Guild Wars 2

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Ty.

I would have bothered to post the why’s and wherefore’s of that thread but after seeing a couple of comments about how I was especially favored now, I thought it best to say exactly why I started it and to comment that the moderators haven’t been cutting me any slack, which is another thing I was told. They infract and warn me as readily as any other person here. Since there are some people who think I get special favors or moderation I thought it best to say directly that I don’t.

I know you definitely don’t get any special slack around here, or “slide by’s”, if you will. You’re a regular player, just like the rest of us, which makes everything you do, just that much more awesome. You’ve been smacked down with the rest of us and you still smile and keep on keeping on.

Class act, you.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

It hasn’t escaped my attention either that the only red posts are from Gaile when she started this thread.

Back before I started that Dev post in Reddit thread I kept seeing these posts on the forum where people were begging for help on precursor crafting. There were a number of events that required failure and this was setting up deliberate griefing as well as innocent event completion that stopped people who had been trying for days to get their needed item. People were coming to the forum and making thread after thread trying to get a red post about this situation. If there was even one red post answering them, I never saw it.

Then one day, I found the reddit dev tracker and browsing through that I found a red post talking about this situation to someone over there. It was over a month old at that time. That irritated me. They posted an important piece of information there and couldn’t take the time to post that on just one of the many posts here? That’s when and why I decided to make that thread.

From comments on the forum I know that some people think I’m doing ANet’s job for them as a favor to ANet and to suck up to ANet (I was outright told that in a thread on this forum). I’m not. I’m doing it as a favor to the other posters on this forum and I’m doing it because ANet’s not doing their own job by making relevant information centralized and easily accessible. Whether ANet likes me doing it is irrelevant to me and personally I hope it embarrasses them a little. Who knows, maybe it will embarrass them enough that one day they’ll do their own job and make sure that posts on non official sites get cross posted on their official form.

I clapped for this post. Seriously.

I appreciate everything you do and all the information that you bring to us, everyday, often multiple times a day.

You are top notch in my book.

Morfedel.4165:

I find it really really sad that anet posts more on reddit than their own official forums. Like the whole change up with Colin. Really, courtesy trouble to post it in your own official forums?

I love it how they mentioned that posting isn’t a requirement in their company but they always talk about how much they love their game, and yet they don’t love using their own official forms. I wonder if they actually realize people don’t care whether it’s a requirement of their company or not, they send the message that says that reddit is more important than their own official forums. It’s pretty insulting actually.

Agreed 100%.

Taigen Raine.8752:

An interesting article on gaming companies communication with fans. How timely communication can head off an issue before it becomes so massive that it becomes an embarrassment. When issues are met only with silence, then the message sent is either the company doesn’t care, or that the believe the fans somehow can’t handle the answer. Either way it is a disservice to the fans and only makes problems worse.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/3/18/11259976/the-witcher-3-marketing

Some of us stated the same concerns to ANet in the Visual Nerfs thread which had been there since mid November 2015 with no comment from ANet. No feels given. Not a one. Heck, even this thread, a thread about communication, has one ANet response in it -the other posts were “merge” posts or the thread start post indicating this thread was being opened so that this thread started by Just a flesh wound to track what the devs are posting on Reddit, could stay free of user comment and we could talk about the fact that they’re not communicating with us here, here in this thread. If we want communication, we have to go elsewhere, it has really come down to that. They have the time to mess around in game and hi-jinx raids and reply to silly stuff on Reddit, it’d be awesome if they could communicate with their customers here on things that people have been begging for responses on. Heck, It’d be awesome if someone on the security team would do something about my ticket I put in last week about issues I’ve been reporting for a long time because apparently, they’re the only ones who can, but nope. Still waiting.

It’s all a vicious circle of smoke and mirrors and deflection at this point, and it’s really, really sad.

Hopefully soon if we look at the info posted by Colin Johanson in the State of the Game Update —Q1 2016:

Major Seasonal Game Updates

In 2016, we’ll begin rolling out major seasonal updates, and you can expect one of these big updates every three months or so. A few weeks before the launch of each seasonal game update, we’ll announce all the major additions that we’ll be delivering in the update. Over the course of the following weeks, we’ll reveal more specific details leading up to launch.

So when does this new major release schedule begin? Good news—today (January 12, 2016 ) I’m going to tell you all the big additions in our first major seasonal update: the Guild Wars 2 Winter 2016 update, which will be arriving on January 26! Over the next two weeks, we’ll be sharing more specific details on these new additions via blogs and videos, and we’ll show you some of these features live in action on our Guild Chat show as well.

So, approximately end of April time-frame for the seasonal update.. I’d think we should be getting some communication about it the very end of this month, beginning of next?

*edit- This is at the bottom of the Q1 2016 post and is worth noting:

See You in the Game!

As with all things in development, details are subject to change as features get closer to release. I’ll be back at the start of April with the next state of the game blog to let you in on all the details of our next big seasonal update and what comes after it. We hope you’re as excited as we are for the upcoming updates, and we can’t wait to see you all in the game!

