Guild Wars 2

We absolutely adore fan art, fan projects, Machinimas, videos, and the whole lot! We love them, we often share them internally and with our fans, we offer a forum to host them… yep, yep, they’re great!

The difference between “it’s ok” and “it may be disallowed by copyright” comes down to how the assets will used. It’s pretty much a simple question: “Is this personal and non-profit?” Whether a video or a t-shirt, a single use of the assets for non-commercial purposes is great. (And sure, a video is going to be seen by a lot of people—so that might raise a question about “personal use”—but the video would be ok unless someone were to create a gated, pay-per-view video.)

Concerns and copyright issues arise when someone designs clothings, toys, books, or other items with the intent to sell them. Basically, profiting from the work of another — be it a writer or a software developer — is strictly protected by international copyright law.

But again, non-profit fan projects are wonderful and perfectly fine, as expressed in the CToU.

Can’t wait for you guys to see Episode 6.

Ben K.6238:

Palador.2170:

Gaile Gray.6029:

The Content Terms of Use may help you.

If you have something to say, you should flat-out say it. Linking to a lengthy legal document and assuming that everyone knows what part you’re talking about AND can fully and correctly understand it is … well, it’s not good communication, for starters.

Don’t assume Gaile has a full knowledge of everything you can and can’t do with GW2 IP. That link is there in case something on that page answers the question.

Please note that the OP didn’t indicate whether the question was about making a single figure for personal use, or a bunch of figures to sell. I’m sure you can appreciate that making one t-shirt for your own use is entirely different than making 1,000 to sell on eBay.

Context is important, and a full resource like the CToU is the right thing to review to learn about acceptable use of our assets. We’re not in a position to review each request, because each request can be a bit different. So we ask that the person who wants to know about using our content please review the document with an eye to his/her specific project. Consider the project, review the legal document, and then figure out if the project falls under the permissions granted by the CToU. If it does, than the use of our assets would be fine.

EnemyCrusher.7324:

It’s no wonder Anet ignores your complaints about “hobo sacks” when “hobo sacks” don’t exist in the game. A hobo sack is a cloth bag carried at the end of a stick, which don’t even bear a slight resemblance to what you’re referring to.

No worries, I knew what he meant. I’m using “backpack kits” in my e-mail, but would you suggest I use “weapon kit” instead? Or “bomb kit,” “grenade kit,” etc? I thought backpack was more descriptive and accurate but whatever you think best describes would be helpful.

lordhelmos — interesting idea. I love history, so I’m in.

Actually, Drarnor, both are true in relation to the U.S. Civil War. The Union and Confederate armies both lined up and shot in ranks and used stealth methods as well. You can see reasonably accurate reenactments in the amazing films Glory and Gettysburg, which present the fact that troops definitely did march in ranks on many occasions. Pickett’s Charge at Gettysburg was a long march, in ranks, across a huge open field; no stealth (and major slaughter).

It’s funny. What General Cornwallis called “dirty fighting” (or probably more accurately “ungentlemanly fighting,” considering the times) an American rebutted with "Smart tactics.

The Content Terms of Use may help you.

titanlectro.5029:

I ask because it seems like she has chased a lot of stuff like this down. Honestly, getting Gaile to look into this seems like our best bet of getting a reply.

I can try. In fact I was writing a response without looking at the most recent posts. The fact that I can ask about this does not guarantee that we’ll be able to answer the basic question, which I sense is “Are changes coming for this situation?” right? But yes, I can certainly see if there’s info to share.

I want to add that I commend the guilds in Guild Wars 2 that come together to create music. I think they bring a very special element to the game and I hope they will continue to do so for many years to come. Their skill is clear; their pride in their accomplishments is well-earned.

It is regrettable when any player harasses another, and naturally those players can be reported if the issue is verbal harassment. Reporting someone for playing music where you’re positioned isn’t reasonable, and as suggested in this thread, “move elsewhere” is the reasonable choice. Having said that, I’ll be the first to agree that someone coming into the game and intentionally playing to override another player’s music isn’t nice, either!

