"We are planning to release raids with more regularity this season." - ANet Jason

A statement done more than 1 and a half year ago, the first day Daybreak came out, November 28, 2017. claiming that raids are planned to come with more regularity this season. Now, as the season recently ended we can see ANet's plans change the same pace as direction of the wind. The guy who made that statement has left the raids teams and joined Living World team.

Now there was another statement made more recently about raids and fractals playing hot potato: one lw episode new fractal, one lw episode new raid.So, ArenaNet, is this still true?

Everything changed with the dev post following the recent layoffs - affecting pretty much every part of the game.

In all likelihood, they are reassessing their priorities for the game and will need to focus the lion's share of the resources on those areas the larger groups participate in - namely open world pve and WvW. Those are the areas that set the GW2 brand apart from other MMOs. GW2 raids will never be able to compete with MMOs who focus end game there. The devs are better off putting more and more energy into what makes the game unique - establishing a niche in the market that doesn't really include a heavy raid focus.

I know it isn't what people in this subforum want to hear, but I would expect raid development to (justifiably) slow considerably given what has taken place the past six to eight months.

anet was also planning to release HoT with a full set of new legendaries.

ppl got to understand that when anet says they're planning something it means they want to do it not will do it

And the most recent statement about this was that they were not necessarily going to pair up a raid or fractal release with the LS patch itself, like we get this time around. That potentially means less time between a release if they get it done but have to wait for an episode patch to drop it.

Its huge problem. Because it shows people that they just can't trust ArenaNet :/ And shows them as unstable company.

When people want to spend their valuable time on something. Especially when it comes to hardcore content like raids or pvp.Then they just need to be sure that their time wont be wasted. And company wont change their mind suddenly.

While ArenaNet seems to change their mind very often.Its not just about raids. But pvp too. E.g. one day people were able to play 5v5 games. As teams. They spend alot of their time to improve their skills etc, etc. In season 1,2,3 and 4 as I remember. And then suddenly 5v5 games were removed from the game. For a long time. Just like that. Same with raids. It was releasing once per 3/4 months. Groups were able to progress it, etc, etc. And then bang! 1 raid (with 3/4 bosses) per year <.<

Define “regularity”. Like with how often we get new fractals?

@"Nafets.1238" said:A statement done more than 1 and a half year ago, the first day Daybreak came out, November 28, 2017. claiming that raids are planned to come with more regularity this season. Now, as the season recently ended we can see ANet's plans change the same pace as direction of the wind. The guy who made that statement has left the raids teams and joined Living World team.

Now there was another statement made more recently about raids and fractals playing hot potato: one lw episode new fractal, one lw episode new raid.So, ArenaNet, is this still true?

Heart of Thorns was released October 23, 2015We got 3 Raid wings in-between the release and the start of Season 3, this period lasted from November 2015, up to June 2016 or 3 Wings in 8 monthsSeason 3 started on July 26, 2016 and ended on July 25, 2017We got a single Raid wing in that time, or 1 Raid wing in 12 monthsCombined, the total is 4 Raid wings in 20 months, from November 2015 up to July 2017

Path of Fire was released September 22, 2017Season 4 started on November 28, 2017 (unless you count the Halloween repeat event)Until the end of Season 4 we got 2 Raid Wings, or better 3 including the upcoming one which is still part of Season 4That's 3 Raid Wings in one Season, or 3 Raid Wings in 20 Months (November 2017 - June 2019)

In the Heart of Thorns era we got a burst of many wings quickly, then very little wings afterwards (3 wings in 8 months, then 1 wing in 12)In the Path of Fire era the raid releases are more regular (compared to season 3) but less regular as in the time before it. Maybe instead of regularly they should've used the word consistently.

Worth noting that Season 3 had 6 episodes and it lasted 12 months while Season 4 also had 6 episodes but it lasted 20 months, which means ALL releases for the game slowed down after Path of Fire, so that 3 Raid wings compared to 4 Raid wings isn't really a bad metric, given how their entire development process slowed down considerably.

It's still hilarious that the complete reverse happened: they have released the least in this period: 1 raid wing within more than 1,5 years. Absolutely hilarious :joy: And this has nothing to do with layoffs. This was looong before.

@Ayrilana.1396 said:Define “regularity”. Like with how often we get new fractals?