However, Colin is no longer with ArenaNet, so he won’t be updating us. I’m hoping someone does, but I’m not gonna hold my breath.

Ellieanna.5027:

Siobhan.5273:

Ellieanna.5027:

You can always send in a ticket to Anet as a “written” report.

The reason they don’t have it is because there are some people who will always write something, and it turns out to not even be true. This way it’s just click and go.

If it’s a real concern, send in a ticket. But most of the drop downs are fine. You don’t need to tell Anet what a person said if it’s spam, or if they were harassing you.

Unfortunately, I think that doesn’t always resolve the issue, it just takes more time on the users end.

I only had to send in a ticket 1 time about a report I did. I can’t think of any other situation where they need to know why you are reported. If the person is harassing you, the chat log is pretty clear. If the person’s name is bad, that’s pretty clear. Otherwise, it’s becoming the player reporting giving their opinion on why, and that is never needed.

Just because you can’t think of one, doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen though. Sometimes, it is actually needed, I think it is situation dependent.

I’ve read of situations where a name is reported time and time again, but it escapes ‘action’ because the GM’s aren’t aware the name means something rude/offensive in another language until it is pointed out by someone else. Guild name/pet reporting isn’t even an option that I’m aware of using right=click report. Someone having to report a bot/hacker/exploiter with more than just a right click report because there is more info than what meets the eye, etc. Did people know that apparently it is the security team that reviews naming vios? That was certainly news to me when I was told that recently. I thought it was just a normal GM thing.

Just being able to clarify yourself with a few words sometimes clears something up.

Ellieanna.5027:

You can always send in a ticket to Anet as a “written” report.

The reason they don’t have it is because there are some people who will always write something, and it turns out to not even be true. This way it’s just click and go.

If it’s a real concern, send in a ticket. But most of the drop downs are fine. You don’t need to tell Anet what a person said if it’s spam, or if they were harassing you.

Unfortunately, I think that doesn’t always resolve the issue, it just takes more time on the users end.

I think the report system needs some looking at, too. However, given the other issues plaguing the game right now, this is likely not a high priority.

Lord Kuru.3685:

The reason they don’t have to listen is because people like you are willing to buy it sight unseen.

onevstheworld.2419:

Given the recent history and business practices of all the major AAA developers, I would go so far to say noone should ever pre-order ANY game. Buy it when someone reputable has reviewed it first.

Don’t give them your money, and the permission to give you a crappy game.

Both of these posts were quote worthy. True words and I agree on both points.

Raxzor.5946:

After your your experiences with HoT (positive or negative) will you be pre-ordering the next expansion?

No x3 users in our home. I think next time we’ll wait to see what happens a month or two after the release of the expansion if not a little more.

I feel bad for that other guild now

I hope people don’t spam them for invite requests or anything now and I hope this wasn’t her"quiet time" guild.

As much as Anet folks drive me batty sometimes, at the end of the day, they are people that enjoy some privacy and peace and fun jamming arrows into stuff!

Have fun out there, Gaile. I’ll not ever bother you when you’re in game. I promise to only annoy you on the forums.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

KestrelGirl.9267:

Danikat.8537:

More convincing to me is the fact that the character is wearing all purple and has Kudzu. At the risk of sounding like a creepy stalker Gaile likes purple and has been collecting cool bow skins since GW1.

It’s not just purple, it’s Blacklight, the most expensive purple.

Yeah, you’re right, it’s probably her alt account (because her main is Gaile Gray, not Gaile).

I’ve succeeded in finding the rare, elusive Anet employee!

I wonder how many Achievement points that’s worth. Better check your Hero Panel, maybe there’s a title.

Finder Of The Holy Gaile.

hehe, that’s cute!

Just a flesh wound.3589:

She said she has 2 accounts. One is an “official account” where she wears the tag and the other is an unofficial account, where only her friends know who she is. It’s possible this is one of them, maybe the official account, which is the work account which would be why it has a low mastery number, and she’s not showing the ANet tag for some reason.

Qugi.2653:

Anet staff do not alway show Anet guild. Probably to hide from stalk.

That say. If this is Gaile and only 11 Mastery point I guess she do not play HoT much.

If that not Gaile some one will get force name change soon I think.

More than a forced name change. It’s a bannable offense to pretend to be an ANet staff person.

I’d think if she was going incognito, she’d avoid the use of that name. I would!

Gaile Gray

I don’t think who you ran into in Gaile Gray, but I could be wrong.

Ardid.7203:

This forum is probably controlled by some kind of internal regulation. To make sure nothing said by the devs here violates such regulation, they choose to watch this forum from afar instead of use it.

The problem is not the forum, but the regulation: they are afraid of declaring anything “officially”. Reddit provides a form of “grey area” where they can speak without fear of internal retaliation, and without full official commitment.

