Guild Wars 2

lordkrall.7241:

Which would suggest that they turned up with every update, and yet they only turn up with updates that have controversial changes.

You know this for a fact because you are sitting behind each and every individual to witness their gaming habits. Frankly what we don’t need anymore is people trying to police the boards for their own entertainment, and people certainly don’t need to justify their reason for being here to you or anyone else.
This is Anet’s/NCSoft’s debacle let them defend it, personally this feels more and more like NCSoft because Anet has not historically done this type of thing, at least not in my experience.

Actually the thing that irritated me more than anything was scapegoating the new players as a reason for it all. How many new players have 85 gold to buy gems with to begin with, it took me months and months to get to that point. Frankly I’m rather fed up with the whole Nexon monetization push and I am having a very hard time with the blatant disrespect of having to swallow this kind of explanation.
I’m sorry but there needs to be some serious changes in how things are being laid out because frankly that dog don’t hunt.

Chris……we lost Percy man…lordy mercy we lost Percy

Asuran pole dancing!

Gaile Gray.6029:

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/looking-ahead-guild-wars-2-in-2013/
Yes, I like that, too! I’ll pass along the suggestion.

Any progress on this Gaile?

lordkrall.7241:

But that is just the issue.

When they release a road-map and something is changed/delayed the amount of rage and hate here is extreme. Because people see a road-map as a set in stone absolute promise kind of thing.

Which pales in comparison to the amount of ire and disappointment when we are left with absolutely nothing at all. Give everyone here a reason to want to stay, or something to look forward to going forward, that has pretty much disappeared, heck even the Chinese site got the Halloween breakdown.
They will continue to hold things so close to the chest that when they decide to open up about it nothing will meet expectations because the information dry spell will have been far too long, everyone will be expecting the moon.

To be honest at this point for me, anything less than a full blown expansion with large chunks of new land and new classes or races will be completely underwhelming, and I’m certain I’m not alone on that. I’m not saying I expect that tomorrow but I expect the announcement soon enough because frankly I’m bored to tears and have been for two months now. Certainly I can take a break and I have for the most part but I love the game and I hoped for so much more, shame on me I guess.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/2ji1se/halloween_2014_few_news_from_china/

Check that thread.

Well that being said, maybe we should start a Kickstarter program to free Anet from this mess.

Tachanon, I couldn’t agree more. They made a phenomenal game and I applaud the efforts that have gone into it, but at the end of the day if we had not chosen to acknowledge that work by purchasing and supporting it, it would have all been for nothing. That important point, and the support that long term players have brought seems to have been lost on many, especially the ones controlling the future and information.

While I agree with some points, I truly feel that expansions will give much greater replay ability than the LS can especially in it’s current format. They have lost an entire years worth with the temporary content that they attempted to fix but at the end of the day the current format is mostly an instanced type of content rather than open world, which again fractures the player base.
As far as revenue, along with the immediate financial benefits of an expansion, there would be far more opportunities to add to the gem store obviously since it would likely introduce a whole host of new armor types and probably a race or two. These would take minimal effort to produce and could continue to provide income much the same as it does today in the LS. Also if they are using a small team to do LS there is no reason whatsoever not to do both styles of content updates, what could be better than expansion every 18 months with limited LS to keep things fresh and cash flowing?

Roybe.5896:

Communication theory, 101.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Communicating-with-you/page/15#post4328343

The community cannot change anything at this stage, we don’t have the power all we can do is sit in silence and choose to wait for them to open up. In order to fix something one party has to make a move and since we are on the outside looking in, the ball is literally in their court now.

