"Don't Pre-Purchase HoT" ~ $100,000 Loss
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: minbariguy.7504
Well, personally speaking I’ve not said that the price should be reduced or ever thought it would. To my mind, making that $50 minimum stretch out over more (and not even a lot more, 800 gems as suggested) would be the wisest call they could make.
Exactly. I don’t have a problem paying fifty dollars for an expansion. But not to a company that’s too cheap to even throw in a character slot. It’s about the value for the money, not the bottom-line price itself.
People have been swept up in a wave of emotion over very small issues (no extra presents for preordering). It is just a marketting choice (arguably the wrong one) but not worth the bad press for OUR game.
While I do agree that many people are letting their emotions get a bit out of control, I think your point about how small the issues are is actually something that reflects just as poorly on ANet.
ANet could easily have given their existing customers something small (like, oh, I don’t know, a character slot, maybe?) as a gesture of appreciation for their continued patronage over the years, but either the thought never even occurred to them, or they considered it, but decided to prioritize their short-term profit margins instead of customer loyalty (which, in the long run, is usually a bad move).
I actually have no objection to the base game given out as a freebie. That’s cool. I hope the new customers that receive it enjoy the heck out of it. But for pete’s sake, why be so stingy with your established supporters? It just reeks of corporate greed. If they didn’t want the bad press, they should have made different choices.
Character slots are, essentially, free if paying money is that much of an issue for you.
If character slots are essentially free, then…really, would it have killed ANet to have provided one for an expansion pack that people are paying fifty dollars for?
I get where you’re coming from, and since everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I recognize that yours is as valid as mine. That said, though, the decision to set the lowest possible price point for HoT at fifty dollars and not throw in a character slot for veterans while simultaneously throwing in the entire core game for new players makes ANet look as though they take their current customer base for granted.
It certainly affects my opinion of them as a company.
HoT Price Feedback + Base game included [merged]
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: minbariguy.7504
$50 is the upper limit of what I would be willing to pay for a GW2 expansion, so the actual price isn’t my main issue.
I wouldn’t have a problem with a fifty dollar price tag for HoT if it included a character slot to try out the newly-introduced profession. Without one, it’s a no-buy from me. Sorry.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
[SNIP] It’s been roughly eight weeks since I started this thread, so here’s an update.
Bobby,
Once again, I have to express my appreciation for your commitment to communication. As far as I’m concerned, this is perfect:
1. You gave a very loose and tentative time frame
2. When that time frame was nearly expired, you popped back into the thread with an update to let us know that it will be a bit longer yet.
And the best part is that, contrary to the beliefs of some, the world did not end. There was no rioting and looting of the forums. Imagine that.
It’s such a simple thing, but what you’re doing in this thread goes a loooooong way to reestablishing my trust and goodwill in ANet as a company. If the standard of communication in this thread were the norm, I would be a totally happy and loyal ANet customer.
Furthermore, if we had the technology for me to embed delicious pastries into this post for you, I would do so to emphasize how completely stellar you are, and to tempt everyone else at ANet to follow your lead. Perhaps you can pass that idea along and encourage the powers that be to give us a rough idea of when this forum pastry technology can be ready for a beta test?
Thanks ever so much!
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
Except he speaks for quite alot of us really. I dont want mounts either. Can this be merge with the “Mount” thread though?
I do agree with you that “No mounts!” seems to be the majority opinion on these forums.
Personally, I would enjoy them, but not having them is by no means a dealbreaker for me.
Which is probably a good thing, since I don’t see them happening any time soon. :-P
We do not need mounts and we do not want mounts
I think you mean:
“I do not need mounts and I do not want mounts.”
A completely valid position, but you do not speak for everyone.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
Not at ALL hyped.
I want to be, I really do. I wish I could be. But my disillusionment with the corporate machine controlling ANet still leaves a very bad taste in my mouth.
I’ll probably just be hanging on to my money. There has to be another company out there that wants it more.