IMO, they need to fix both ends: the official forum needs to be the place for all the communications, the lightheearted jokes, the intense analisis dialogues, and the legal pledges. All of them needs to be official, not only the unalterable ones.
And of course, the platform for the communication needs to be vastly improved.

I am not sure if you’ve read this post by Gaile Gray on the topic of communications, but I’d think that if a topic is being eyeballed here, that the same eyeball would be just as capable of watching Reddit, too. I’d think policy would be policy, no matter where it was being applied, and/or breached. Know what I mean?

The problem is, they can’t have their cake and eat it too. If they don’t want us to take them to task for what is said on Reddit (and I’m not saying that’s the case, just conjecture here, purely discussion) then things like an AMA over there really defeats the purpose for transparency sake, don’t you think? I only know what they sell me.

So, we’re either having honesty and transparency no matter where the discussions are happening, and if that’s the case, why can’t confirmation happen here, at home, or we’re being placated because it’s okay to do that when it’s not “official” and happening elsewhere… which makes zero sense, and I hope, wouldn’t be the case.

I was just over on Reddit and there is a sea of developer responses vs. what we have here (using the Dev Tracker). The problem is, they’re hard to find there and scattered all over, but you can see, they definitely talk more there than here and that shouldn’t be the case, IMO.

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Siobhan.5273:

So, we have this thread, Comments about Communications that has been opened for us to post communication concerns in.

Oh, I forgot about that thread. Looks like it hasn’t had muchactivity lately.

Maybe we should ask in that thread if colin’s statement will be upheld? We might be more likely to get an answer than here.

Asked about that, among other things.

We’ll see how it goes.

I brought up a concern I have (in the Visual Nerf thread that has seen no GW2 staff activity since it’s creation in November 2015, and almost 1k posts.) Others also seem to share the same concerns- (we lack verification here or from anyone else that the visuals will indeed be fixed as promised by Colin last week) in the Mike O’Brien AMA now on Reddit! thread Gaile Gray, ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead started a few days back after hearing news that Colin was leaving via the Reddit/GW2 AMA.

This “revert”, for lack of a better word, is fairly big news. Like others, I have to wonder why this wasn’t addressed via the AMA (regardless if the question was asked, it’s a hot topic so to speak) and of course, why can’t we get some word from someone here? Please don’t misunderstand, I am glad the changes are being reverted, and an option for the player to adjust their graphics on their own for such things being addressed (so has been said on Reddit), rather than being forced on those of us who don’t require it, or want it, but why are important issues seemingly so hard to communicate, even when the “cat is out of the bag” apparently?

• Next:

So, then we have this thread, Comments about Communications that has been opened for us to post communication concerns in. I posted there a few times, you, Zoltar, I believe you did too. I put a good amount of time into this post there as matter of fact… and then I just started using Reddit and found that as much as I want to post here, where it makes sense (this is the home forum of the game, right? I’d think this is where I should be posting), it takes so much, I guess, hand sitting, or typing, reading, re-typing responses so as to watch my “P’s” and “Q’s” so I don’t get my hand smacked for voicing my displeasure over issues with the lack of communications (lets call a spade a spade, using the words “lack of communication”is very kind), or sometimes, the outright rude responses I’ve seen uttered to customers- gah, if, I could respond in kind here.. but.. I understand the rules, and I will play by them. It is disheartening that it feels unless people are cheering and screaming, “go AnEt!” their posts often don’t even merit a nod, let alone a response, or if they get one, it’s got a not-so-nice feel to it (like this one) a burn factor, if you will… and there are alot of those around.

• A post I made in the Mike O’Brien AMA Now on Reddit thread:

Blude.6812:

No account either, I was hoping someone would ask when are they going to get Anet to provide funding to get a new forum engine.

Sindex.9520:

After reading the post you pulled out in another topic. About the former outsourced contractor that used to maintain these forums. I am not surprised. Until they bring someone in to either refurbish it, or come up with something new then this place is dead weight.

It seems that developers are jumping ship. Simply because Reddit is the Facebook of community driven forum outlets. I loathe either outlet (even Twitter) for personal reasons. Nevertheless I can’t deny what either of them have become. Until something comes along and knocks them all down. However I feel the same way as you do; about any type of official communication being on several different social media outlets. It’s a bit lazy, but according to them they have too much stuff on that table. At least John Smith is still using these forums, and has progressed in using it’s format over the last few years.

TheGrimm.5624:

If your first post is not even on your own official forums that makes me question spending anymore money on GW. That tells me the tools that your own team created are not worth using and instead you go else where to post. Why not just close these forums down then and move them completely to Reddit. That was a terrible first move. Makes me not even care what information was shared right now since it already has left a negative feeling on the game. -100 on this one ANet.

Akkeros.1675:

a few months too late but:

1. get on YOUR OFFICIAL FORUMS
2. answer all the questions and address all the comments HERE
3. Hit the reset button

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There is also no reason why a “reddit thing” such as an Ask Me Anything can’t be an “official forum thing.” If the Devs find the formatting on their own official forum so unappealing, whose fault is that? If that’s their problem then maybe they should shake lose the money for a new forum format.