This will go round and round in circles and occasionally include a comment regurgitating the “look what happened when they said this before ……” phrase which will be spun as a defense. The reality is, Anet needs to stop propagating the fact that they want to be transparent when they self impose limitations that preclude the ability to be transparent. You can’t tell us what we want to know and whatever your reasons are that’s the truth of the matter so don’t pretend that real communication exists when real information cannot be shared. There cannot be transparency because your own policy prohibits it from happening, end of story.
Communication at best should be termed discussion of ideas such as the CDI which hold value for some but that’s the limit you’ve set for yourselves and no amount of spin can change that until someone within the organization recognizes the need to lift said policy.
If it truly is within Anet’s ability to change the policy, then my hope is they do so, or continue to try and change the minds of those preventing the change. I know some may not appreciate the way I’ve expressed myself at the frustration of having to sit in the dark hoping you’re making the right moves with the game, but I honestly do feel very badly for all your employees who are forced to come here and deal with these issues, hands tied and no real voice, it’s shameful.

Rebound.3409:

Not changing just because u invested into something that clearly doesn’t rise to the expectation of most of your customers would probably be one of the dumbest business models i have heard off…worth being put in the bible next to random disasters.

RFLMAO! That made me spit my coffee out, great line. As far as splitting the player base, do you really think that people won’t be able to purchase an expansion? I can’t imagine those who have a computer and play online can’t put $40.00 together, let’s be realistic shall we.
Anyway the expansion can come in may forms, and that’s exactly what Collins said, however as far as what is best for the game to me regardless of the delivery method “more content” is needed. When I say more I mean large amounts of content, going into year 3 of the game the delivery has been abysmal and a far, far cry from what most expected regardless of how it was to come. The LS failed to deliver enough in many cases and a large input is sorely needed, and not all of it gem store related.

caveman.5840:

buddy thats insane
and subscription games are a rip off

what u pay for in the gem store is what u get

if u can name one time guild wars had said your gem store money will go to future updates ill be surprised but i highly doubt it

i am grateful for what they release ! for FREE

but i think it is getting close for a expansion

I’m also not naïve enough to think that the costs of items in the gem store reflects the development costs put into making them, of course buying gems is the way the game is getting compensated, it isn’t a subscription based product. Insanity is thinking they will just do all this and pay their staff from the cleaning person to the management out of the goodness of their hearts, or a secret stash they kept from the original sales.
Yes, you get something for the gems but do not for one minute think this isn’t their way of recouping costs to fund the continued growth of the game.

Yes it’s due for a major expansion, and it should come in a boxed, or DL format otherwise they won’t make the revenue needed, or keep enough going to grow the product. LS and additional gem store products will fizzle the population down far enough it won’t be viable to keep it going especially if it continues in the dribble format we’ve been getting it.
If it is happening only those managing know and that is the sad part for most of the long term players asking the question.

Roybe.5896:

Replace ‘they need to…’ with ‘I want them to…’. I would love content the size of GW1 Nightfall every 2 weeks. That is impossible to do. I’m pretty sure the size of the content adds you desire are near impossible also. The amount of content we’ve received is fine, particularly as it was no cost to us. Your mileage may, and pr0obably does, vary. Would an expansion be nice? Sure. Do they need to do it? The jury is still out. Would people come back for an expansion? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on why they left.

A figure I’d like to see is a % of active players that have finished what % of all of the content. That would be very telling.

I really don’t see how that would be relevant, it should be more along the lines of what % of what content was completed and how many times. This would give a much better idea of the focus needed to develop content, for instance I have successfully completed 1 dungeon, I don’t care for dungeon content at all, never have, never will. As a game company you know going in that a percentage will finish everything but many won’t and thus what you provide will only ever satisfy to a degree.
Also I’m sorry but the got what you paid for thing is getting tiresome, many of us still here continued to support the game through gem purchases believing we were doing so to get more content and keep the game alive and not outright funding them produce a version for China.
Nowhere did this come to light prior and for good reason, how many would have shut the faucet off knowing this. That being said I don’t put much stock in the got what you paid for argument because frankly I’ve likely invested more than I would have into a subscription based game and have received very little for it this past year.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Players that frequent these forums have a vastly over-blown view of just how “ticked off” the player base is. Yes, there are hardcore players that range from raging to disappointed in the current state of the game (I’m one of the later, to be honest), but overall, the general player base is not nearly as upset as much of these forums tend to portray.