Verbal accusations of using a macro aren’t really appropriate, although a lively discussion about music is fine.

Maybe with a clearer understanding of what is and isn’t allowed, the level of tension between musicians will be reduced and there will be fewer causes for aggressive comments or misbehavior in the future. It’s sad to think that something that should give both the maker and the listener great joy could be a point of contention. Let’s get beyond that and enjoy.

This post has become extremely combative and rude. I am going to lock it now (and ask a moderator to review with an eye on the possibility of doing a little clean-up because a few people here are well across the line.)

You will find our official position in this thread, and in no way does that stated position run counter to previously posted statements about the use of third-party programs. I invite you to read the official statement here. Note that all statements, whether about generic third-party programs or macros, are based on the prohibition against something that gives a player a gameplay advantage. A music macro does not give a gameplay advantage in the same way a speed hack or a bot program would do, and that is why there is no prohibition against the use of a music-making macro.

This thread is a model for what a gaming community should be. I am so proud that you guys have welcomed Jonnyrok so nicely, and that you’ve offered a few suggestions along the way.

Thank you for demonstrating, so clearly, how this is the best gaming community on the Internet. <3 to you all.

Astraea.2981:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Is it even possible, given the changes that came about in the world?

Well, one thing we now know for certain. There has actually been zero internal discussion on the subject, if an ANet employee came into the thread thinking this.

Please don’t make that assumption. For if you do, you will be very, very wrong.

I am the lead of the Forum Communications Team. I am not a game designer, writer, or programmer. I don’t think I can say that more clearly, but I’ll also add that I have not asked a single team member about this internally. I’ve simply asked the forum members in this thread a general “something to think about” question that occurred to me in the context of this discussion.

I’m sorry if my question was confusing, but please know that it does not in any way mean that this matter is off the table or has not been discussed. It simply indicates my curiosity about the subject, and the fact that I ponder how you can have a battle in a city that is already in post-battle ruins. (And as you can see, folks in this thread have added several ideas of their own about how they feel it could be done.)

Thanks for your continued feedback. (And for the precise posts, which I am sure make it most efficient for Chris and his team to track and analyze.)

Please post through the weekend, as Chris would like to close out the listing of your top three priorities as of Monday.

Thanks again.

Toroxus.9256:

I play instruments by hand. As in, a flute in real life, and hopefully adding a piano to that soon. So, as a “real-life musician,” I think I understand “musical etiquette.” Which basically is: Be respectful. I know how difficult it is to play by hand, AND, I know how difficult it is to construct music macros (might as well say it since it’s legal now). I can do both, and I do both. I do what I think is fun. And yet, I respect people for whatever choices they make.

Night.2034:

I’d like to add my ideas about instruments and macros.

I don’t use instruments, because I’m really too bad to play a song ( :’[ ). But if I had one, I would be happy to be able to use macros with it, cause I know that without macros I would not be able to do anything good with the instrument I bought.

In my opinion, people saying “He’s using macro, he’s cheating” don’t take this into consideration. Some just can’t play music as easily as you can, don’t be silly and let them play music, even if they don’t play music like you.

That’s why I appreciated it when Cody said this :

For some, the barrier between having an instrument and making music is overly daunting, and there are other methods out there to simply play a song.

Respect the others and how they are playing music, even if they take the “easy way”, and remember what Gaile said : people using macros have a limited playlist, you don’t.

Thank you. The key takeaway is “Respect others.” Isn’t the world a better place with more music?

Donari.5237:

Gaile Gray.6029:

We’re looking at a different want to offer CDIs. Fully as welcoming of involvement, but perhaps with a few modifications to normal posts that will allow Chris and his team to more efficiently kitten player input.

I think you mean:

a different way to offer … more efficiently (azzess, with essess not zees) player input …

The feline filter really wrecks that innocent word for “look at and weigh merits of.”

Thanks for the note, Donari.