One last point, none of the things the Devs said are on our forums Dev tracker which makes it difficult to reference and use for discussions on the official forum.

In a nutshell, we’re asking that we get more communication here. Please? I know recently it was brought up in the Visual Nerf thread, it was announced, by Colin, via Reddit that we will finally see a revert of the nerfs we were dealt. However, that is not something we’ve heard over here, and for some, that is problematic, especially now that Colin is leaving. Though we’re thrilled to get info on this issue, or any issue, it should come through these forums at some point, don’t you think?

• Next Post-

Direct link to my post in the Mike O’Brien thread again
I said this elsewhere in part, but I feel it bears repeating here since the topic has been brought up repeatedly in this thread (and numerous others).

If the forum software is so antiquated or broken that even the GW2 staff and president of ArenaNet prefers to do business (and that AMA was indeed business, make no mistakes about that) elsewhere, someone needs to seriously look into fixing more than just WvW or dungeons and fractals, because their home for communications either needs to be moved, or this place needs an overhaul. Either way, we need communication, and though we understand it can’t happen overnight for various reasons, (so many people have acknowledged that over the years, me being one of them) some of us have been waiting a long time for the crumbs we have been getting-elsewhere for the main part, and hearing how things will only get better. We’d be happy to wait a little longer, so long as we have an understanding that there is an issue that needs resolving here and it’s not all wrapped up in AMA’s in my opinion.

-Edit: I wanted to touch on this comment quickly:

Randulf.7614:

This is what we have been clamouring for for 2+ years now. If this is how they feel comfortable and is the best way for them to communicate plans, then so be it.
I’m not a fan of Reddit at all, but at this stage when we have been so starved of communication, substance wins over format/location.

Perhaps that was the plan, and if that’s a case, like the song says, ain’t that a shame? Take note of that comment, Anet. A customer should never feel that way when it comes to communication issues, for years, and this person isn’t alone. There really is no excuse.

• Finally, my last post on the issue, for now. Sorry for the length. I figured I’d do some merging of my own:

And, I posted this in response to someone asking about AMA’s being a Reddit thing and telling me my post was a good one:

AMA is a “Reddit” thing however, it is usually because it is done for celebrity interviews and there is a moderation element involved in the Q&A process. Since that was pretty much a non-issue here, I’m not really sure why these forums couldn’t be utilized, other than their personal preference for Reddit as has been voiced before. Also, of further concern, is the fact that there was virtually no “heads up” about this Q&A:

Andulias.9516:

I would like to quickly point out my dissatisfaction with the way the AMA was announced. Why the flying kitten didn’t you guys announce it at least a day prior? We all have things going on in our lives and and many of us missed the entire thing because we didn’t even know it was going to happen at all! I get it was to a large extent as an answer to Colin’s departure, but that’s an excuse, not a valid reason.

Andulis is correct on this issue. We get plenty of notice about something like Creature Design Guild Chat, but not something of this caliber? That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The only people who really knew were the frequenters of the GW2 Reddit. For what it’s worth, for the crumbs of communication we do get, something like this was launcher notice worthy.

I love this game. I wouldn’t be here, or voice my concerns if I didn’t. I’d move on quietly, like I did with UO, LotRO, WoW, Rift, ESO.. but I’m here and I’m supporting the game with purchases via the gem shop and with the expansion, but there is a limit to my tolerance of being patient, especially when communication is so sparingly given.

We’d just like to know if we can rely on what Colin stated over on Reddit regarding the visuals being reverted- actually being implemented this spring now that he is leaving. It’s a really easy questions to answer in the scheme of things and goes a long way in the warm/fuzzy department!

Sartharina.3542:

I’m 25. Will be 26 this year. I work 64 hours a week.

I feel bad for the younger generation.

That’s a lot of hours to put in. My son works hard too.

I hope GW2 brings you some relaxation time and joy!

Erik the Dauntless.4063:

Siobhan, that’s an excellent post imo, and one that merrits a response i’d think… to bad thats just my opinion.
Also i understood that “AMA” was a Reddit specific thing?

Thank you, Erik.

AMA is a “Reddit” thing however, it is usually because it is done for celebrity interviews and there is a moderation element involved in the Q&A process. Since that was pretty much a non-issue here, I’m not really sure why these forums couldn’t be utilized, other than their personal preference for Reddit as has been voiced before. Also, of further concern, is the fact that there was virtually no “heads up” about this Q&A:

Andulias.9516:

I would like to quickly point out my dissatisfaction with the way the AMA was announced. Why the flying kitten didn’t you guys announce it at least a day prior? We all have things going on in our lives and and many of us missed the entire thing because we didn’t even know it was going to happen at all! I get it was to a large extent as an answer to Colin’s departure, but that’s an excuse, not a valid reason.