I think much of the silence is due to them still making some decisions about what they can and cannot do in an Expansion based on things still being tested via the LS content AND overseas markets being included in the release of any Expansion. Some of that may be timing and them not wanting to announce something a year out from the scheduled release.

Again, all speculation (and some wishful thinking, I suppose).

I can only speak from my experience and everyone that I know personally that left did so due to the lack of content, so color me greatly disappointed at the lack of information on Anet’s side. In fact the little to no real effort at communicating their future plans was the underlying cause of why they abandoned the game. Either way that group has now returned to other games I won’t mention and they aren’t looking back. Like I said not being transparent regarding future plans is detrimental to the long term health of the game, not in every case but I most certainly has been for me, and I’m sure others as well. Also the boards are relatively quiet as summer is just ending and people are returning to other things but wait until winter sets in in many areas and people are around to play more and see how things fair then if nothing changes lol!

As far as expansion content, since the game is just now live in China, I would expect the cycle to be build content for NA and EU first then development to work towards making it for the east. If they do it at the same time that means splitting off development teams so we are not left with these 300 or so people are claiming to be working in the background, but half of that. That would translate into far less content than one would imagine coming from their developers, than was originally planned I would assume. But as you’ve said and I continue to say it’s all bloody speculation because it’s all we have.

Brother Grimm.5176:

Consider how all the negative comments above change if they announce an expansion after Wintersday and it’s ready for release by Year 3 Anniversary (if not sooner)? Players that have written GW2 off for months will be back in a flash and those that hold out, will eventually come back (if the Expansion is up to snuff).
I could be totally wrong, but I think some big things are on the horizon for GW2 and the fact that Anet is keeping it under complete wraps is a smart move (in terms for maintaining the longevity of the game).

Consider how much damage this poorly thought out policy has done and is continuing to do. If they are working on an expansion announce it, it isn’t like this is the flippin Manhattan Project! Keeping it under wraps is a dangerous and risky move and really gains them nothing at this point except a lot of completely ticked off players and all for the sake of what exactly? What advantage does it have, you think it’ll keep players here lol, tell that to my original guild. Sure some will come back others never will because they are too jaded or have become invested in something else built by a company that won’t string them along blindly.

I believe, like many that there is nothing to announce which is why they aren’t, they left China behind and are playing catch up that’s all. Bare in mind the time frame they enacted this policy of silence, right around the time they secreted away a bunch of developers to work on the China version. If you dig deep enough it gets worse, they’re also planning on bringing it to Brazil etc. so how many more years are we going to be sidelined while the LS dumps a smidge of content here and there.

Chameleon Dude.1564:

Because whenever something was shown to us before completion, people would rage and never let go when it was cancelled or delayed.

That’s a cop out and is as old as the “they thought it would confuse new players” comment. They don’t say anything because they don’t have anything to announce, if they did they would be screaming at the top of their lungs because that’s good marketing. The one and only real viable reason not to is because you know that if it isn’t the scope of news people would be expecting at this point (2 years without a major expansion) it would do more harm than good.
Don’t kid yourself, as soon as they think they are in the position to make a major announcement that will bring sales back up and drive in needed cash they would make it, this is a business pure and simple. They don’t have anything substantial to offer, hence the silence.
There is not one company in the world that would risk the mild annoyance of a delay if there was something to placate. A general announcement without specifics would suffice, they haven’t even offered that so speculation is all that is left, hence nothing said, nothing to be said.
My opinion, the whole development in China took a heck of a lot more than they expected, they’re behind the 8 ball because the LS isn’t cutting it so now it’s all about keeping quiet adding some busy work content until they can build an expansion. I predict the remainder of the LS starting Nov 4th to include 4 episodes to open a quarter of another new zone while they run rehashed holiday content and hope it buys them enough to time to be confident enough to announce an xpack. Which they will announce in the spring destined to come some time in the fall, be delayed until the end of 2015. (purely speculation of course because it’s all i have).