A carriage that can hold an unlimited number of people? Sounds more like a clown car.
Sorry, couldn’t resist! But it is kind of a fun visual…
[Cue circus music]
Communication is the key to all of this. all of the bitterness I feel could be avoided with better communication.
There are some ANet employees who are really trying to communicate, and they have my appreciation and respect. However, the problem lies much higher up the corporate ladder, with people who have little interaction with the players and thus much less reason to care about how we feel.
The fact is that the communication policy will never change unless those people can be made accountable for their decisions to continuously strangle the flow of information.
Gotta say, “Dragon Hunter” is a pretty boring and uninspired name, especially in a game where practically everyone is hunting dragons. Seems kinda phoned in.
But hey, if they’re that confident that no other name could possibly be better than the one they picked, even considering the high volume of feedback to the contrary, then they must be right. Because, reasons. And metrics. And stuff.
The OPs suggestion is sensible. More options would be better, and a little androgyny never hurt anyone.
And yes, the allocation of resources is a concern, but that is true for any suggestion made, ever. And no matter where you allocate those resources, there will always be someone saying that those resources would be better spent somewhere else.
No one (including the OP) is claiming that this is such a high priority that work on everything else should be dropped, but it’s certainly something that could be considered.
It has been confirmed in this thread that it is coming back.
It has also been confirmed by my weather rock that it is going to rain. That makes it totally reliable, right? I mean, it’ll rain eventually someday, right?
“People will rage” – is there anything you can’t apply that to?
Arenanet had better cancel Heart of Thorns, just in case.
all hell breaks loose.
If only there were some kind of benevolent patrician on the forums who could deal with their concerns..
This. Not to mention my impossible dream of there being some kind of powerful — probably alien — technology they could use to, oh, I don’t know, delete angry posts that cross the line of civility or to otherwise moderate these threads. This power of, shall we say, “moderation” would probably have to be wielded by ancient beings of immense and unfathomable power.
Perhaps we could call them…Moderators?
If only we had that kind of technology. Sigh…
I agree with Dayra in regards to joining a guild. If your main goal is to support others and help people succeed, then you are probably exactly the kind of player most guilds would kill for.
A smart guild will realize that they can teach you anything you don’t already know, but a good attitude and desire to be helpful to others is something that can’t really be taught. That guild will be lucky to have you.
I think it is rather naive to assume that people would be content with a post explaining why SAB was not active.
They would see the post, rage about how that is the worst reason ever and then go back to business as usual in this thread.
Good lord, that excuse is getting old. Change the recording, please.
I don’t see how anyone can even bring up “immersion” as a reason to oppose anything anymore. If you are still able to be “immersed” in a fantasy world with baseball caps, plushy backpacks, and a ridiculous array of comical PvP finishers, you should be able to see a shirtless character without completely losing it.
At this point, I’m not even sure what to say. The blog post linked in the OP is spot-on, true, but ANet’s upper management has demonstrated such an appalling lack of concern that I don’t know if it even matters anymore.
I have such a like/loathe relationship with this company. Although I like most of the aspects of the game, being a GW2 player is such an aggravating experience.
I would like to be able to feel good about being a customer, but when I think about my experiences related to ANet, the first feelings that pop up are not the warm-fuzzy nostalgic ones. My most immediate and visceral reaction to thinking about ANet is one of frustration, of knowing that no matter what is or isn’t changed, I’ll be kept in the dark until the very last possible second. And, following that, if what emerges from their top-secret war room is not in the least bit what I wanted, I know that any follow-up questions will be treated exactly the same way.
It’s exhausting to continuously have to hammer at them for information, watching threads grow and grow, watching what started out as a simple question gradually transform into the forum equivalent of an angry mob brandishing torches and pitchforks as the weeks, months, or even years roll by without even the common courtesy of basic acknowledgement.
It’s frustrating to watch them shadowstep away from certain topics (I’m looking at BOTH of you, “Traits” and “Traits Part 2”).
