wish they at least give gem refunds for those who bought the ICC. If it returns post HoT, that’s be something like two years the thing was closed, and an item people paid real world cash for was rendered useless (almost immediately after purchase).

I just wish we had an explanation as to why they won’t turn SAB back on. I didn’t get it when there was something being put out instead. But nothing? Really? We just want world 1 and 2, exactly as they were. That’s all.

ChyldeMyst.5098:

The self-righteous sense of entitlement you project by spouting rhetoric like “robbing customers blind” and demanding refunds does not help your cause.

Really? Is it actually “self righteous entitlement” to expect a service you paid for?

I often think the “entitled” accusation is overused here, even when its discussing people asking for free content. In this case people are asking for content they actually paid for.

Faux.1937:

ChyldeMyst.5098:

Oh for please. No one actually paid for the Super Adventure Box. It’s a mini-game, a periodic thing like the Zephyrite Market and the holiday festivals. And if it’s been over a year since their last iteration, maybe they’re trying to fix something that prompted a lot of complaints.

Honestly, my only complaint is that I can’t sell the tokens I have for the bloody Box, because it’s my least favorite content. But saying that ANET is “stealing customers’ money” just because they haven’t activated a particular optional fluff content in over a year? That’s a bit much. There are features that were promised pre-release that I’m still waiting to see implemented at all, but I whole-heartedly believe I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of this game, and will happily put more into it when I have it to invest. The SAB will come back eventually. If that’s all you’re playing for, you’re in the wrong game.

Players did pay for the Coin.

Exactly. Obviously ANet aren’t “stealing” by not giving us free content. But the infinite continue coin wasn’t free, and people paid real money for gems specifically to buy it. Taking money for a service and then refusing to provide that service, or refunds for it, is pretty kitten disrespectful whether its “stealing” or not. A year and a half is way past the point that customers can reasonably be expected to wait for a service they paid money for.

Reanne.5462:

could always threaten a class action lawsuit, even the bad publicity from that might get them to stop blowing the player base off. even if it never went anywhere

I think all it would actually take is someone like WoodenPotatoes posting a video on this.

Its kind of sad that ANet need to be strong armed into not essentially stealing customers’ money. If you went into a restaurant and paid for a full meal and they brought you a starter, then wandered of for a few hours, you’d be right to complain. ANet have done this, while refusing refunds for a year and a half now…

Andred.1087:

Problem is that the infinite play coin wasn’t bought with real-world money. It was bought with gems, which may or may not have been bought with real-world money. An oversight on ANet’s part, to be sure, that they allowed people to purchase an infinite access item to a temporary piece of content, but you could just as easily have bought it with gold, so I don’t see any way for them to give out refunds that doesn’t involve monumental customer support. Plus, giving a refund would set a precedent for players to demand refunds on anything and everything they’re dissatisfied with.

Besides that, it wasn’t even $10…

Oh yeah, I’m not saying they should give cash. Their system prevents it. But they should have refunded the gems by now.

Yes it was less than £10 (in the UK), but that doesn’t make it okay. Multiply that by how many people bought gems with cash to buy it, and that’s how much money ANet walked off with for a service they have not provided for a year and a half without explanation.

No idea why it’s shut. ANet gave us some of the best content in the game, took real world money for infinite access to it while it was open, then wandered off with the cash.

Six months closed was reasonable, if needless and detrimental to the game, but a year and a half of being denied a service people paid money for warrants at least an explanation, and really refunds.

Yeah, the daily achievements are bad for basically everyone. People who don’t like dragon ball either miss out on laurels and AP, or have to play something they don’t like. People who do like dragon ball get stuck with people who have no interest in playing it properly.

I get that there isn’t exactly much in Lunar New Year that they could have tied achievements to, but this was a great way to ruin the only significant content they had.

Welcome to the club Ten months of this we’ve had. My post-April characters now live in PvP. Many people have left outright. Many people have stopped buying gems. Many people have stopped recommending the game. The last thread had 4,000 posts, and 200,000 views (almost all negative comments). Who knows how many newer players have no clue how classes actually work, and haven’t even had the option of build experimentation, let alone done it.

Still not even an open line of communication beyond “something, between now and HoT”. I have no idea what ANet’s logic is here, but whatever it is, silence must be really important to them.