Andulis is correct on this issue. We get plenty of notice about something like Creature Design Guild Chat, but not something of this caliber? That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The only people who really knew were the frequenters of the GW2 Reddit. For what it’s worth, for the crumbs of communication we do get, something like this was launcher notice worthy.

I love this game. I wouldn’t be here, or voice my concerns if I didn’t. I’d move on quietly, like I did with UO, LotRO, WoW, Rift, ESO.. but I’m here and I’m supporting the game with purchases via the gem shop and with the expansion, but there is a limit to my tolerance of being patient, especially when communication is so sparingly given.

We’d just like to know if we can rely on what Colin stated over on Reddit regarding the visuals being reverted- actually being implemented this spring now that he is leaving. It’s a really easy questions to answer in the scheme of things and goes a long way in the warm/fuzzy department!

I said this elsewhere in part, but I feel it bears repeating here since the topic has been brought up repeatedly in this thread (and numerous others).

If the forum software is so antiquated or broken that even the GW2 staff and president of ArenaNet prefers to do business (and that AMA was indeed business, make no mistakes about that) elsewhere, someone needs to seriously look into fixing more than just WvW or dungeons and fractals, because their home for communications either needs to be moved, or this place needs an overhaul. Either way, we need communication, and though we understand it can’t happen overnight for various reasons, (so many people have acknowledged that over the years, me being one of them) some of us have been waiting a long time for the crumbs we have been getting-elsewhere for the main part, and hearing how things will only get better. We’d be happy to wait a little longer, so long as we have an understanding that there is an issue that needs resolving here and it’s not all wrapped up in AMA’s in my opinion.

-Edit: I wanted to touch on this comment quickly:

Randulf.7614:

This is what we have been clamouring for for 2+ years now. If this is how they feel comfortable and is the best way for them to communicate plans, then so be it.
I’m not a fan of Reddit at all, but at this stage when we have been so starved of communication, substance wins over format/location.

Perhaps that was the plan, and if that’s a case, like the song says, ain’t that a shame? Take note of that comment, Anet. A customer should never feel that way when it comes to communication issues, for years, and this person isn’t alone. There really is no excuse.

Zoltar MacRoth.7146 wrote

I sort of brought up the same concern in the Mike O’Brien AMA now on Reddit! thread Gaile Gray, ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead started a few days back after hearing news that Colin was leaving via the Reddit/GW2 AMA.

This “revert”, for lack of a better word, is fairly big news. Like others, I have to wonder why this wasn’t addressed via the AMA (regardless if the question was asked, it’s a hot topic so to speak) and of course, why can’t we get some word from someone here? Please don’t misunderstand, I am glad the changes are being reverted, and an option for the player to adjust their graphics on their own for such things being addressed (so has been said on Reddit), rather than being forced on those of us who don’t require it, or want it, but why are important issues seemingly so hard to communicate, even when the “cat is out of the bag” apparently?

So, we have this thread, Comments about Communications that has been opened for us to post communication concerns in. I posted there a few times, you, Zoltar, I believe you did too. I put a good amount of time into this post there as matter of fact… and then I just started using Reddit and found that as much as I want to post here, where it makes sense (this is the home forum of the game, right? I’d think this is where I should be posting), it takes so much, I guess, hand sitting, or typing, reading, re-typing responses so as to watch my “P’s” and "Q’s so I don’t get my hand smacked for voicing my displeasure over issues with the lack of communications (lets call a spade a spade, using the words “lack of communication”is very kind), or sometimes, the outright rude responses I’ve seen uttered to customers- gah, if, I could respond in kind here.. but.. I understand the rules, and I will play by them. It is disheartening that it feels unless people are cheering and screaming, “go AnEt!” their posts often don’t even merit a nod, let alone a response, or if they get one, it’s got a not-so-nice feel to it (like this one) a burn factor, if you will… and there are alot of those around.

If the forum software is so antiquated or broken that even the GW2 staff and president of ArenaNet prefers to do business (and that AMA was indeed business, make no mistakes about that) elsewhere, someone needs to seriously look into fixing more than just WvW or dungeons and fractals, because their home for communications either needs to be moved, or this place needs an overhaul. Either way, we need communication, and though we understand it can’t happen overnight, some of us have been waiting a long time, and we’d be happy to wait a little longer, so long as we have an understanding that there is an issue that needs resolving.

Firebird Gomer.9563:

Also I am 1289 days old.

Thanks for asking

I’m getting ready to celebrate my 6,210 day wedding anniversary in a few weeks.

Daniel.4763:

I was in high school when Purple Rain came out.

Same!

Blude.6812:

No account either, I was hoping someone would ask when are they going to get Anet to provide funding to get a new forum engine.

Sindex.9520:

After reading the post you pulled out in another topic. About the former outsourced contractor that used to maintain these forums. I am not surprised. Until they bring someone in to either refurbish it, or come up with something new then this place is dead weight.