It’s tiring to watch them use their infinite endurance bar to dodge away from admitting a mistake (I’m looking at you, “Personal Story Restoration update”).
Before the release of GW2, I considered myself a loyal ANet customer. I pre-ordered the game, anxious to get started on my journey. Fast forward to today. You know why I play GW2?
Because my computer can run it. That’s it. Edit to add: and honestly, I’m not even playing it now. Haven’t logged in in quite some time, and have no intention to until I see some kind of change coming from ANet. Not holding my breath, however.
Sooner or later, I’ll get a newer, better, shinier computer and I’ll have my pick of available MMOs on the market. And do you think I’ll stick with a company that I only associate with frustration and negative feelings? Doubtful.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
The Gag Order. “We won’t tell you anything about what’s coming until it’s imminent, because the juvenile among you accuse us of breaking promises when we can’t produce what we discussed.”
Dear God, yes. The “communication” policy. This is exactly the first thing that popped into my mind as well. But hey, as long as they’re really committed to it, I think they should embrace it at ALL levels and see how it feels. I’m imagining a conversation between an imaginary high-ranking executive (Let’s call him, say, Bike O’Mrien) and anyone on the dev team:
Bike: “Hey, I just wanted to check in and see how we’re coming along with [Feature X]. Can you give me an update?”
Dev: (Blank stare, total silence)
Bike: “Sorry, maybe you didn’t hear me? How’s that feature coming along?”
Dev: (Looks away; Even louder silence)
Bike: “I just asked you a question. Twice. What’s with the silent treatment? Have you no respect?”
[This continues a few more times, until Bike is extremely angry and frustrated]
Bike: “ANSWER ME!!!”
Dev (finally): “You should know that I’ve certainly heard every question you have asked, and I really value any input that you might offer, but I’m just really not ready to talk about it yet.”
Bike: “Not ready to…?! What do you mean?! Can’t you just give me an OVERVIEW, for heaven’s sake?”
Dev: “Eehhhhh, not really, because I might change something later, and I really don’t think you’re capable of understanding that a general overview is not a guarantee of my final, completed work.”
Bike (sputtering indignantly): “Are you HIGH? Why WOULDN’T I understand that? I’m not STUPID. Of COURSE I would understand that! Give me some credit, will you?”
Dev (suspiciously): “Nah, I don’t think so , Bike. Nice try, though. Look, thing is, it’ll be ready when it’s ready, and until then I’m afraid I really don’t have any new information I can give you. But if you’d really like to discuss the feature that I may or may not be working on — that may or may not be ready at some point in the future — please feel free to start a post about it on the official forums. I promise I will read every word.”
Bike: (begins to sob uncontrollably)
Dev: “MAN, I love our communication policy!” (whistles happily as he returns to work on [Feature X]. Or maybe he doesn’t. We don’t really know. Shhhh. )
Oh yeah, I’m sure they’d love to be on the receiving end of their own policy. For realsies.
Lovely, another Shakespeare thread. You know, Much ado about nothing.
Are you sure you didn’t mean “The Comedy of Errors”? That’s Shakespeare as well. :-)
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
[SNIP]…the only way I can express my displeasure in a way they will care about is through my wallet. They haven’t gotten any money from me in a good while and won’t for the foreseeable future.
Same here, I’m afraid. I had started to log back in and even purchased gems after they made the personal story replayable, but I’m now back to what is sadly becoming my default stance of not logging in or making purchases of any kind. HoT is also looking like an unlikely purchase at this point, but I suppose that depends on ANet.
I simply refuse to reward corporate behavior like this. It’s not even poor communication they are demonstrating here, it is blatant refusal to communicate at all. This kind of thing sucks all the joy out of playing a game for me. I can’t enjoy a game when I know that the company behind it thinks so little of its players.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
Many thanks to the story line repair!
I still have a question, it has to do with the “why” you mentioned in your introduction: Why did you do the changes last year in the first place? This is something you never explained. I’m just curious, not trolling.