My first reaction: “Are you kitten me?” <—- yes, that is the word kitten (as in small feline creature) and not a filtered swear word. ) I’ve been bitten by the KittenFilter™ yet again?

I really, really need to learn not to use the-word-that-I-have-to-replace-with-“analyze” in this forum!

Apologies for anyone who was shocked.

Serophous.9085:

Gaile Gray.6029:

We’re looking at a different want to offer CDIs. Fully as welcoming of involvement, but perhaps with a few modifications to normal posts that will allow Chris and his team to more efficiently kitten player input.

Oh my….you do what with player input?

Those poor kittens….

I know!

Ok, that’s one infraction point for me being off topic (with apologies to everyone ) and now…

back to the CDI! For as Chris said…

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Get your top three priorities in folks. We will be closing this thread on Monday and shortly after the GvG CDI will begin!

Chris

I shared this with the team. Thank you all for your wonderful and generous comments!

This is absolutely fine. Thank you for asking!

Blaeys.3102:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Blaeys.3102:

Simple request for everyone – once you finish writing your posts, go back and read it as if it were being written to you. If it includes snarky comments, any kind of name calling at all, condescending statements or anything else hateful, cut those lines out before you hit post.

They get in the way of the actual conversation and they’re going to end up getting the thread closed and leaving a bad impression of a potential raiding community with the developers. Neither is something anyone should desire.

This.
Please.
I read the forums every day, as does Chris. And he puts a lot of his own time into the CDIs. (He doesn’t know I’m writing this, but I’m writing this, you can be sure!)

My bullet list for today:

• The forums are a wonderful thing.
• The CDIs are a great thing—some of the best that the forums can offer.
• The people involved all have, I truly believe, the game’s bests interests at heart.
• I want, more importantly we want, the forums to be healthy, and a safe place for people to express themselves even when in complete, heartfelt disagreement with another forum member. Or even when you disagree with a GW2 Team member.
• The best way to accomplish that is to write, read, re-read, and then hit “submit.”
• And always, always keep in mind that when it comes to text, it’s far too easy to come off wrong, to be completely mistaken about the content or the tone of a comment.

If you read this, thanks.
If you act upon this, thank you even more.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled CDI, with this request:

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Your top three priorities can be anything you like as long as they pertain to raiding.

Chris

A thought that might streamline the conversation -

Would it be technically possible/realistic to limit the number and size of posts during the first 48 hours of a CDI. So, for example, each player would be allowed one post of no more than 300 words in the first two days of the thread.

After 2 days, the thread could open up to longer posts and back and forth discussions – after everyone has had the chance to get their initial thoughts out – and limit alot of the knee jerk reactions and conversations heading off on tangents.

Just a thought. Dont want to derail the “3 ideas” discussion. If this post impedes that or you feel is in the wrong place or innappropriate, feel free to delete.

We’re looking at a different way to offer CDIs. Fully as welcoming of involvement, but perhaps with a few modifications to normal posts that will allow Chris and his team to more efficiently analyze player input.

This is going to take some time and research, but thanks for sharing your suggestions. I don’t think they derail the thread, because I’ve been reading it, and I can’t tell you how much I like bullet post lists and brief details. (And I don’t even work on this stuff, I’m just an observer. )

And as the man said…

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Get your top three priorities in folks. We will be closing this thread on Monday and shortly after the GvG CDI will begin!

Chris

It seems to me that people using a macro would have a limited playlist, right? So those who learn to play different tunes, or work in concert with other musicians, would still offer a completely different piece of music from those relying on the macro.

Perhaps I’m mistaken, but does that make sense?

This question having been asked and answered many times, and the thread veering rather widely off topic, I think it’s time to let this thread rest.

Thanks for understanding.

Because they do not give a player a gameplay advantage, Customer Support does not intend to take action on people who play instruments using macros. We don’t recommend any. We don’t support them. If a macro causes your refrigerator to explode, we’re not going to get involved. But they are not against the rules, because the rules pertain to gameplay advantages, such as faster kills or more effective defense.

skullmount.1758:

Gaile Gray.6029:

DarkWasp.7291:

TheBlackLeech.9360:

Speaking of easter eggs….. did anyone else find the ark of the covenant in the priory basement?

lolololol

Indiana Jones reference.