Gaile Gray.6029:

I appreciate the feedback. I just wonder how such a survey could work. Most surveys are not essay questions. They’re like this:

• Should we change [this thing]? Yes/No.

That seems unhelpful. First, things are seldom answered with just a yes or no answer. Instinct is to react, “Well, I need to know more about why you’re looking at that area,” or “That’s not as important as [these other things]” or “Yes, please change it [this way] and not [that other way].”

Or maybe you’re thinking:

• Which of these things should we focus on? [list]

And we all know, given we’re forum members, that those opinions — about priorities or changes — could number in the dozens. Nah, probably in the hundreds.

Maybe it’s an essay question. Maybe it’s “We’re looking for feedback on [this thing]” where you can provide your thoughts in detail. If that’s the case, may I introduce you to the CDIs?

You make good points, it’s not possible for any human being to read every thread. And certainly when their job is making a game — design, programming, art, writing, and all the other facets of development — reading the forums in large amounts could take them away from their job at a cost to the game.

But if 300 Anet Team members are reading the forums, even if lightly, it starts discussion. Heck, I’ve sent notes about threads to various teams, and I know just about every other person here has done the same. Like this: “I don’t work on [such-and-such], but I found [this linked thread] really interesting.” Or maybe, “This is for your team. I think we can support it by doing [our stuff] if you are going to work on this.”

So surveys? Maybe they’ll happen, I’m not sure. Could you outline your thoughts on how they’d look? Input on something topical? CDIs are great — are you participating? Have you made a suggestion there that we have one on a topic near and dear to your heart?

Please don’t see this as a “never happen” response. I’m mostly just asking questions, that’s all.

You’ve missed the vast majority of the purpose of most of the feedback since you posted and frankly all the attempts at placating through the “there there”approach has put me off. I’m going to take a break because we can’t get the answers we want regardless of which way we try to ask. Good luck and i hope at some point someone gets it and starts giving us real answers instead of patting us the head and sending us to the kiddie table.

JBDanger.2603:

I think Arena Net needs to grow up and banish their non disclosure policy of what they’re working on. All it is is an excuse. A cop out so that they don’t have to deal with confrontation. I myself would gladly support them and invest in gems if i knew the game had a future, but why should I if after two years, we don’t know where the game is going?
Isn’t it time for them to swallow their pride an inform us of whats going on? Be it there is an expansion or nothing at all planned, at least they will have gained my respect and that of many others.

I’ve said it multiple times, I’d prepay for an expansion today and follow it up with $100 in gems right off the announcement. I don’t think I’m alone so what holds them back? I’d post the fact that I’d done so just to prove it isn’t all talk, and I’m only one of many that would jump at the same chance.

Selene.9415:

I think people are forgetting the pitchfork wars that happened when they did tell us about what they were planning for the game. People automatically take a “we want to do this” as a “this is coming in the near future! Everyone get on the hype train!” Even if they don’t make promises, people will take it as a promise, which is why I can’t begrudge them of their “Don’t talk during development” policy.

That said, they probably shouldn’t leave full reveals to streamers or youtubers (like they did for september feature pack). The patch notes, which the streamers use for those videos, aren’t incredibly detailed and they miss a lot, which leads to situations like what happened earlier this month; where everyone thinks the NPE is working exactly as intended when it really isn’t.

tl;dr: I don’t begrudge them their information during development policy, but there really are places where they should be more open, ie. release notes.

I’ve said several times the information doesn’t have to be in great detail but a general idea of where you’re taking the game in the future is more than a reasonable request. Why not answer some of the specifics to keep people happy, why keep silent and drive customers away. There is no scenario where that makes sense, and I cannot see the harm in coming here and saying; we are or are not making an expansion pack, we are or are not looking at the trait system, we are or we are not releasing SAB? No details no time frame just some general information.
The one and only reason not to give out that kind information as I’ve said in the past is the fear the answers will be very unpopular and cause more harm than good, but silence can and will have the same effect.

