Guild Wars 2

fishball.7204:

Credit where it’s due. Thanks for listening and making changes Gaile!

Hey, I give full props to Mike O’Brien and Colin. They were on board, and end of the day they’re the ones that matter.

Sins.4782:

Gaile hates us

But, provably, I DON’T! ~grumble!~

In case someone only reads the latest posts, I’ll repost here:

We’re listening!

See this

Or for those of you who are link impared:

Edited:

• Adding Fractals & Dungeons
• Moving Players Helping Players to Game Discussion

;)

skarpak — our EU team is out for the night, but they’ll definitely update the announcement tomorrow.

Thanks… I mean Danke!

We’re listening!

See this

Or for those of you who are link impared:

Edited:

• Adding Fractals & Dungeons
• Moving Players Helping Players to Game Discussion

;)

We’re listening!

See this

Or for those of you who are link impared:

Edited:

• Adding Fractals & Dungeons
• Moving Players Helping Players to Game Discussion

;)

Edited:

• Adding Fractals & Dungeons
• Moving Players Helping Players to Game Discussion

Louveepine.7630:

Will we have a scene or even talk about the lore, and the evolution of the game environment? with real discution with developers?

There will be a Lore Sub-Forum, yes, and developers have posted there from time to time.

Rising Dusk.2408:

This won’t be a project where a person gets power, though. This is a project where a person gets a red border, and can consolidate information to more easily distill it to give to the forum communication team. The challenge is that the forum communication team can’t keep track of everything related to a given topic, so they’re asking for community involvement. It’s not even close to being a moderator because you don’t moderate anything, you just say “Hey guys, people are talking about X, Y, and Z. They like V part of X, etc.” It shouldn’t even be that much of a time sink.

The challenge becomes what to do when a forum for communication regarding a topic is dissolved. Sifting through hundreds of topics in “Guild Wars 2 Discussion” looking for discussion on the Black Lion Trading Post for communication relevant to John Smith is going to be really tough!

I think it’s a neat opportunity and a good project so long as the expectations of both the forum communication team and the specialists are clear to both parties. I look forward to working with these guys on ways we can communicate what we really want to the devs.

Linken.6345:

But they arent moderating anything they are gathering info and passing it on.

I’m quoting these because I think they express things very clearly. Information gathering is very valuable to us, and we’ll be looking for people who can do that in a helpful and as unbiased a manner as possible. Remember, the Forum Communications Team remains at the core of the entire forum system, and FCT members are the only people empowered to moderate a thread: to edit, delete, merge, split, move, or infract.

As far as concerns about bias, in a casual situation like this, if someone were to show bias — if we saw a lot of feedback that didn’t represent the true tone and tenor of the community — we’d point that out or even select another specialist. I believe that the people who apply will take on board that they’re speaking for the greater community and not themselves or their guild alone.

Spawne.3128:

Lol absolutely stunning, the one thing this forum needs is MORE dev input to show that they actually give a kitten about this game, and what do we get? Dev’s are retiring from the forums and letting regular users take the reigns and submit progress reports.

No, that’s not how we see this at all. If there are 100 threads about a topic you’re working on, but a trusted forum specialist, backed by the FCT, suggests you review a few of the topmost threads on the subject, you’re more likely to engage. And if all goes as planned, forum specialists won’t be submitting progress reports on the forums, the devs themslves will be doing that, when there’s something to say and when they have the opportunity to post.

Ok, I have escalated feedback to The Powers That Be™. I’ve shared general reactions as well as specific requests. I cannot predict the outcome, but the input is great. We recognize that the changes represent a pretty significant shift, and we’re grateful that the vast majority of your comments have been expressed in a constructive and contributing way — I love that you’re working with us on this, and thanks for that.

A lot of good suggestions and feedback were provided in the forum thread. You can be assured that Regina has forwarded the feedback from the forum thread, and that we appreciate your input very much. Aside from that, there’s nothing new to report right now.

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271:

What is long to you? Never more than a second for me. Even on the 99 page dungeon forum that was recently locked is only took about 1 second if that.

Going from a post back to the index for this subforum, 20 seconds each time. When you’re trying to read dozens if not hundreds of posts in a day, that’s a long, long time.