GW1 reference too: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ancient_Weapon

Indiana Jones and Guild Wars in the same thread?

<3 !

Isn’t there also an Indiana Jones reference in the volcano fractal? (the skeleton with the fedora)

Gotta be! Thanks for another smile.

DarkWasp.7291:

TheBlackLeech.9360:

Speaking of easter eggs….. did anyone else find the ark of the covenant in the priory basement?

lolololol

Indiana Jones reference.

GW1 reference too: http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Ancient_Weapon

Indiana Jones and Guild Wars in the same thread?

<3 !

eleshazar.6902:

I’m only on “Hidden Arcana” of the story so far (no spoilers) but I just have to say how nostalgic this episode in particular is making me. It is beautifully done, filled with good lore, and really has drawn me in. This is so well done.

Just figure you guys should get thanks when you do stuff so well since I know I’m one of the many that criticizes when things don’t go as hoped.

Thanks for posting this, eleshazar. It’s nice that you took the time to do so — really appreciated.

I agree with you — this Living World episode is amazing!

Great thread. I’d like to know more about why people make the choices they do, and some provided that info. Overall, though, it’s really interesting to read the lists!

Whoa, I make a casual comment and look what happens!

I love Rangers. I have loved Rangers since my first online game, where she was called a Rogue and ran around killing a huge red demon in a dark, dark dungeon. You might remember the title… Hey, I had an NPC named after me in its second installment!

I don’t think anyone honestly believes my character preference will have one iota of influence on the dev team doing what the dev team needs to do. I mean, it’s a fun theory, but things just don’t work that way. No one would ever seriously suggest “Oh, don’t make that change, Gaile will get cranky!” Honestly, I’m one of millions of players — every dev is one of millions of players — and we don’t tilt things to suit our personal likes and dislikes.

So don’t worry if I play Ranger, or if another dev plays Mesmer or Guardian or Elementalist or… you follow my drift. The team does what it does for the overall good of the game.

I play a profession that can have ups and downs as far as her power and abilities, but in the end, I make the most of her strengths, try to learn to work around her weaknesses, and just generally have a blast.

Just like any other player.

Thanks — you’ve given me a lot to mull over. I was thinking basics, like Lion’s Arch before/Lion’s Arch now. But a lot of your ideas make sense, and it’s an interesting discussion.

And I want to see posts and screenshots about this! (Please?)

Thanks for the update, Curtis!

Tachenon: ~major thumbs up!~

Rauderi.8706:

…I want one!

Just imagine, a bigger-than-life Rytlock-sempai to follow me around~
/swoon

Yes!

khani.4786:

DarkOcean.8746:

My immersion is broken when Rytlock jumps into the ghost hole in one of the LS instances! I don’t like seeing my character spaz out in the background!

You mean the hole that doesn’t appear? Last few times I’ve done this the ground doesn’t break and Rytlock just jumps into the solid rock. o.o

Hmmmm… Have you submitted an in-game bug report for that?

Skaigash.4715:

GOSU.9574:

Gaile Gray.6029:

So the animations were temporarily removed to be worked on and reincorporated in a way that allowed them to perform normally in the game but to stop (or maybe change) during cinematics. But getting to a place where the animations could be configured on a more fine-grained basis took more time than anticipated.

So the fact it was officially stated some time ago the animation missing was a “bug” is now officially countered with the fact it was removed.

Was kinda hard to sell that an entire frame set of animations going missing was due to a “bug”.

Yeah, it being a “bug” was very strange. But I could go with Gaile’s explanation; I think it’s reasonable. I’ll take it as one of those “we’re upgrading to serve you better” things.

I don’t know what was said previously, but doesn’t “bug” work in the context of this situation? It wasn’t intended that the animations play during particular moments. They played. That sounds bug-ish to me. (Unless you’re suggesting that their not playing was called a “bug” as if someone thought they should be playing rather than that they were intentionally disabled. That could be a simple matter of misunderstanding, misuse of the word, or miscommunication. It seems rather a minor point to me.