Gaile Gray.6029:

If you’re considering how the GW2 Team can best hear your input about the game — such as what you’d like to see in the future, how things are working now, etc. — I personally don’t think a survey is necessary. Honestly and truly: These forums are a huge and very effective medium for communication. They are read daily by members of the team — probably more people than you think! — and the forums, as a whole, give us a much better view of what’s important to Guild Wars 2 players than most surveys would do.

Too we have interaction here that’s incredibly effective. Yep, I’m thinking CDIs and I’m glad they’re back! (Even if I marvel how Chris is able to keep up the pace! )

Surveys are difficult to devise in a way that makes them unbiased and statistically accurate. That’s not to say it cannot be done, and the idea of surveys linked to an active game account certainly sounds better to me than those random Internet surveys, like “Who’s your favorite singer,” which get gamed through fan groups, artist management companies, publicists, agents, and the use of “ballot-box stuffing” methods, like vote, clear cache, vote again; vote, change computers, vote again; vote, set up 100 fake e-mail accounts, vote again.

Anyway, just wanted to add a couple of pennies about the subject, fwiw.

I honestly believe that they are read often and things are discussed internally but that’s where the issue lies, no final information is ever given to the players. I don’t blame anyone specifically just the policy of not trusting us with any real information about the future of the game. It’s getting very old for a lot of people and it’s disturbing to a lot of your player base so frankly and please don’t take it as an attack on you, all the pep talks given won’t really help until real information is shared, at least for me and everyone else who’s asked for the same openness.

PS. welcome back into the lion’s den….where’s the froggy?

Hybarf Tics.2048:

Anet here’s an excellent way to prove you really do read and listen to the community.
If you re-open SAB it’ll mean that you care. Not opening it might mean you still care but have a good reason spelled out here in this forum.
Sincerely a more or less satisfied customer in the overall direction and secrecy of the game.

Nice try but I think you’d have a better chance of catching a bucket full of steam with a fishing net.

Oh how we all miss Dhuum!!!!!
“WITH EVERY DEATH, DHUUM GROWS STRONGER!” “HOW CAN YOU HOPE TO VANQUISH DEATH ITSELF?” “PATHETIC MORTAL! THE VOID BECKONS!”

Don’t need it, certainly don’t need it in this game considering the ease of most content. Anyway the same thing can be done with a spreadsheet and test dummies to research your effectiveness and that should be all you’re concerned about. Fellow with people of your same ideology and everyone will be happy, we certainly don’t need any more divisive content in the game.

I have seen these tools be far more destructive than constructive and I can tell you Anet has voiced the same opinion multiple times over, but it has been a couple months since I’ve seen particular horse flogged to death lol.

They already know what most people want they also can’t talk about anything, what a horribly undesirable spot to be in. Maybe when the numbers are low enough they’ll recognize the folly of that policy and start real communication, but i won’t hold my breath. It also begs the question, if you know people want to hear information and you don’t give it to them there is a reason, so likely the person who made the policy knows already that the direction they are taking the game would be unpopular or disappointing ergo they would ensure it isn’t discussed to shield themselves.

Like I always say everything is supposition because that’s all we have.

Faereilos.5106:

ANet needs to make succeeding an event actually rewarding and penalize failure. That’s all.

….and bingo! The loot distribution is designed to be poor to enhance monetization and the backlash to that is the need to farm. They have created the perfect catch 22, the rewards are terribly underwhelming, the cost of everything is absurdly high because the economy is built around a TP so people need to farm to get the things they want in a reasonable amount of time.
You want to fix this, start adding more content geared to reward people for doing it; things like absurdly low drops of precursors and the insane amount of materials needed to craft legendries or any meaningful items are all tied to farming due to the abhorrent drops of these materials which is done to increase the overall time it takes to build one. Not everyone needs one, or wants one but those that do are left behind a wall of obstacles leaving them very little choice but to farm.
Think of it this way, they can’t have everyone running around with a legendary or full ascended etc. because at that point what would the draw be to keep them here, it certainly isn’t the new content, new legendries etc.