It seems that developers are jumping ship. Simply because Reddit is the Facebook of community driven forum outlets. I loathe either outlet (even Twitter) for personal reasons. Nevertheless I can’t deny what either of them have become. Until something comes along and knocks them all down. However I feel the same way as you do; about any type of official communication being on several different social media outlets. It’s a bit lazy, but according to them they have too much stuff on that table. At least John Smith is still using these forums, and has progressed in using it’s format over the last few years.

TheGrimm.5624:

If your first post is not even on your own official forums that makes me question spending anymore money on GW. That tells me the tools that your own team created are not worth using and instead you go else where to post. Why not just close these forums down then and move them completely to Reddit. That was a terrible first move. Makes me not even care what information was shared right now since it already has left a negative feeling on the game. -100 on this one ANet.

Akkeros.1675:

a few months too late but:

1. get on YOUR OFFICIAL FORUMS
2. answer all the questions and address all the comments HERE
3. Hit the reset button

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There is also no reason why a “reddit thing” such as an Ask Me Anything can’t be an “official forum thing.” If the Devs find the formatting on their own official forum so unappealing, whose fault is that? If that’s their problem then maybe they should shake lose the money for a new forum format.

One last point, none of the things the Devs said are on our forums Dev tracker which makes it difficult to reference and use for discussions on the official forum.

In a nutshell, we’re asking that we get more communication here. Please? I know recently it was brought up in the Visual Nerf thread, it was announced, by Colin, via Reddit that we will finally see a revert of the nerfs we were dealt. However, that is not something we’ve heard over here, and for some, that is problematic, especially now that Colin is leaving. Though we’re thrilled to get info on this issue, or any issue, it should come through these forums at some point, don’t you think?

Wander.5780:

Yay! no more having to post almost daily about this abomination and it’s terrible implementation to get the attention of the Devs. That being said, I’m not getting my hopes up too much regarding the “fix.”

I give John Smith much credit for addressing the issue and for doing so here, on the official forums instead of us, or someone else having to dig the info up from Reddit. That’s a a much needed, and appreciated step forward. I’ll take any little advances for now.

Exalted gatherings if you are wanting your elite weapons. I did, so I got that first. You’ll max out everything in the HoT mastery paths anyway, might as well get to working on your weapons while you do so.

RoseofGilead.8907:

Ayrilana.1396:

I just hope that whatever they do, people don’t overreact like last year.

Part of the fun of April Fool’s Day for me (now) is seeing just how bent out of shape some people get about the pranks. “I’m boycotting Anet until my head isn’t giant anymore!” “Omg anet, you made my screen go sepia tone and made my charcter make airplane noises! I’m serious disappointed in youuuu!”

I love bobblehead.

I spend a good part of my day, everyday bobbled. I drop a bobblehead lab at every event I visit. I’m told my bobblehead laboratory is good. People appreciate my bobblehead lab and much chugging is done.

Best toy ever.

Lumpy.8760:

yes? aesthestics are not exclusive to a specific tone of voice

I just don’t imagine the shattering butterfly effect coming from a deep voiced burly Sylvari, Asura or Human and I think deep voices do kinda sound odd coming out of someone it doesn’t really “fit” with.

FWIW, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Mesmer that isn’t a Human or Sylvari or Asura.

Monk Tank.5897:

My male Mesmer sounds feminine, so much i want to play another race. I would like the option to make him sound like a trucker, or at least like a man.
So here is to being able to buy different voices for your races..with gems of course.
I think this would be quite popular among the masses.

The Mesmer is the butterfly caster people, right….?

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Thank you for the kind words, Siobhan. Yes, it was a little black humour and a means to keep the thread visible. But hey, no need for that anymore, it seems. Coming soon: great balls of fire!

No problem.

Thank you for hearing us, Anet.

My Elementalist will soon feel like this:

• edit- Gave credit and “thanks” too soon. They only kinda heard us.

DirtyT.5129:

Here, *extends hand* – take it.. You need not wait alone.

That was beautiful. This right here is what builds community. SAB builds community.

The Greyhawk.9107:

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Maybe it’s my insanity talking but I wonder if we could buy a response on the gem store?

Buy a response? KITTEN that kitten.

heh, Zoltar was kidding ( I feel it was said in jest and more just desperate plea for a response to this thread), but the filter on this forum does illicit some funny thoughts on the response (meant to lighten things up!):

Shiyo.3578:

There’s literally video options to turn down spell effects, why exactly is this FORCED onto us?

I don’t get it, give me my fireball and auras back if my computer can handle it.

Because they need to save visuals for things like legendary weapon effects, armor effects (batwings, snow, bees, chak egg stuff) random stuff dropping off various purchasable gliders, pvp tags view-able out in open world content, etc. Makes perfect sense.

Arkanthor.2307:

Today´s guild chat had a special effect dev as a guest but they only hyped the -coming soon- first raid boss and talked nothing about this issue. Sad .