Edit: After clicking “submit” for this post, a 5 second wait.

Edit: After clicking “edit” for this post, a 12 second wait.

Edit: Going to the main “Forum” in the breadcrumbs above, instant. Then getting onto the index page for this sub-forum, 20 seconds again.

Edit: Click the edit icon and the window opens instantly. But edit, and then click “edit” and it took 19 seconds to post.

Dalanor.5387:

You (ANet) shouldn’t punish your playerbase when you (Gaile) had to work on a potato with a bad internet connection. Long loading times in a forum holy kittens … I didn’t knew such things exist.

Am I the only one, then? I experience long load times at work (strong ‘Net service as you can imagine), at home (fast cable), on the road — everywhere. Maybe I’m impatient, but posting and loading to read take me quite a little bit of time.

Kaz.5430:

I personally think that `Players Helping Players` should be listed under support. Helping players `is` a form of support and I don’t think that people would be confused that it’s not ‘official’ support based on the forum title. Doing that would also place the forum nice and high.

Interesting, Kaz, I was actually thinking the same.

Does anyone else have thoughts about the best place to house “Player Helping Players?”

• Community Corner, since it involves community members
• Game Discussion
• Support

Since this sub-forum was on the approved list I was provided (this project had its inception before I became Forum Communications Team Lead), I believe that the question of where we place the sub-forum is not a major issue. On the other hand, some of the other questions or comments in this thread involve forums that were not on the list, and therefore I’d need to get review and approval for changes.

Thanks for your feedback on the subject of Players Helping Players.

I appreciate the many well thought questions you guys have posed.

Let me see what I can find out about some of the things you’ve asked about!

You make a good point, Khisanth. Let me noodle on this some more.

guardian.6489:

Is the new CDI forum and rules part of these changes?

Thank you! The list was incomplete. CDI falls into the Game Discussion group and I’ve edited the announcement to include it now. (It is available in English only, so I won’t add it to the other listings at this time.)

Linken.6345:

Still reporting without having the right to say you forwarded it to devs will make alot of people keep posting the same things over and over and over and over and over……
did i forget to say and over again?

It’s a valid position and I really appreciate the feedback from you and everyone else.

Forum specialists won’t be forwarding directly to specific developers. Perhaps they can post something along the lines of “This topic has been included in this week’s report to the Forum Communications Team.” And then when that same topic appears over and over and… the forum specialist can point to the comment and say “This was included in the report of [date],” With time, I think forum members would gain the understanding that if a topic was forwarded to the FCT, it was then included in the team report and when/if a dev is able to post, s/he will do so.

Does that make sense?

You make a good point, munkiman. Let me ponder on this, ok? The last thing we want is to fail to attract perfect people because they have a broad range of interests rather than a singular view. I guess one area of specialization that might work is PvE, would that help?

Malchior.5042:

Gaile, I’m afraid that putting “Players Helping Players” that low on the list will cause it to never be seen. This is disheartening, given it’s one of the most key areas newcomers can get detailed answers to their questions and the people who frequent that sub-forum are often those who enjoy tutoring or mentoring newcomers anyway.

I would put “Players Helping Players” in the Game Discussion category, or even create a new main forum category of “Getting Started” “Newcomers Welcome” or something similar to appear above the Professions area.

That’s solid feedback, thank you. I will look into this for sure.

The thought, I believe, was that Community Corner would make sense because it’s something in which community members are directly involved, another component similar to the “Looking for…” section. But we definitely want to highlight this very helpful sub-forum, so we’ll discuss possible placement before the change is made.

eithinan.9841:

“A Forum Specialist’s term will end after 6 months, at which time applications will open for a new round of specialists.
Forum Specialists may not serve consecutive 6-month terms, but are welcome to re-apply at a later date.”

Can I suggest that the process of picking new Specialists start at the 5 month mark so there is no gap.

Yes absolutely—that’s in the plans. We don’t want a gap, as you point out.