The game is lacking content, after two plus years it’s as simple as that. Not just the drip feed kind the LS is giving us but a combination of both that and large expansions. If it fails to do so it will become a much smaller niche game with very little real development capitol reinvestment or flip completely into the pay to win style neither is a good thing.
At the end of the day they need to be able to make money and it means satisfying both crowds to stay happy and healthy.

A full retail expansion!

Nothing is going to change until after the free weekend and they see how these changes affect retention. Even if it’s poor I doubt you’ll see any reversals though some more tweeks might happen but it will never return to what it was. Unfortunately my fear is if they don’t get the numbers they think or see the level of improvement this will continue to be remolded over and over again until they feel they get it right, which could very well send a lot more players elsewhere.

I also find all the psychological explanations for people resisting change to be hilariously irrelevant. You can spell out the reasons with whatever logical diagnostic tool you choose but at the end of the day if people hate change for the sake of change the explanation of why they hate it means absolutely nothing to them, they just hate it lol! Hence the danger in flip flopping strategies, it may not always be a lose all lose all but is most often a lose some and then lose some more.

Tengu with full Tosei-gusoku armor! So many possibilities, and so many people would be thrilled to start speculating what could be included. I’m eagerly trying to find something to keep me invested but it’s getting hard when everyone except the creator and keeper of the dreaded “policy” seems to feel that way or think it’s important.
I hope this free weekend gives then whatever they’re looking for so they can finally open up and give everyone something to get excited over again.

The concern that most may not buy the expansion I think is fairly limited. The fact is for everyone still here after perhaps 3 years time when one does pop the vast majority would purchase it because they stayed here that long because they like the game. The other factor people need to understand is that the large cash influx is usually timed to re-invigorate their coffers for their shareholders and used to draw old and new back to the game while increasing profits.

Also those who say they won’t buy it are likely those who are not spending money in the game to begin with hence it is not in the best interest of GW2 or Anet to cater to that crowd. As many have stated and history proves it there is a ability to do both the LS and QoL features in a limited capacity in between the actual expansion like content. This formula has worked so far and I believe there are valid reasons for the formula.

Also as many have pointed out already just the LS is not cutting for many players at this stage.

Einlanzer.1627:

My #1 suggestion is to revert the trait changes and replace with endgame skill hunting and new weapon types.
My #2 suggestion is to add a customizable companion system to use with replayable instanced story content, with fun companion rewards for using them in stories.
My #3 suggestion is to add more new maps and small group content with unique cosmetic rewards (I’m sure this is what most people are looking for).

I have some others, but those I think are the most significant.

All of these would be amazing. Why not be able to go into dungeons or fractals with 2 people and 3 henchmen and have it designed to scale accordingly, or even solo with henchman and make each versions rewards unique. Too much content geared too specifically and it’s a waste. That said final request large new areas to explore and real reasons to explore them.

I’d be really curious to see the actual numbers of retained players since the changes though I highly doubt that would ever happen. It would however be nice to know if all those changes were worth the aggravation they caused.

Voting would only work if it were an in game poll. That being said it should only be used for QoL features not overall game design with the exception of how we would like it delivered such as expansion or LS…better yet both.

So many unnecessary changes, such a waste of dev time. Sad, just really sad.

Since Nexxon came into the fold you can clearly see the influence monetization has within the game and there is no doubt it gets discussed every time a potential idea gets drawn up for content. This is what I believe hampers development more than anything else. I truly believe that there has been a lot more unwelcome influence at Anet today then at any time during the building of GW2 and this greatly limits their ability to openly discuss things at a grass roots level. There has to be something to the fact that 2 of the 3 founders of Anet bolted just one year after moving into roles with NCSoft.

I can tell you after reading the NCSoft glassdoor feedback they make Anet look phenomenal by comparison.