Again, for clarity: Because the animations were not appropriate for the setting, they were disabled. They will be re-enabled when they can operate as intended. We don’t have a timeframe for this at the present time.

Dos.7052:

Well English is not my first language and I typed all these from my phones.
So apology ahead if I typed funny language.(oh also appreciate my android auto-spell function :p)

Wow, I’m impressed. On your phone in a non-native language? Well done!

And I happen to feel that LB is not OP, but hey, that’s just me and I’m hardly the expert on the subject. I am willing to fall on my knees and pray to The Six, though, that we don’t see my weapon of choice tweaked too much, if at all!

<—- lifelong Ranger.

KngGilgamesh.3481:

One word of warning, no other MMORPG will suffice after this. They all will lack something.
This is a Point of No Return.

Anyway Welcome!

I see what you did there. ~thumbs up!~

Toroxus.9256:

So, I just finished Echoes of the Past, and I’ll be sure to not include any spoilers here.

Thank you for that! And for sharing your ideas, too.

Shhhhh… don’t tell anyone.

Thank you for the help you’ve given NaNouk, Randulf, dsslive, and CatharticOxymoron. (Great name, btw!)

NaNouk, I hope the advice was helpful. Don’t hesitate to reach out to Customer Support if you need help — they always appreciate the opportunity to lend a hand.

(Oh, and your English is très bon ! )

Love, love this thread. In fact, I had my own “OMG moment” when I read it.

Thanks, guys!

I will share with the team, with pleasure!

Ummm…. shouldn’t y’all be using “spoiler” in the text like AlienMenace did? I feel sort of sad for people reading this. Could you edit to do that? (I feel rather rude jumping into your posts and fixing it. )

Mental Paradox.3845:

I had a lot of fun… but I have one BIG worry.

It all felt forced. Fan-service. I’m afraid this was their way of silencing the whining GW1 fans – and NOT a trend that will continue.

Hang tight, MP. That’s not what this is about.

I’m glad that you’re enjoying Season 2. I love the nods to Guild Wars history, too!

As Colin said, this is really going to be a wonderful season. I’d use the word “epic” but that’s so overdone. Just suffice to say you want to join up.

Have you guys genuinely never seen something come out of a CDI? Have you truly never seen changes that were outlined, discussed, and honed in the forge of the CDI system?

Xillllix — we don’t talk about what we’re working on, but by the same token, not talking doesn’t mean that something is and will be completely untouched, right? How many times has something rolled out that has really surprised players, and in a good way? “I didn’t even know they were thinking about that” comes up quite often. Or “I saw some talk about this a while back, but didn’t expect to see it in the game.” I am not saying everything is under development, but just wanting to point to the fact that lots can happen behind the scenes because that is worth noting and is backed by the historical evidence of past updates.

BirdSong.2541:

Gaile Gray.6029:

I think you’ve said a lot, SpellOfIniquity, and thank you for sharing your thoughts.

One persons thoughts out of 10 unfortunately.
Those are not good odds.
Still <3 you though Gaile

<3 you too, BirdSong. I read the whole thread, but there were words in Spell’s comments that reverberated with me. I can’t pull every post and comment, but sometimes, it’s nice to give a thumbs up to…. Oh you know what I mean, eh?

Xillllix — understood. Thanks for the summing up, I think you did it fairly (and that’s not always easy when someone feels strongly about a subject) and well.

Hey, Deli, I’m listening to everyone. And hey, I misread what you said and thought you were in favor of freebies. Ok, gotcha!

Is it even possible, given the changes that came about in the world?

Jonnyrok.2876:

Been playing wow for 7 years, and just purchased gw2 deluxe. Im so excited to start playing. Wow community just isnt there no more, majority are rude, selfish ill mannered player base . Glad I decided to swap up.