Maybe you guys missed the memo? We are considering new software. It’s not on the shortest list for a decision, much less are we able to make a quick change, but it is something we’re examining.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

munkiman.3068:

Gaile Gray.6029:

munkiman.3068:

Could you please break down the roles you are looking for? While the 2 examples are fine, I think some of us interested would like to know the breakdown of section you’re interested in. For example is a “Forum Specialist – Guild Wars 2 Discussion” a specialist group?

We’re looking for someone with a less general view, someone who has a particular area in which s/he has developed expertise. It might be a specific profession, dungeons, PvP, crafting… we would not be looking for someone to serve as a generalist.

That leaves me out then. This is kind of sad, especially since general discussions is one of the more communication areas that gets a lot of feedback. Oh well, good luck!

I felt I would not be appropriate, either, as my ‘field of expertise’ is being merged with other fields I have no real working knowledge of, whatsoever. Sigh.

Best of luck, though, to those that qualify! =)

The fact that we’re merging forums does not in any way eliminate options for specialization. For instance, we will not have a specific forum for dungeons, but being an expert in dungeons makes involvement in the GW2 Discussion Sub-Forum even more valuable, because that specialist will be able to cull dungeon-related threads and produce a brief report on topics of note.

And when I say brief report, this should not be a huge deal. This is not “produce a 100 page report each week with 4,000 links to relevant post.” I’ll see if I can produce a sample a bit later.

I can see there are quite a few questions. I think the best thing to do is for me to craft an FAQ. I’ll start working on that now, so please continue to send your questions.

Thanks!

munkiman.3068:

Could you please break down the roles you are looking for? While the 2 examples are fine, I think some of us interested would like to know the breakdown of section you’re interested in. For example is a “Forum Specialist – Guild Wars 2 Discussion” a specialist group?

We’re looking for someone with a less general view, someone who has a particular area in which s/he has developed expertise. It might be a specific profession, dungeons, PvP, crafting… we would not be looking for someone to serve as a generalist.

First let me address the “US resident” thing. It breaks my heart when we have to do this — for contests, for this program, for other things — but we really must do it for legal reasons. Different countries have different definitions of volunteer work and we simply do not have the means to have the program reviewed and adjusted to conform to multiple legal requirements that may apply to any given volunteer opportunity.

spoj.9672:

I think a lot of potential good candidates wont be eligible simply because of the USA requirement.

Yes, that is very true and I regret it more than I can say. This is a pilot program and we may be able to extend it in the future, though.

munkiman.3068:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Healix.5819:

Merging tech support (PC and Mac) is going to create a mess. A lot of the problems that show up have generic fixes across Windows and although the same concept works for Mac, the process is different. Most people don’t identify their OS at the start. Windows will still be assumed but by merging them, even the most simple of fixes will begin with “PC or Mac?”

Then I go back to the suggestion just above: Start the thread with “MAC: [subject line]” or “PC: [subject line]” and our technical support people can answer appropriately.

I agree with you, not specifying OS is going to be an issue, so doing so in the subject line seems a quick and easy solution.

I would imagine, this would be part of the role of a forum specialist, to ensure this stuff gets formatted correctly?

I’m not sure I understand. Forum specialists won’t be editing posts and therefore would not be impacting formatting of previously-posted materials. I would hope they would “spread the word” about using topical identifiers in the subject line, but they would not be able to ensure that happened.

mahri.8410:

The Forums should also have some sort of What’s New button/ Active topics. In these forums, some sections have bigger audience, others smaller. For example, the most viewed forum section is General Discussion, and the most ignored sectios are Fan Generated Content/Audio. That’s one of the reasons why some people prefer posting in General Discussion, altough their thread might be more apropriate for other forum. Another reason why General Discussion is more viewed is because devs generally post in there. By posting in General Discussion, your thread has bigger chance to be seen by a developper.
A What’s new button would be really useful.

I think that the Forum Specialists will have the huge task to move threads from place to place, mainly because of General Discussion issue.
If Forum Specialists take their role seriously, will Arena.Net staff continue posting on forums as much as before ? People want to communicate dirrectly with devs.

A “what’s new” is something I’d like to see, but it’s not possible with this software.

As to Forum Specialists, they will not be moderators in any sense of the word. They certainly may flag threads for moving, and we hope that they will also flag possible infractions, as we ask any forum member to do. But FSP members won’t be asked to handle any of the “heavy lifting” of moderation, such as moving, deleting, merging, editing, sticky-ing, or issuing infraction points. That will be done, as always, only by members of the Forum Communications Team.