I’m like you op, although I love the game I feel that it has stagnated and due to the lack of any formal announcement of a major content update it is somewhat disheartening. That being said, I have found a couple of interesting things as of late, firstly the list of positions from the NCSoft for the ArenaNet, Bellevue, WA site;

•ArenaNet Programming Internship 2014
•Cinematic Animator (Contract)
•Data Analyst
•Economic Systems Designer
•Gameplay Programmer
•General Programmer
•German Linguistic QA Tester
•Head of Customer Support
•Marketing Production Manager
•Motion Graphics Artist
•Physics Programmer
•Public Relations Manager
•QA – Sr. Software Development Engineer in Test
•Quality Assurance Tester (Compatibility Lab)
•Senior Animator
•Spanish Linguistic QA
•Tools Programmer
•UI/UX Designer
•Web Programmer

Three of which are temporary, 1 year with the most interesting being the PR Manager role. This seems to coincide with a temporary major project such as an expansion. That being said I also saw some less than favorable reviews from former employees about NCSoft specifically pointing out the disconnect with the West which could be a sign that this unpopular policy is not Anet driven. It would be great to know because at least then we could rail against the right people lol!

Of course all of this is speculation but at this point it’s all we have left.

Guild halls and Guild calendar. I would also love to see guild perks, which could be set up along the lines of doing a particular amount of events and quests in a particular region which then allows a small perk for selling, crafting etc. at those local area vendors. For instance a 2 % increase in sell value or 5 % increase in salvaging, or possibly even the ability to build a mystic forge in the area.

Galen Grey.4709:

If they release an expansion they have a big problem on their hands. not everyone is going to buy it. So what do they do, do they lock people out of their living story updates (those who have not bought the expansion)?

I bet if they do an expansion it will be something like Cantha or Elona or some far away land while the living story will continue on Tyria. That way everyone can continue getting updates.

I’m curious, why would you think people wouldn’t buy an expansion?

- Asurans can use Norns as mounts
- Jenna now wears platform shoes and hosts the Queens Disco Jubilee
- Pay 10 gold and the cows dance for you
- New finisher “Flash of White” Colin’s smile blinds you to death
- Once you hit 80 you have to redo the personal story in reverse and can bring Tybalt Leftpaw back to life!

Vayne.8563:

Yep, I agree. And I’m banking that Anet knows more than most forum dwellers, including me. That’s my bet. Because they have access to data we don’t have.

It’s nice to be a back-seat developer and tell people how to run their game, but so far, the stuff they’ve done that the community doesn’t like hasn’t seem to have hurt their bottom line much. So many Anet does know a thing or two.

I’m willing to see if the NPE does retain more players. If it does that’s a plus for me, not a minus. I’m not sure why you think I’d trust Anet’s plan less than some stranger on the forum I don’t know at all.

I’m saying that so far at least, it doesn’t look like Anet is losing the battle to move the game forward. In spite of the forum opinion.

I have no idea where this response fits into what I posted, so forgive me if I misunderstood your intent but what I was referencing was not the NPE (I have already voiced my opinions on this) but rather the lack of a forecast of upcoming content and the harm that it is doing and could continue to do going forward. I am talking specifically about that issue and why it has led to many feeling the game is lackluster at this point.
Before you jump all over my statement of harm it’s doing it is specific to my personal experience with friends and family not the average back-seat developer as you’ve pointed out.

Vayne.8563:

It matters to a lot of people. Because in an MMO you invest more time into it than your average game, and you become vested in it. If it’s not going to be there, you’d have to start over somewhere else, building your fortune, leveling characters.

If I knew an MMO had six months left, I probably wouldn’t start playing it. On the other hand, I would play a driving game that wasn’t going to be around in six months.

This is exactly why you see so many passionate responses to changes people feel hurt the game. I love GW2, and most of all I worry that some of the directions being taken are wrong and are harming the game long term. It is a very tough pill to swallow after investing two years of time and money and then be totally cut off from any meaningful information on what’s coming down the line. You hit the nail on the head with your statement “If I knew an MMO had six months left I probably wouldn’t start playing it” but that thought extends further and for many here would include “If I don’t know what the future of the game holds why should I keep playing and supporting it?”.
This is what is causing so many people angst and why they question the reasons for going on with GW2. Most won’t out of blind faith, especially when several things such as traits and even ascended gear are still sore spots. Giving people a clear forecast of what is coming, even without a ton of specifics (due to development changes) would go a very long way in making them feel secure in a continued investment. The only logical reason for not doing so is that they don’t have what people are expecting at this stage and therefore it would be more detrimental to release that information.