I never understood why you removed content and left the game in a state worse than it was before. Instead of putting the work into enhancing it. And keep it like this for more than half a year. For me, it appeared as a burning and bleeding open wound in the story line. Yes, the Apatia part of the story never was the best content, but it was not so bad that it was worth removing – in my opinion.
This.
Bobby is awesome, no doubt. He’s one of the few people who is willing to step up to the plate and communicate with the players. And it’s not just this post; he has a history of really going out of his way to talk to us on the forums and trying to clarify things as much as possible. So…much love for Bobby.
That said, when this whole thing began, no one from ANet was even willing to answer the question of whether what was going on with the Personal Story was a bug or was intended. The question was ignored and side-stepped just as often as it was asked. No one had the courage to step up and say “Hey, yes, we intentionally made these changes; we were trying to improve the Personal Story by streamlining it, and we really messed things up. We apologize.”
I would respect ANet a whole lot more if they would just start admitting when they make a mistake instead of going all hush-hush and pretending that they didn’t see the question being asked in the forums.
However, not to end this post on a sour note, it really sounds like they’ve been working very diligently on straightening this out. I appreciate the periodic updates along the way, and I’m really happy to hear that the last story step will no longer force you to be in a group if you choose not to. I did not expect that, so it was a pleasant surprise.
So…kudos to you, Bobby and team. I think you’ve done yourself proud this time.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
[…SNIP]
If the answer is, “we are focusing 100% on getting HoT out the door so it won’t happen until after HoT’s release”, then fine. Just say so. Let us, the consumer, make our decisions based upon real honest information and not something cooked up by PR. I promise that level of honesty will work out more for Anet than stringing people along with silence. Silence only makes us shout louder and pick apart every little thing that has ever gotten under our skin. Its actually worse for Anet in the long run to be honest.
I hear ya, Pookie. I find it extremely irritating that the old thread was closed and this new one was opened based on “new information” that really had nothing to do with traits, and even more irritating that it has been in existence for about a month while being quite vigorously avoided by official sources that might be able to provide information on the actual subject this thread was created to discuss.
But I confess, my irritation has very little to do with the actual information that could be imparted and almost everything to do with the complete lack of respect this sort of silence demonstrates.
Yes, I know, it’s their policy not to discuss things in development, blah, blah, blah.
I don’t care why they have this policy. I do care that the underlying message is that they feel we are too simple to understand that information that may be shared is always subject to change. But rather than treat us like intelligent and rational people, they choose to lump all of us into the same category of people who insist they’ve been “promised” something.
They have the tools at their disposal to deal with that particular group of people. They are choosing not to, because it’s easier to treat us as if we’re all unreasonable and unintelligent.
I would really love to be a loyal customer, but they make it extremely difficult.
Now…about that trait revamp. How’s it coming? Is there really no update at all that can be given at this stage?
But thats just the thing.
During release and the time after that they WERE communicating more. And yet there were still just as much people complaining and attacking them on every turn, thus they decreased the communication, in order to avoid having to spend time feeling bad about people attacking them (and yes, many attacks were directed towards specific members of the team).
Eh, I pre-ordered GW2 and was here for the beta weekends, and on launch day. I disagree with the characterization that ANet employees were being “attacked on every turn”.
Quite the opposite, in fact, I recall that the moderation of the forums was quite strict at the time of release. I remember having a post deleted for a one-sentence light-hearted friendly response to someone who had mentioned Doctor Who because it was off-topic. I had another post deleted because I tried to compliment a poster by saying something to the effect of “I want to single you out as being an example of someone who knows how to treat others with respect even while disagreeing with them” (apparently just the use of the phrase “single you out” must have gotten an overzealous moderator worked up).
So if I couldn’t even be nice to people without being moderated, I highly doubt that personal attacks of the sort you are implying were flying around at launch. I certainly don’t recall that.
But even if what you are claiming is completely true, I think the solution that would have had the most positive impact on the community would have been to moderate (or even outright ban) forum members participating in personal attacks. The solution is never to just stop communicating with everyone because some people have upset you. (general you, of course, not you personally) That’s just unprofessional, particularly when you have built-in technologies to handle the situation.