What confuses me is why we haven’t had information still. The HoT thing is out of the bag. The system is near universally hated. The last thread had 4,000 posts and 200,000 views.

I don’t understand what it is that is so important about staying quiet that it outweighs the damage that’s been/being caused…

I honestly don’t see how the achievements thing is even a concern. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say that many achievements in the game can be done by grinding in a “cheat” way. Heck, look at the top entries in the PvP hotjoin games to see that.

The only thing that would be an issue would be if there were titles, but activities generally don’t give them. At least, not prestigious ones. If it was something like Liadri with a title and mini, then maybe there’d be reason to keep the restriction. But who genuinely begrudges people the AP from Sanctum Sprint enough to want the activities “integrity” protected by preventing people from enjoying it together?

I’ve always found it strange that a game with eight professions has a limit of seven viewable character windows…

I also miss the old rewards panel being the default instead of the dailies. If they must have the achievements on display, I’d like to be able to have one set on the right, and the other on the left.

BlkPrince.2854:

1) This is needed and I hope its implemented.
2) Would be nice but its not that important atm.
3) Meh.
4) Stop asking for something that is useless in game.
5) The order of personal story is weird and disjointed. So would be nice.

I disagree about the importance of (2). Personally I love SAB, but more importantly, the current Lunar festival is a horrendous introduction to new players regarding what ANet actually do. There are a lot of new players in at the moment, and we have about the worst example of temporary content we’ve had active. SAB is programmed, and the box is right there. If ANet are too busy with HoT to program new stuff, then unless we’re going to have Wintersday in March, its pretty much perfect.

Regarding (4). The game is beautiful, and the end game is aesthetics. I don’t see how improving our ability to look at things is “useless”.

Pretty much the only things I really want are things that are/were programmed:

1) Traits fixed.
2) SAB turned back on. W1 and W2 will do.
3) The daily login section moved on the achievement tab. I don’t normally care about that stuff, but that one is both ugly and inconvenient. Its a tiny, tiny complaint, but its there.
4) First person mode.
5) The personal story back in order.
6) Hobosacks turned off.

Things like build saves and the like would be nice. But an amazing feature patch could be put out for me without really having to do anything. Just restore some things that were broken, and turn some thing on/off (I realise in programming terms that’s not quite so simple, but still).

Faux.1937:

They “had” planned… but Plans change everyday with Anet. Just b.c it was Planned means NOTHING to anet at all!!!!!

Which would actually be fair enough, except for the fact they’re taken people’s real world money. No refunds, and no SAB for a year and a half now is really pushing it. Not making the new worlds is fair enough, they have other priorities. But leaving already programmed content turned off with virtually no communication while hanging on to everyone’s money isn’t okay.

I look forward to the director’s cut where they randomise the order of scenes in the third act.

Awesome Glad people like the idea. Hopefully it can get enough support to actually be implemented!

Okay, I haven’t seen this suggested before, apologies if this is an old idea.

The idea is pretty simple, with a few options. Basically, some NPC actions are programmed into each home instance (walking about, sitting, standing, maybe even training if possible etc.), and if you have any alts on your account, they are spawned into the instance performing those actions.

Some considerations:

1) The number of possible alts spawned can be dictated by programming difficulty. If the limit is less than the number of alts on the account, the selection is randomised.

2) This could be done either in a completely random fashion, or it could be done with e.g. only Sylvari alts being spawned in the Grove instance. Personally I’d want it to be random, but I think tastes might differ.

3) Not everyone will like this, in which case it could either be a toggle option, or a gem store account upgrade.

I think this would be a nice way to integrate the spirit of the old GW1 Mercenary system, but with the acknowledgement that it simply won’t work (yet) in GW2. It’s instanced so won’t bother anyone else. It would make the home instances feel more fun and interesting. It would also (if reasonably priced) sell fairly well I think.

Kite.2510:

How many alts do you people have?
I don’t want to be rude, but having 12 alts in any MMO is not exactingly normal.
My cousin was playing WoW from launch for more than 8 years continuously and still plays whenever a new expansion comes up, and he still only manage to level up and gear properly 6 of them!.. IN 8 YEARS!

You people having so many alts was the game’s fault at launch for not having enough end-game content. But if you start whining about every single progression mechanic becoming account-bound the game will never get it! The process of the game that will suffer the most and become the most grindy and mindless would be the process of making new characters!!!
Instead, making the Masteries Character bound would mean much less grind for the individual, and the option for more strategic decisions for the alts!