Chris Whiteside.6102:

As has been detailed many times we will not be disclosing work in progress. I don’t know how to make this any clearer. As uncomfortable as this may be this is the reality

To be honest at least in my mind and to most everyone I’ve spoken to herein lies the problem. Trust is earned, you (Anet and or NCSoft not you personally )don’t trust your player base enough to tell them what’s coming down the line, why should they trust the direction you’re taking? I feel bad for everyone who wants to talk about their work and everyone dieing to hear about it and to me this policy is what is hampering all real honest and meaningful communication,and propagating the angry responses you see from many players.

The fact of the matter is the content is not coming at a pace that many people find acceptable. This can be for many different reasons, none of which anyone posting here really knows for certain and Anet isn’t telling anyone so it’s all supposition.
At the end of the day be it priority changes or lack of resources the fact is many aren’t happy with this. This forum represents only small part of the player base bit I can tell you that in my experience reading almost every site I can find on GW2 the opinion is exactly the same, not enough content.

When it’s all said and done only Anet and NCSoft will know what the reasons really were or the losses are I can only speak from experience and say that every person from my former guild, all other friends and family members with the exception of my wife and I are gone. Is it just one type of content , no it’s in all areas of this game based on my feedback, so the bottom line in my mind is pretty obvious, this game lacks in content. If there isn’t anything major in the pipeline and soon it’ll continue losing players because not everyone is happy being kept in the dark and supporting a game without any idea of what they can expect down the road. More and more are going to stop pouring money into a game that cannot clearly and openly define their goals and long term plans trusting that the majority of the player base will accept the occasional falter during development.

I can’t speak for others only myself and those I am close to but they have all told me the same thing and I feel the same way, “there is very little in the current game that keeps me logging in and without any data on what’s coming why should I buy gems and re-invest”. They can’t trust giving their players the information what loyalty does anyone really owe them at this point, and why should I continue to throw money at them…in the hopes that one day they’ll actually use it to make more content that sold me on it in the first place, not going to happen. I’m far more inclined to support a company that is open with their plans.

One final note, I’ve already said and I’m sure many would agree, especially looking at recent feedback and surveys; I would be happy to pour more money into the game with just the announcement and rough time table that an expansion is coming, hell I’d prepay for it now and buy $100 worth of gems just to know for certain it’s on it’s way. Until then I won’t spend anymore money on “Trust me” or “We can’t talk about it right now” etc. Show some confidence in your player base and it’ll go a long way in winning back some trust and support.

Wasn’t there supposed to be a patch today along with some more information on what the bugs were and what did not get transferred and or implemented properly?

Thanks, was not sure if It was a graphic enhancement or a glitch. I hadn’t seen anything in the patch notes so perhaps i missed the details.

Not sure if anyone has asked this, have new graphics been applied to certain items? It seems things like porous bones, fire stones etc. seem to have new more detailed graphics but not 100% sure. Can anyone confirm if this is indeed the case and are there more items with these graphics, thanks.

DeWolfe.2174:

IDK what Server’s and maps you’ve been on, I’ve seen maybe a slight increase in tags. Nothing out of the ordinary really. I know I’ve had a tag for a very long time and never pop it unless it’s to briefly point out something. People need to learn to use them properly rather then have Anet add another control mechanism that can backfire and bug horribly.

If only…people are using them in a lot of cases watching map chat because they know it bugs other people, welcome to online gaming 2014. That being said, it is ridiculously annoying and I would expect any such feature should automatically come with a toggle. If they can find a way to hide all your miniatures they sure as hell can find a way to hide skittle tags ( thanks Mala)!