The problem is that it is usually those people that are posting (happy people usually don’t post about being happy after all), and it is those people that are getting heard or seen by the larger internet. Which hurts both the game and ArenaNet as a company.
I guess my point is that there wouldn’t be so many unhappy frustrated people posting on the forums if ANet communicated more clearly. And ANet is completely missing out on a chance for the internet to see them working hard to communicate with their players, which would vastly improve their reputation as a company.
How many unhappy posts are in regards to being upset with being kept in the dark with no communication or information? Now imagine the forums without all those posts because ANet finally decided to communicate.
Now…doesn’t that make the forums a happier place? :-)
And yet it happens every single time. Which is why they no longer give us information like that.
No one gains anything from yet another groundless kittenstorm.
Then those people need to be ignored or moderated depending on the intensity of their response. I am getting really tired of people using the bad behavior of a small group of people to justify keeping the rest of us in the dark.
Thanks. It’s not that bad, just a broken ankle, a few cracked ribs (very painful) and numerous scrapes and bruises. It could’ve been a lot worse. Bike was completely totalled though.
Gah! We have differing opinions on what constitutes “not that bad”, lol! Although I suppose that any accident you live to tell about could always have been worse.
But…your ankle. Ow.
And your ribs. Double Ow.
And your bike. [Sob]
Yes, you definitely can use a GW2 fix to distract you. Really impressed with your positive attitude, though. Take care, man.
Nice job! Congratulations!
I didn’t book time off work specially, but it just so happens that I’m off all this week (thanks to an idiot driver who pulled out on me, knocked me flying and didn’t bother to stop). I was really looking forward to getting some of the previously impossible jumping puzzles and other things made nigh on impossible by the broken camera done to alleviate the boredom of being partially housebound.
Typical, eh?
Ouch. Hope you recover quickly. That’s awful!
Yes, it’s a small detail that I never noticed until now, either. Thanks for pointing it out. That is a nice little touch.
Okay, I don’t normally quote entire posts, but the following post by Guhracie is right on the money. The reasons that have been given by various sources for why ANet can’t/won’t/shouldn’t communicate with us in an effective and timely manner are absolutely feeble. They aren’t even reasons, they are excuses for poor customer relations.
It is way past time that they adequately addressed the traits system. I am an adult. I can grasp the concept that any information given isn’t a “promise” and might change before a feature is released. Anyone who isn’t capable of understanding this does not deserve to be catered to to the point that everyone else is denied communication. Further, it is insulting for ANet to treat me as though I am incapable of understanding this.
People who rage about things that were never really “promised” are easily handled. This is a forum where the exact quote of what was said can be copied and pasted as a response to correct these kinds of people, and if they still rage in the face of actual facts they can and should be moderated appropriately.
If I’m brutal, it’s because it has been almost a year. It’s been two months since the “new new” system was announced, and then we were left to our own devices with no information. This sentiment wasn’t adopted overnight. I’ve made pleas for middle ground, for some way to effectively communicate, and I’ve given loads of constructive feedback. The amount of time I’ve spent considering and wording my feedback is probably something that would be staggering to most people.
If the first thread was problematic, it should have been more heavily moderated. If their intention is to not engage, then they need to stop cycling through to the whole, “We’re sorry we have bad communication, and we’re really truly going to start working on it, and we mean it this time!” that I’ve watched happen here at least twice. Frankly, if their intention is to not engage, they need to examine the importance of having anything except for a support forum.
If forumites are bullies, they [ANET] are the ones with the power to discourage it. They have moderators here who can delete and/or edit posts. That doesn’t make it acceptable to be abusive, but they can eliminate the abuse, to a very large degree. They aren’t helpless victims. That is the wrong picture to be painting.