IMO, A-nets biggest mistake was to put the idea of account bound masteries in your heads so early in the first place!

I disagree with this. People with Alts need to be considered in design because lots and lots of people have them (not just altoholics, I actually barely know anyone with only one character).

What this means is that when designing masteries the developers need to be aware that if they are character bound, everything they do needs to be done more than once. You yourself suggested scaling down the grind required.

But designing something with the constant factor of “this needs to be fun on repetition” in mind limits what designers can do. Account bound goals can be made exactly as challenging/easy, long-term/short term, expensive/cheap as it is fun and rewarding to make them. The developers are free to do whatever they want, and even free to make mistakes, because even if some particular goal is miscalculated, at least people only have to do it once.

That said, as with traits, I think there should just be an option on creation saying “Your account has earned the right to unlock X number of traits for this character, would you like to do this?” That way everyone’s catered for. Though I get the impression that the mastery system will be too integrated with things like collections and achievements to actually do that, which I think is a reasonable trade off.

Yikes no. I’m still praying they make traits account bound (and pretty much won’t make a new character until they do).

PookieDaWombat.6209:

See, thats the problem for me. This is just feeling more and more like the precursor crafting nonsense and I already hate how that has turned out.

With all of the other things Anet has done (and not done) in aggregate, it leaves me feeling more apprehensive about any change the longer it goes without details and a heaping load of silence.

Its just a shame that for a game that gets so many other things right, that the few missteps they make can be so large as to almost completely negate those good things.

I think what’s particularly annoying about this is the sheer lack of effort required to fix this compared to the effort going in to keeping us happy elsewhere. The main recurrent issues that come up a lot (at least that I follow) are:

1) Traits.
2) SAB.
3) Personal story changes.
4) Hobosacks.

The programming for all four of these is essentially done. Traits just needed to be account bound, reverted, or simply never broken. SAB just needs to be turned on. The personal story… honestly even more than traits I can’t believe that went through, its so disrespectful to the game and the work that went into it that I’m just baffled by it (but at least we’ve had info on that finally). Hobosacks just need to be turned off.

On the other side of the fence we have Heart of Thorns, and all the other updates and bits of free content. TONS of free and paid content to keep us happy, with who knows how many thousands of hours of work out into them, but its all weighed down by such seemingly simple fixes. Or, even more simply, the hour or so of work it would take to just come to the forum and write a post explaining why exactly each issue is in the state it is currently in.

I think the big issue here is that while the trade of would have been a good idea in itself, it was accompanied by the introduction of locked achievements, and achievements that couldn’t be completed in a single run. Bringing in unskippable cut scenes in instances that you are expected to complete at least three times even if you don’t fail seems to be something of a bad call.

Maybe. I still can’t believe they haven’t given refunds on the Infinite Continue Coin. Even optimistically we’re looking at “Hey everyone, pay us real world money to be able to play some content as much as you like (once every 18 months , if we feel like it)!”

I don’t want to get someone in trouble for doing a good job, but I’d just like to quote this from the “Greatest Fear” thread, one of the other bizarre butcherings the game suffered in the last year:

BobbyStein.2315:

I just wanted to provide an update since it’s been a while.

• We are currently working to restore the Greatest Fear storyline to the live game. I can’t provide a release date at this point.
• In addition to restoring the Personal Story steps to their original order we’re making some minor improvements where possible (e.g. recording new VO or updating certain conversations, etc.).

We’ll provide additional details closer to release. Thanks much for your patience.

Now, while five months is still probably not ideal, it’s a heck of a lot better than ten. More importantly, please note that this post actually gives the following information:

1) Concrete information about what fix is coming.
2) Concrete information about what work is being done currently.

Clear and concise, and the lack of a release date is understandable because we know what is happening. Please, PLEASE, can we get something like this in here?

If you want something totally different, I’d recommend ele, mesmer, or engi. Ele if you want something “classic”, mesmer if you want something novel, engi if you don’t want magic but want complexity (or if you just like explosions).

If you want to be more in a “comfort zone”, then guardian, ranger, thief or necro.

That said, until the trait system gets fixed, you aren’t really getting a good taste of what the differences in professions actually are. Classes like mesmer in particular don’t feel right under the current system.