The Forum Specialists will mostly focus on information gathering, and that will not in any way replace active participation by the developers. I don’t think that a forum specialist would be posting so much as amassing information that my team will route to individual developers or teams for their information and possible response, when appropriate and possible.

Healix.5819:

Merging tech support (PC and Mac) is going to create a mess. A lot of the problems that show up have generic fixes across Windows and although the same concept works for Mac, the process is different. Most people don’t identify their OS at the start. Windows will still be assumed but by merging them, even the most simple of fixes will begin with “PC or Mac?”

Then I go back to the suggestion just above: Start the thread with “MAC: [subject line]” or “PC: [subject line]” and our technical support people can answer appropriately.

I agree with you, not specifying OS is going to be an issue, so doing so in the subject line seems a quick and easy solution.

Lynne.8416:

I wouldn’t have any issue with the “reorgansation” if the Search feature actually worked. Are you going to fix the Search feature? It’s one of the reasons why there are multiple threads created about the same exact topic over and over again.
If I only want to search about Dungeons, I’m certainly not going to want to look through page after page of data.

Lynne, I would give just about anything to get that Search feature working. Unfortunately, it’s not possible for us to do. Believe me, I dislike that we’re missing “search” as much as you do!

I am going to make a bold suggestion here, and it just occurred to me this second: Maybe each of us making a thread needs to consider the topic and include that topic in the subject line. Say, “Dungeons: Input on Fractals” or “BLTC: Nnew Gem Store Items” or something of that sort.

Since we don’t have tagging, and the search engine isn’t functioning, that seems a likely way to direct eyes to the forum threads of not.

What do y’all think of that idea?

Lishtenbird.2814:

Gaile Gray.6029:

spoj.9672:

Where are we supposed to post regarding dungeons, fractals and other non living story related PvE? General discussion already fills with threads at an alarming rate.

General Discussion is correct. With many developers involved in multiple projects, it’s helpful for them to have a main forum to check for input, suggestions, and questions.

Since many more threads will now coexist with others, especially in the General Discussion section, I suggest increasing the amount of threads per page from 30 (to 40? 50?). The threads which go onto the 2nd page are very likely to sink away into the abyss, and the 1st page already has 5 stickies which decreases the amount of visible threads to 25.

This is a very valid suggestion. I had believed that we, as users, could set the number of posts visible on each page, but apparently that’s not the case, at least as I see it in my quick poke on the user’s set-up pages.

The upside: More visibility into threads, especially in busy forums like GW2 Discussion.
The downside: Will it impact load times? I find myself twiddling my fingers waiting for the forums to load at the present time (another argument for new software, perhaps) and I’d hate to wait even longer for loading.

Let me discuss with my team and we’ll see what we can do.

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thaddeus.4891:

Does that mean that the following will be deleted or merge?

- Profession Balance
- Crafting
- Black Lion Trading Co
- Dungeons
- etc

I listed subforum that I use. I understand that some subforum are not really active or too specific. But you get from 44 subforums to 24?

I like the addition of an API subforum, but that’s pretty hardcore consolidation.

Yes, those will be part of the Guild Wars 2 Discussion Sub-forum, with the possible exception of BLTC, which may fall in the Bugs Sub-Forum if a forum member is reporting an issue with the Gem Store, a purchased, etc.

Randulf.7614:

This is great news! The number of subforums is excessive imo and this will be more valuable to us and yourselves long term

Thank you! I think over time we’ve developed “forum creep” where we just kept making new forums without thinking of the consequences of that, and of the value in having people involved in fewer forums with a greater cross-section of players.

Ok I Did It.2854:

So what not make it that there are Icons that people select when posting a bug, so when its gets posted it will show via icon for instant notification, so you select Website bug, Forum bug, Game bug, I think this was suggested awhile ago also but it never got any reply, now would be a perfect time to do this, that way you don’t log into that part of the forums and see titles only you will see if its a game/website/forum bugs before even clicking on it.