I wasn’t even being that critical of this thread. I basically made two points:
1) The original dissatisfaction with communication did not come from delays, it came from lack of an update on delays. (I was responding to someone else, not Gaile)
2) While this thread is good (I said that twice), let’s not go overboard. This is a last minute update, with no adjusted time frame, which while better than nothing is hardly spectacular. From a company without a woefully poor communication history, this thread would be pretty much the minimum level of customer service you would expect. I’m grateful for the thread, but I don’t think it counterbalances the larger communication issues we’ve had for the last two years in any way.
FWIW, I didn’t see anything wrong at all with your post in the first place. I only chimed in because it is tiring seeing people constantly trying to make it seem as though feedback about communication is the same thing as complaints about lack of content.
But I’m glad you clarified your position.
[SNIP…]
What would you be doing differently if the patch was coming out today? Does having it today or tomorrow or next week make a hill of beans worth of difference in how you are planning your life and/or game time?
Also, they clearly stated that they need more QA testing on it before it can be released. In other words, something isn’t working quite the way it’s supposed to, and they don’t want to release it without being sure it will work correctly. There are no assumptions there, that is what Gaile said, translated for you.
I don’t think he was complaining about the delay in release. It seemed pretty clear to me that he was unhappy with the communication surrounding the delay. That is an extremely important distinction that I think a lot of people miss.
Although I personally am happy with the level of communication they provided here, his point seems to be that he would have preferred it to come a bit earlier and to have provided a bit more information about when they feel the patch might be released.
While I think you can definitely debate whether the level of communication presented was adequate, I don’t think it’s accurate to respond to his post as though he was complaining about the actual delay itself.
Typical forums.
Players: Anet doesn’t communicate with the people on the forums.
Anet communicating on forums: Sorry but there will be a delay for the next update due to technical reasons.
Players: Why you no update on time! I’m so mad!
LOL. There is some truthiness in your post. However, the amount of players who are “mad” is still not enough in my opinion to justify a policy of not communicating.
However: since 99.9% of my complaints on these forums have to do with what I perceive to be extremely poor communication on the part of ANet, I can’t let this thread go by without acknowledging that they did the right thing here.
Seriously, that was great communication and it made me a very happy player.
Thank you Gaile. Please continue to rock. You always do. :-)
I don’t sympathize with people who simply don’t like them at all. Jumping is an important skill in this game and everyone can learn how to do it.
I have to admit I find this a pretty strange position for someone who, just 5 days ago, posted (in a different thread):
[SNIP]…We don’t have to play the game at all, but we do it because we want to, and we should be able to have fun doing it. If it’s not fun, or worse—if it’s counter productive (since the best way to get it is to not do what you’re supposed to be doing), it should be changed.
Granted, it was a different topic, but I have to wonder why you think something that isn’t fun for you should be changed, but still have no sympathy for people who don’t find jumping to be fun.
So…this club is dedicated to the removal of all JUMPING from GW2?….
Er…where, exactly, did you see that stated in the OP?
As to the topic at hand (which, to my knowledge, has nothing to do with the removal of jumping puzzles), I absolutely loathe them, but I’m happy they are in the game for the people who enjoy them (and I believe there are many).
I’m not thrilled with the idea of gating map completion behind them, but it doesn’t bother me enough to pick up a pitchfork and stir up an angry mob of Tyrians.
The old thread was redundant, non-constructive, and, ultimately, irrelevant, because Colin posted saying that ANet is working on a new Trait system and that some player feedback had been taken into account when developing that system.
I actually agree with (what I feel is) your main sentiment, which is that players should calm down and not go into rage mode. But as to the quoted part above, I think the problem is that there was not yet enough information to justify closing the other thread.
I mean, I understand they don’t want to reveal details yet, but then why start a new thread? I think this is an example of doing the right thing, but at the wrong time.
In any case, although I do feel it was a bit of a misstep, I don’t think it was a huge one. But again, much of the animosity found here (and in the old thread) can be directly traced back to ANet’s inability to manage expectations due to a completely ineffective communication policy.