I like it. Especially the Tide. Why aren’t there any decent water themed weapons yet? So much fire, a fair bit of earth, even wind since the tempest set (and a lot more if you count lightning as wind)… The closest to watery stuff is the dripping Orr weapons

Okay I’m legitimately confused. We aren’t allowed to discuss the old thread, we don’t actually have any updated information because the implication that these were tied to masteries was unintentional… What exactly are we discussing here?

Do we just keep posting till we reach the next 4,000 posts and 200,000 views?

I’m really not trying to argue here, but I’m lost on the intended point of discussion. The last thread at least had the pretence of asking for input. As far as I can tell from the last few weeks, the decision on where to go with traits either has been made, or will be made without discussing it with us. So… what are we supposed to be doing?

On a more productive note,so this isn’t just me being confused:

Could we please have some concrete details regarding the status of the decision making process and whether our input can still have any impact on it, as this will help in formulating posts.

Also, could we please at least have an explanation as to why, after ten months and the announcement of HoT, this issue is still secretive?

I’ll also say that I am disappointed by the lack of communication since the SAB “riots”. We were told communication would be prioritised, and all we’ve had is an increase in red posts saying “we’re listening” and “soon”. Not even a particularly big increase.

Still no idea when SAB is coming back (or whether there is any limit to how long people who paid real money for the infinite continue coin will be expected to wait while ANet hangs on to their cash). Still no idea what the trait changes will be other than vaguely linked to masteries. Do we have any information on fixing the personal story? (I actually don’t know the last one)

Just to weigh in on the “how many people did it affect” thing.

While I don’t think it affected all, or perhaps even most players, I don’t think it is accurate to limit the damage purely to people who know they were affected for numerous reasons:

1) Most simply, the trait change did stop some sales, and some recommendations. I know that I haven’t bought character slots due to the trait changes, nor have I recommended the game to people in real life. Many others have done this, and also simply stopped playing altogether. That’s money lost, which affects everyone, even in a minor way.

2) The assumption that players “won’t notice” the absence of traits if they never had them I don’t think is quite true. The trait system is pretty much the biggest part of character customisation in GW2 from a gameplay perspective. While many players won’t know that we used to have such a system, they will notice that such a system is absent. Or, more likely, simply be underwhelmed by the lack of character customisation in a genre where a main draw is character customisation. I have no clue what the numbers are, but I don’t think it unreasonable to think that at least some people bought the game, then stopped playing out of boredom, because of this change.

3) Ten months worth of new players have been raised to think of traits as “optional”. I don’t know what effect that has had on the community as a whole, but I don’t think it fair to assume “zero”. The previous “zerk only” idea was toxic enough, but nearly a years worth of players have been raised in a system that actively discourages learning how to play the game. It isn’t their fault, but the levelling process is effectively “school” for new players, and ANet essentially cancelled the maths curriculum and then sent them into the workplace.

4) This, along with a few other issues, has had a big impact on the forum and other area’s view of ANet. Sure we can all talk about the toxicity that came before it, but the whole point is that a lot of previous complaints were unjustified, but this isn’t. Saying “people will always complain” isn’t a licence to do what you like, nor does it mean that more people won’t complain in the event that you do a bad job than in the event that you do a good one.

5) This debacle has basically demonstrated that the whole “we’re going to communicate more” after last years SAB riots was smoke. We’re six months on and all we know about SAB, traits, and (I think) the personal story, is that something will happen “soon”. Lack of faith, and bad feeling towards ANet is not something that new players, or old players, will be oblivious to. Some will dismiss this out of hand as “entitled whiners”, some won’t.

(Admittedly 4 and 5 are fairly subjective and kind of the same point, but I wanted to make them anyway.)

I’m disappointed at the closure of the previous thread, as it stood as a testament to how much hate the trait system that has been lumped on us for ten months received.

I’m also confused as to the purpose of this thread. We know that some change, which we’re cryptically told is linked to masteries, is coming at some unknown time. What do we do with that?

At the most optimistic, this hint is that the account-binding that could and should have been implemented eight or so months ago may or not be coming at some point… Yay?