I think you’re talking about “tagging” a post? If so, with new software, we could do that sort of thing but with the current software we don’t have that sort of technology available.

Dasenthal.6520:

What about the John Smith sticky? “Questions about the economy” will that end up in general or will it just cease to exist? (Or is it possible for it to lose sticky status?)

Yes, that would be in the Guild Wars 2 Discussion Sub-Forum. I understand your question about making it sticky, but I know we will need to be very particular about how we set up sticky posts, because if we simply left everything stickied and merged, we’d have a full front page of stickies and no new content at all!

John is a great forum contributor. I’ll talk to him about how we can continue his lively and valuable discussion on the economy. Certainly we want that to continue!

ZudetGambeous.9573:

So I get removing Dungeons, and Crafting forums since those features have been officially abandoned by the devs, but why remove the BLTC forum? That is one of the most active forums with one of the most active devs.

First, the Dungeons and Crafting Sub-forums haven’t been abandoned, but it is true that they haven’t seen a lot of dev activity lately. Our hope is that when we’re asking the developers to look at fewer forums — to not have to scroll down 11 times to get to the bottom group, to not have to play a guessing game of “Where would players look for this info?” — there will be increased developer participation.

As far as the BLTC — that’s a good point, but I think we need to stay on this path for now. I will talk to the team member who have been active in BLTC and Gem Store discussions and ask them to look for posts on “their” topics in GW2 Discussion. Their feedback will help us make any adjustments that are truly required to increase our responsiveness all around.

spoj.9672:

Where are we supposed to post regarding dungeons, fractals and other non living story related PvE? General discussion already fills with threads at an alarming rate.

Guild Wars 2 Discussion is correct. With many developers involved in multiple projects, it’s helpful for them to have a main forum to check for input, suggestions, and questions.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Should posts about general profession balance, that are not tied to one specific profession only, go into General Discussion?

Guild Wars 2 Discussion, yes.

Ok I Did It.2854:

I maybe reading this wrong, and if I am then ill apologise in advance, but the way im reading it is, you are rolling

•Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

All into the same section like you did with suggestions in general chat, if so, how well did that work out, basically to me this reads as, don’t bother posting your bugs we wont be looking anyway, you seem to be the only Dev/Mod that reads these forums anyway, there are bugs reported in that bugs section months ago that are still ingame today, and you want to consolidate them all into 1 section, just remove the bugs section completely.

I understand what you’ve said, but if you think about it, there are not that many forum or website bugs. So having them in the Bugs Sub-Forum is just a way to consolidate all bugs, since we have someone dedicated to reviewing the Bugs Forum and they can route concerns about the website or the forums to the proper people, while filing bug reports for game issues.

rapthorne.7345:

Are there any plans to update the forum framework, or simply reorganise the forum sections? I hate how bland it is here, and how many features simply do not work.

I agree that our forum framework could use some significant improvements! We are examining our options on that for sure. Today’s reorganization is part of an improvement process that may potentially lead to new software, as well. The change in software is only in the examination stage right now. Unfortunately we don’t have a formal timeframe for making a final decision or for migrating to a new forum base, if we do go down that path.

You may have noticed a post in News and Announcements where we outline our plans to reorganize the forums next week. If you have any questions, please feel free to post them here.

Thanks!

We’re about to make the Guild Wars 2 forums more user friendly and a better place to discuss the game.

Starting December 9, the conversation and topic threads that make up our sub-forums are going to be streamlined. This will facilitate greater interaction between you and ArenaNet team members. It also will improve our ability to respond to any reported (flagged) posts and threads.

The consolidation will not affect the News and Information section. Some sub-forums will be placed in the Archives, where they will be available for view through the end of the year. Any future discussion around the topics within the archived sub-forums will now be part of one of the new reorganized sub-forums.