Also, let me be utterly brutal and realistic for a second: the notion that what I do in the game and the community makes other people feel better is utterly irrelevant.
Utterly irrelevant to you, sure. To many gamers who like to actually make a real connection with the player standing in front of him or her, its very relevant.
My first day in an MMO was in Dark Age of Camelot and I was still trying to figure out what I should be doing in this new word except for dying a lot. One female character approached me and investigated my starter armor and said “Oh dear, that explains all the dirt naps. Here, let me make you something better”.
And while I stood there awdwardly protesting, this woman made me an entirely new set of lowbie armor from helm to toe. I told her I had no money to give her and she just laughed and said that she coud see I had no money because of what I’d already been wearing. As for payment, she told me to learn my own crafting skill and pass it on by making something nice for someone else.
This is just how some people are. They enter a new mmo game world, and they find people in need of help…and then they help them. Why? Because it makes them feel good to be useful, perhaps? Or because it encourages ties and bonds formed between players that like to help others? Who knows. But I think it’s fantastic.
Really enjoyed your post, Jaymee. Though I am not in your situation, I can easily see myself having the exact same perspective if I were in your shoes. Honestly, for someone to tell you that you are “wasting” your time displays an appalling lack of sensitivity, in my opinion.
Though it’s funny, as I type this, I remember a few years ago, in a different game, I was, briefly, in a guild with a guild leader who was disabled and also spent a great deal of time online in-game. At first, it was pretty cool, logging in and knowing she’d be there. But then came the day that she testily informed us that she could see no reason why each of us could not spend 4 hours per day gathering materials to donate to guild upgrades.
Four hours. A day. Doing nothing but running around in-game chopping trees, mining metals, and harvesting plants. After working at least 40 hours a week (and often more), if I had come home and spent four hours gathering materials I would never have had time to actually play the game.
I didn’t share that story because I thought you were in any way similar to her. I don’t get any kind of vibe from your post that you expect everyone else to show the same level of commitment to the game as you do. But it does illustrate that no matter where you fall on the scale of time invested in the game, everyone needs to be aware that we all have the right to choose our own level of commitment to our gaming hobby, and no one should be made to feel bad about that choice.
Thanks for sharing your experiences, Jaymee! :-)
I admit that there are times that I miss playing a dedicated healing class, but I really don’t think the trinity is right for GW2. I mean, the entire game and it’s skill system and balance have been specifically designed around the concept of not needing the trinity. I think to try to shoehorn it in now would have disastrous results.
I like the holy trinity in the games that are made to support it. And when I want to be a healer, I’ll just play one of those games. But I really think GW2 is fine without it.
Revenant Legends - Who would you channel?
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: minbariguy.7504
Tahlkora? so she can watch u degen to death while spamming heals on minions?
BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Now that was funny stuff.
My suggestion would be the greatest legend of them all:
TRAHEARNE!
(ducks and runs from the room)
Remember back in the days when they told us what was PLANNED for 2013?
Remember what happened when some of those things didn’t work out as planned?I think you have the reason for their secrecy there.
What? What happened? Did the sky fall? Did the Earth burst into flames and fall into ruin?
No. Some people just got their knickers in a twist. Big deal And the truth is that ANet didn’t effectively manage expectations when their plans started to change, and that’s on them. What was needed was more communication, but they went radio silent, and by the time they fessed up that things hadn’t panned out the way they planned, it was too late to manage expectations.
Now contrast that ONE incident with how many times people have been upset with them for NOT communicating with us. I would argue that the long-term effects of not communicating effectively are much worse than a single incident that they themselves were partially responsible for.
I think that being terrified to say anything for fear of being held accountable is a pretty cowardly way to do business.
[Edit for clarity] As to HoT specifically, I’m satisfied with what they have revealed so far. I do think they should have mentioned that they were working on an expansion long before now, but I didn’t come away from the PAX announcement feeling like they didn’t reveal enough at this time.
But in general, their communication is abysmal. The Traits thread says hello.