My enthusiasm has been brought back massively since the HoT announcement. But traits and the infinite continue coin they took people’s real world money for then wandered off is really working to undo that. What is worse is that even after actual (well, virtual) riots, we’re still not getting communication on the issue beyond “soon”.

archdemonXIII.7063:

There is nothing more manly than running around shooting flowers and unicorns whilst not giving a kitten what anyone else thinks.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/4a/4a73d9e7b1774ae93caa865c9e2b91b6b1d45250e8728122e9787c5f1c496ec0.jpg

Even along classic gender lines, I don’t consider Kudzu that “girly”. Dreamer is, but Kudzu is just a flower themed bow (with one of the most notable footfalls in the game). Given the presence of the sylvari, and general plant-themed stuff everywhere, its pretty gender neutral.

That said, I’m with everyone else on the “who cares about classic gender lines” train. But if you want someone “manlier”, try the Fused Longbow. It’s all fire and metal and expensive (actually really cool fire effects). Or wait until HoT.

Okay, so it’s ten days since Colin’s post, and we have no information still… I was really hopeful that this was actually coming to an end, but I’m getting the impression that this was another “soon”.

I really hope I’m wrong about this, but I’m seriously lost as to how the code of silence can possible still be in place on this issue. It’s a huge problem that’s gone on for nearly a year now. Whatever the larger goals of the code, this specific issue has warranted a break from it by now.

^^ This.

At this stage, ANet have basically taken people’s real world money and walked off with it. A refund or apology is long past due, whether SAB is returning or not.

“Something” is going to be done “soon”.

I’m putting more trust in ANet since the HoT announcement, but the traits issue seems to be something they’re determined to throw away good will with. Ten months of a core system change that most people who’ve commented on hate, and we still don’t know what the solution or expected fix date is.

What I’d like, more than the ability to take a “selfie” is the ability to view our character on a plain (colour selectable) background for easy editing (for personal use, if there’s a legal issue). I see loads of people with cool pictures of all their characters together, but the slog of trying to get matching lighting on them all and then cutting them all out is a bit much for people with limited skills in that area.

lordkrall.7241:

CrashTestAuto.9108:

The problem is that they don’t seem able to adapt to climate very well. Secrecy would have been brilliant, if they had customer trust. But they made some pretty big missteps, and trust gradually eroded. There was a point mid to late last year where this hit an absolute boiling point, and they only marginally did anything about it (we STILL don’t know when traits are being fixed, or what’s happening with SAB).

The reveal was awesome, and the secrecy added hugely to that. But so much damage was done in what must have been 9+ months worth of angering the community that I don’t think it was worth it.

Yes we do.

ColinJohanson.2394:

Hey folks,

Now that the HOT is out of the bag, we’re able to update this thread with more details. With the introduction of the new account based mastery system for end-game progression and growth in PvE, we’ll also be re-evaluating our other systems of character progression to ensure they match our over-all pillars and goals for Gw2.

In doing so: we’re going to be removing the current trait unlocking system currently on live and replacing it with a more simplified system that supports where skills-traits-specializations are going in the future. We’ll go into more details between now and the release of HOT on how skills, traits, and specializations will work in the new Gw2 world.

Thank you for all your passionate feedback on this topic – it not only helped our dev team lead to this decision, but has played a large role in helping us define how to build our exciting new account based mastery system for end-game progression in PvE as well.

I’m sorry, I might be missing something, but I don’t see an answer to when traits are being fixed there? It suggests “between now and HoT” but we don’t know when HoT is coming.

Yeah, it’s hideous… I’m stunned this went through. A new tab would have been fine, it doesn’t even fit on one screen, let alone the scrolling down to see relevant info.

The problem is that they don’t seem able to adapt to climate very well. Secrecy would have been brilliant, if they had customer trust. But they made some pretty big missteps, and trust gradually eroded. There was a point mid to late last year where this hit an absolute boiling point, and they only marginally did anything about it (we STILL don’t know when traits are being fixed, or what’s happening with SAB).

The reveal was awesome, and the secrecy added hugely to that. But so much damage was done in what must have been 9+ months worth of angering the community that I don’t think it was worth it.

This sort of thing has been suggested a few times.

I don’t think a bag is a great idea, because like the current infinite tools, the more characters you have, the more useless/expensive it becomes. What I would prefer is something like four slot account upgrades. So you can buy four slots, that every character on your account gets and shares. You can buy them in blocks of four up to twenty, at which point all characters have the equivalent of a twenty slot bag.

This means that ANet can make money on further purchases, but without hurting the players who would actually benefit from an account bag.