Here is what the forums will look like effective December 9:

News and Info

• News and Announcements
• Game Release Notes
• Dev Tracker

Support

• Account and Technical Support (Mac Tech support will be rolled into this sub-forum)
• Bugs: Game, Forum, Website

Game Discussion

• Guild Wars 2 Discussion
• Living World Discussion
• PvP Discussion
• WvW Discussion
• Fractals & Dungeons
• Players Helping Players
• CDI (Collaborative Development Initiative)
• Lore

Professions

• Elementalist
• Engineer
• Guardian
• Mesmer
• Necromancer
• Ranger
• Thief
• Warrior

Community Corner

• API Development
• Community Creations
• Looking for… (Guild, PvP Team, WvW Recruitment)
• In-Game Events

Look for more information about a new opportunity for Guild Wars 2 forum members — our Forum Specialist Program — in a separate announcement.

As you will see in the News and Announcements Sub-Forum, we are introducing a new program for the forums. Please review the announcement and post any question you may have here.

Thank you.

Love that story, Drarnor!

Here’s a recent mash-up of previous phishing e-mails, no less phony than the others:

Guild Wars 2 Account Will Be Shut Down Inform

We are sorry to inform you that your login account [e-mail address redacted] will be shut down or partially limited within 72 hours due to currency transactions or abnormal login. If you want to remove restrictions, please click the following link to validate:

https://account.guildwars2.com/login? [<—- Actually points to long ****.tk domain]

Please keep in mind that Guild Wars 2 is a global game with hundreds of thousands of players. This means that standards of behavior must be upheld. For your convenience, you can obtain more information about our rules at the address listed below.
https://www.guildwars2.com/en/legal/ [<—- actual real GW2 Link]

Guild Wars 2 Account Support Team

Elrey.5472:

I just finished it after 2 hours. Without guides, without friends, without help. The hard way! and I never had more fun in a game for a loong time. I love silverwastes caves

Nice job Anet!
Keep the good work! +1

Good for you! Congrats, and thanks for the nice message, too!

It’s a good feature, and yep, something that players suggested in the past. Whaaa…? You’re thinking there should be other options? Seriously, let’s start a list.

Mine:

• Skritt
• Fire Imp
• Ice Drake
• Frog

I’d also love seasonal carriers, like a ghost at Halloween or reindeer at Christmas.

I know this isn’t everyone’s “thing,” but I love the idea. Heck, I’ll be sending more mail just to see the little guys.

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Well THANK YOU ANet

Pretty darn cool, eh?

I had no idea what this thread would contain when I clicked it.

I’m having fun with your ideas. The “thick rubber waders” would be something I’d pay real gems for, as an April Fools Day outfit. Also, I want the Kitten, the Kitten Kitten, and the Zookeeper.

Hey, Valento, I’m flattered, but you have to know I’m way ahead of #6! Oh, and TexZero, you forgot the testing cycle.

There isn’t a formalized structure for that. Is that what you’re asking?

I imagine there will be some side betting going on in a player-to-player sort of situation. I should take this opportunity to say that this sort of thing would represent the “Gentleman’s Agreement” that Customer Support writes about, where they are unable to get into the middle of such agreements and settle disputes or lack of fulfillment.

For example, if Fred and Mary bet 100 G on the outcome and Mary then refused to “pay up,” our CS Team wouldn’t take action on Mary or — horrible thought! — get on Mary’s account and take the gold to give it to Fred. They made a private agreement outside normal game mechanics, and it’s up to both of them to honor their agreements without the involvement of GMs or other employees.

TL;dr: Not disallowed, but not officially supported or enforced.

As this thread is about suggestions rather than things that truly need fixing, I have amended the thread title to use the word “change” because that’s more fitting to the subject matter.

Thanks for understanding.

Thanks for this post and your insights, Apolyon. I agree with you, especially about Season Two.

Hi. This is something we’re tracking, and there is a lot of information in this thread.

To keep the conversation together, I’ll close this thread. Thanks for understanding.

Making a small reminder to please post issues relevant to art bugs here in this thread.

Thank you.

Hey you guys, it’s a nice sale but you do what’s right for you, ok! No buyer’s (or vower’s) remorse!

Yes, please do post in the thread that Wanze linked. That is where the devs will look for issues that they can correct. Thank you .

Are you submitting an in-game bug report? If you do, the devs get a lot of valuable info, including your exact location, etc.

If it happens again, we’d love that report!

So sorry about this problem, guys! Yes, it’s not working as intended, for sure. It’s fine on land, but underwater… not so much.

We’ll get that fixed as soon as possible.