Interesting that they picked one of the seven deadly sins, Sloth.

sarasvatri.6871:

You’re astoundingly polite and accommodating.

I was reading the thread and thinking, “Yeah, kinda silly but hey people can run groups how they want, no harm no foul.”

Then I read the guy’s response and now I hope he steps on legos barefoot every day for the rest of his life.

Kudos to you for your cool head.

Quoted for truth!

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

This debacle and the mention of skins in other posts got me thinking about the possibility of skill skins. Imagine if you could apply a skin to your fireball..

No, please, no. They’ll gut our graphics and then charge us to get something decent back..

Ubi.4136:

OK, the search just ended…finally got it to drop. Good grief.

Woohoo!! Congratulations!!

Ubi.4136:

Wondering if anyone else is having trouble getting the Nature Spirit item to drop from oakhearts. I’ve killed more than I can count at every oakheart spawn (on every map) over the last 3 days and still nothing. I have a few guildies that got it over a month ago, so wondering if a recent patch bugged this item.

I just did this 2 nights ago on my Ranger/Druid I got to 80 last week. Dropped from the first Oakheart I killed and my ascended Yggdrassil was completed for me last night. My husband did this last month on his Ranger/Druid and it took 45 minutes to get it to drop. He was not pleased I got mine on the first one.

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

With the implementation of the option to move the position of the Compact option in the last patch, it’s only a matter of time until we get an option to select our own visual noise level. Right?

……right?

Umm.. with this silence and no video asking for a solid?

Knighthonor.4061:

too much like WoW, so anet would never do it.

WoW Brew of the Month Club (Est 2009)

GW2 Brew of the Month Club

Target of target is quite useful and differs from ‘call Target’, imo.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Siobhan.5273:

Khisanth.2948:

Pretty good chance that most people just read the title of the thread.

Right, which lets be honest, was a tad misleading.

(click-bait’ish, if you will.)

Even the devs have to live within the limits of the title length.

• Upcoming Guild Chat — important context
• “We want to answer your questions” — also important context
• “About ____” — forum topic length limit strikes again

I imagine it’s possible to have rephrased it, but then it would have been “misleading” about something else.

True to an extent, but..

Upcoming Guild Chat: Ask Creature Design Questions! is less characters than what was used and is more clear in it’s intent.

At least folks know where they stand now.

Khisanth.2948:

Pretty good chance that most people just read the title of the thread.

Right, which lets be honest, was a tad misleading.

(click-bait’ish, if you will.)

Great post, Zoltar. In 100% agreement with all you just said.

That said, necro minions are a little lack-luster.

Elden Arnaas.4870:

Meanwhile Anet says (not here of course) “We want to answer your questions, about creature design.” O.o Seriously?!? Why not answer questions we want answered? Or that need to be answered?

Like “Why can’t Anet have GW2 automatically down-shift graphics at world bosses, and in WvW zergs when they can’t be properly seen anyway?”
or
“Why can’t Anet comment on what current plans are for resolving the ‘visual nose issue’?”, or at least give us some hope that the pointless nerfs on individual skills will not continue.

I saw that and I thought the same thing. It’s all about saying that they are talking to us. They are answering those burning questions no one really asked about in the first place…

But hey, they’re communicating, right? Right? Unfortunately, just not on the issues we’re asking them about. Like this one.

Kururu.8140:

I was wondering if there are any guilds who actually host this battle. I’m currently at 9/10 achievements, but No-Fly Zone and Smash the Dragon seem impossible because every single group is completely clueless. I’ve done most of the Shatterer battles since it was updated to be harder and I’m still at 0% for No-Fly Zone. I’m not a fan of achievements which are completely reliant on pug groups.

I’m not sure if it’s because the Smash the Dragon achievement is bugged and people want to wait until it’s fixed to even try. Or maybe it’s because it’s a new experience and people are still learning? Even so, I’m curious if anyone hosts this.

Just got Smash The Dragon a few hours ago courtesy of the guild LUCK who has been leading runs for The Shatterer since his re-make. Wonderful, nice people who are were very nice to all of those with questions, making both runs I participated in this evening smooth and enjoyable. If I’m up (darn insomnia!!) I may jump in for the next one in about 45 minutes.

I highly recommend you give LUCK a shot. They use TS, but also call out via map for those that don’t use TS, and still, the timing was spot on.

Just got Smash The Dragon courtesy of the guild LUCK who has been leading runs for The Shatterer since his re-make. Wonderful, nice people who are were very nice to all of those with questions, making both runs I participated in this evening smooth and enjoyable.

Thanks, LUCK. Just got a little more to go on those Branded things..and that backpack will be mine!

StinVec.3621:

Siobhan.5273:

Are we allowed to use this, because losing my cursor is very frustrating and this would make me so very happy.

It is still perfectly fine to use. It even offers a 64-bit version for use with the 64-bit GW2 beta client.