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
Questions about Pricing and Payment [merged]
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: minbariguy.7504
Will the expansion come with a slot ? or do we have to buy an expansion slot ?
I would hope that it would come with at least one character slot, since they are introducing a new profession, the revenant. If a character slot is not included, that would dramatically sour the experience for me.
That said, I’m willing to bet that they’ll include one. Our ANet Overlords don’t seem that cruel. :-P
Hey folks,
Now that the HOT is out of the bag, we’re able to update this thread with more details. With the introduction of the new account based mastery system for end-game progression and growth in PvE, we’ll also be re-evaluating our other systems of character progression to ensure they match our over-all pillars and goals for Gw2.
In doing so: we’re going to be removing the current trait unlocking system currently on live and replacing it with a more simplified system that supports where skills-traits-specializations are going in the future. We’ll go into more details between now and the release of HOT on how skills, traits, and specializations will work in the new Gw2 world.
Thank you for all your passionate feedback on this topic – it not only helped our dev team lead to this decision, but has played a large role in helping us define how to build our exciting new account based mastery system for end-game progression in PvE as well.
The communication is most definitely appreciated.
However, it would have been better if there had been a bit more dialogue before now. I realize that you could not have said anything that even hinted at HoT, and I understand the difficulty that must have put you guys in. But hopefully in the future we can find some middle ground between “Cone of Silence” and “Reveal ALL THE THINGS!!!”
I don’t mean this to be taken harshly, but a relationship with a game community is not something you can just flip on and off like a light bulb.
But again, thank you for the communication.
Questions about Pricing and Payment [merged]
in Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
Posted by: minbariguy.7504
Cherries are account bound, as I had to notice after buying a stack too many. Now my inventory is full of pies.
Okay that just made me LOL for realsies.
I think I’d go up to $40 for an expansion. If it were more than that, there would have to be something extra special revealed in the forthcoming “deep dive” info-dumps to persuade me to buy. Otherwise I’d probably just have to wait until the price dropped.
But hey, that trailer does look good. :-)
It depends. I admit I like what I see so far, but we don’t have a lot of details. I only just started logging in to the game again after they made the Living Story permanent and able to be completed on my own schedule, and I only started actually playing the game again after the recent log-in rewards were implemented.
My loyalty to ArenaNet is tenuous at best. Whether I buy or not will probably hinge heavily on how I feel I am being treated as a customer, specifically in regards to their communication. I realize my stance is probably not the “norm”, but I vote with my wallet even to the point of not spending money on a game that I actually like, if I feel disrespected by a company’s management.
Wow, that came out more negatively than I meant it to. I’m mostly neutral about ANet at the moment (except for Gaile Gray, whom I’ve always had a lot of respect for), and I really want to buy HoT. But hey, they have their policy and I have mine. :-P
[ETA: Actually, I should mention that in addition to Gaile, I have an equal amount of respect for Chris Whiteside and Josh Foreman (does Josh even still work for ANet?)]
(edited by minbariguy.7504)
I don’t really find it a problem for a revenant of one race to be channeling a great hero of another. In “real life” there are lots of historical/spiritual figures from cultures other than my own that I admire, and if I could tap into the source of what made them great…well, I certainly would.
I mean, I get what you’re saying, Lonami, and I’m not being dismissive of your point, but…I actually think it makes revenant characters seem more enlightened and spiritual, in that they recognize strength and greatness no matter where it originates.
(Obviously we’ll have to wait for more information to get a full explanation of how this is all to be implemented).
I don’t have any strong opinions on the actual changes, but I do agree with the OP that the communication was excellent here.
Nice job.
I feel quite confident that they will be adding a dedicated healer profession.
And flying mounts with a 200% speed boost.
[ducking and running]
Remember when Sarah Brightman was revealed to be a Kurzick?
[img]http://i.imgur.com/WaR76IJ.jpg[/img]
LOL, yes I do. But she had permission, unlike these other rapscallions.
Yes, I said rapscallions. :-P