Welcome to Guild Wars 2, Jonnyrok. I think you will really love the game, and I agree, the community is exceptional. Sure, as someone mentioned, you might come across the occasional person who behaves offensively. If on the forums, just hit the little flag in the lower right and we’ll take a look at the post. If in the game, click the player (to select him/her) then right-click the image of the player at the top of your screen and you’ll see the option to use “report.” Choose a reason and a CS Agent will give what happened a review and take whatever action is needed. It doesn’t happen often, but if it does, we’d like the chance to make this even better.

Basically, it’s a beautiful game in an amazing world with some pretty darn nice people living there.

Wishing you all the best in Tyria!

Blaeys.3102:

Simple request for everyone – once you finish writing your posts, go back and read it as if it were being written to you. If it includes snarky comments, any kind of name calling at all, condescending statements or anything else hateful, cut those lines out before you hit post.

They get in the way of the actual conversation and they’re going to end up getting the thread closed and leaving a bad impression of a potential raiding community with the developers. Neither is something anyone should desire.

This.
Please.
I read the forums every day, as does Chris. And he puts a lot of his own time into the CDIs. (He doesn’t know I’m writing this, but I’m writing this, you can be sure!)

My bullet list for today:

• The forums are a wonderful thing.
• The CDIs are a great thing—some of the best that the forums can offer.
• The people involved all have, I truly believe, the game’s bests interests at heart.
• I want, more importantly we want, the forums to be healthy, and a safe place for people to express themselves even when in complete, heartfelt disagreement with another forum member. Or even when you disagree with a GW2 Team member.
• The best way to accomplish that is to write, read, re-read, and then hit “submit.”
• And always, always keep in mind that when it comes to text, it’s far too easy to come off wrong, to be completely mistaken about the content or the tone of a comment.

If you read this, thanks.
If you act upon this, thank you even more.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled CDI, with this request:

Chris Whiteside.6102:

Your top three priorities can be anything you like as long as they pertain to raiding.

Chris

Kanebrake.6192:

Neptune.2570:

If WvW is dead, the community killed it, not anet.
How can there be different outcomes and new fights each week when every server is tier locked because we, as a community, have stacked servers so much.

Anet charging $35+ per transfer is what causes stacking. If they didn’t charge for transfers or were much more reasonable about the cost of it, then you’d see guilds and people moving around a lot more.

Interesting comment. Do you think that free transfers would reduce stacking? That things would just naturally even out over time?

I’m genuinely interested in this topic and would like to get some insight into it from our players’ perspective. (For clarity, I’m not on the WvW Team; y;’all know that. I just found the theory interesting.)

Baldrick — there are a lot of things on the dev backlog, not least of which are responses to player input, questions, suggestions, and concerns expressed through the CDIs. I don’t want anyone to believe the CDIs are just words. They are far more meaningful and helpful to the team that you may see right away. We’ve seen changes through CDI input; we’ll see more in the future.

I think you’ve said a lot, SpellOfIniquity, and thank you for sharing your thoughts.

Guhracie.3419:

So, the request for more suggestions….. is that because there’s nothing in this thread that seems feasible?

Oh actually, the request was for any different suggestions that forum members may want to offer. That’s not to say that the previous suggestions are wrong, or bad, or unworkable. Many of the suggestions were extremely valuable, in fact, and they’re retained through the pages of this thread.

Basically, if a suggestion has been made, it’s on record and we wouldn’t want players to believe they need to restate a previously-offered suggestion. If it’s in this thread—previously or in the future—that’s great. Meaning if there’s a new thought, suggestion, or opinion to offer, that’s very welcome.

Inculpatus cedo.9234:

You should remove your personal information from your post, as well as any links to suspicious sites.

Taken care of, due to for flag/report. Thanks for letting us know.

Trice.4598:

Gaile Gray.6029:

Paradox — I’m curious. Why do you say “no capes?”

Pretty sure it was a reference to this :P

Deamhan.9538:

Paradox.1380:

No Capes!

/Message Body length must at least be 15.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jy2YhxXn7NY

Doh, of course.