If you need help with some customized cursors, I’d be happy to find or make one to your liking or send you some that I’m currently using, though most of the ones I use are animated and not static.

You are my hero. May every legendary from Tyria rain from the skies and drop into your bags, as I weep with joy. Thank you. Thank you so very much.

Are we allowed to use this, because losing my cursor is very frustrating and this would make me so very happy.

Rezzet.3614:

The Greyhawk.9107:

Vayne.8563:

The visual nerfs thing was a request feature by a whole lot of people. Some people don’t like it, but I’m pretty sure I saw more people complain about noise than I ever did about the visual nerfs.

The so called “visual noise reduction” did absolutely NOTHING to clean up boss and zerg fights. Not. A. Single. kittening. THING. Fireball gets turned into a pebble, but the impact particles, which is WHAT WAS CAUSING THE PROBLEM, has not been changed at all. And how much did Chaos Shield and the Ele Auras actually add to the problem? Be honest.
No, the Visual Nerf only diminished the quality of the game, rather than improve it. And as far as there not being enough people being against the nerf as opposed to for it? Bullkitten. There’s an eighteen page thread that’s been on the front page fairly consistently that speaks against your claim.

gotta say i agree with this the attack visuals were fine its the explosions and impacts that blind us in combat

the only thing this visual nerf achieved was give those using 1998 computers 1 fps extra performance

I agree with everything quoted. It’s really shameful this is being avoided the way it is.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Siobhan.5273:

Guhracie.3419:

Wow. I’m embarrassed for ANET that a forum-user is aggregating their official news for them.

Yeah. I’m just out of words on this.

Indeed. I vote Just a flesh wound should be brought on as a Forum Specialist- Communications Representative. Soon as possible. He is doing all of the work, has been for awhile.

Squashing the forum bug.

While I appreciate the compliment, the role of the Forum Specialists is to gather information from the forums and present it to ANet in the form of regular reports so they can see the ideas and thoughts of the players who post. None of this is what I am doing. I’m merely gathering information from a couple of other sites and reposting, which anyone can do if they wanted to spend the time. So, again thanks for the compliment but what I’m doing doesn’t fall into that category.

And there’s bound to be paperwork if it did. Bleh.

You are indeed doing that though… and alot of it. Don’t sell your self short, we wont let you.

So I posted this a few days ago in the Visual Nerf thread, but it’s quite relevant to the discussion (or lack thereof) in this thread, so I’ll just bring it on over and expand on it a little:

NecroN.8306:

We will never see a response here because that would take courage. The only response I’ve seen was Colin on reddit attacking GW2’s customers that didn’t share his views about the new direction of the game.

Unfortunately, I think that “statement” from Colin is the only thing we will ever see on the matter, and it gets me so frustrated when I see useless staves vs staffs debates getting numerous commentary from the ArenaNet Forum Communications Team Lead, yet stuff begging for meaningful interaction is treated like the elephant in the room. It is honestly shameful. It’s like being in the cool clique in HS where they play it up with their pals right in front of the person they don’t like and they’re trying to annoy. As if suddenly, the other person has no feelings, no eyes, and no way of comprehending the game being played to his face.

I personally wouldn’t employ that as a business tactic, nor would I pull a ‘Colin’ or a ‘Chris Cleary’ either.

I’d just try to be as straight forward with my customers as I could, without talking down to them, wagging my finger at them or condescending to them. Talk to us the way Andrew Gray- Game Designer did on these forums, about the Shatterer. Because really, after what is it, 870 posts (now it’s up to 879 since this was posted a few days back), there are no excuses. This has been nothing but avoidance and it’s a wretched thing to do to your customers whom are trying to open conversation on the issue of ‘visual nerfs’ with the people who can do something about rectifying the problems we have with them.

customer
[kuhs-tuh-mer]

noun
1.a person who purchases goods or services from another; buyer; patron.

2.Informal. a person one has to deal with:
a tough customer; a cool customer.

Again, I am a paying customer. Not a mushroom. I have been reasonable in my arguments, and have posted many screenshots to support the fact that my spit fireball and egg-line aura has nothing to do with the hot mess that is particle effects while in a huge shartty mess of a boss fight, so can someone please stop smacking my hand now and admit that this thing did not net the desired “nerf” result and give us our effects back, that the game had when I bought it (the expansion too) until you can develop, test and deploy a real solution to fix the eye-sores that wind up in the atmosphere of Tyria, or till those “sliders” are added? We’d like that. We actually deserve that. Thanks.

Further to be touched upon is this communication concern post in the January 26th Update: Your feedback thread:

Communication. There is little to none coming from those who need to be doing the communicating. I’m almost 100% positive my words fall on deaf ears, or someone turns a blind eye to them. I haven’t made a video yet, so we’ll see if I can get that down pat and perhaps get my message out that way.

Seriously though, perhaps a PR team should handle this stuff until policy and team intention can be figured out. Because customers are simply fed up.

-edit-link correction