It's interesting to note that we got the same amount of Fractals after the two expansions.In 20 months after the release of Heart of Thorns we got 3 new FractalsIn 20 months after the release of Path of Fire we got 3 new FractalsNow 2 of the Fractals we got with Heart of Thorns had a CM mode, which means we got more Fractals during that period, but who knows now that Raids/Fractals won't have to wait for delayed episodes, we might get more of them.

w1 >> w2 = 112 daysw2 >> w3 = 98 daysw3 >> w4 = 239 daysw4 >> w5 = 293 daysw5 >> w6 = 294 daysw6 >> w7 = 276 daysw7 >> w8 = 280 days (March 17th 2020)Layoffs btw :joy:

My expectation is that future wings are going to be released every 9-10 months. Why? Because that's been consistent for the last six wings.

I've never had much interest in what ANet says they would like to do; I'm always more keen to hear what they are actually doing. And so far, I've yet to see anyone say, "we have drastically changed the manner in which we plan, test, and deliver raid (and fractal) instances and therefore we'll be launching them more often, starting with..." In the unlikely event that happens, I'll be happy to remind ANet of that.

In the meantime, I don't plan to worry about it until April 2020.

its good that they slow it down. cos they need to cater for the greater community, and that is where players who spend real money from.

@Talindra.4958 said:its good that they slow it down. cos they need to cater for the greater community, and that is where players who spend real money from.

Seeing that you've already commented on all recent raid-related posts that you basically want them deleted from the game, please feel free to make its own post instead of going off-topic in other threads including all this data you have to make such claims.

I commented few as I read through. admin feel free to remove if it is out of topic my apology. no intention to cause upset of any individual

Hopefully this new raid wing does so bad it makes them move the raid team to dungeons or some form of new content that more than 0.01% of the player base plays.

more than 0.01% of the player base plays.Done... by leaving the raid team in place

According to GW2 Efficiency:

• Wing 1: 20% of those allowing data collection have credit for defeating Sabetha
• Wing 2: 16% have killed Matthias
• Wing 3: 14% have killed Xera
• Wing 4: 14% have killed Deimos
• Wing 5: 7% have defeated the voice in the void
• Wing 6: 5% have defeated Qadim

edit: thanks to @maddoctor.2738 for pointing out I had posted stats on the wrong Wing 1 boss, and to @Linken.6345 for reminding me that Samarog is no demon

@Shiyo.3578 said:Hopefully this new raid wing does so bad it makes them move the raid team to dungeons or some form of new content that more than 0.01% of the player base plays.

I'd like to see where you get your data.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:For what it's worth, according to GW2 Efficiency:

• Wing 1: 30% of those allowing data collection have credit for defeating Vale Guardian
• Wing 2: 16% have killed Matthias
• Wing 3: 14% have killed Xera
• Wing 4: 21% have killed Samarog
• Wing 5: 7% have defeated the voice in the void
• Wing 6: 5% have defeated Qadim

You posted Vale Guardian kill ratio and not Sabetha for Wing 1!Why not post all starting boss kill stats as well as the last boss stats? I'm too lazy to do it myself.

@maddoctor.2738 said:You posted Vale Guardian kill ratio and not Sabetha for Wing 1!Why not post all starting boss kill stats as well as the last boss stats?

Oh whoops. I'll fix that. I've fixed it. Thanks for pointing the inconsistency.First boss? It's not really on the topic of raid participation.

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@maddoctor.2738 said:You posted Vale Guardian kill ratio and not Sabetha for Wing 1!Why not post all starting boss kill stats as well as the last boss stats?

If your doing end bosses shouldent you post Deimos for wing 4 instead of samarog

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:My expectation is that future wings are going to be released every 9-10 months. Why? Because that's been consistent for the last six wings.

I've never had much interest in what ANet says they would like to do; I'm always more keen to hear what they are actually doing. And so far, I've yet to see anyone say, "we have drastically changed the manner in which we plan, test, and deliver raid (and fractal) instances and therefore we'll be launching them more often, starting with..." In the unlikely event that happens, I'll be happy to remind ANet of that.

In the meantime, I don't plan to worry about it until April 2020.

What? you're using data to come to a sound conclusion? how dare you in a complaint thread.

Sarcasm aside, people would be saving themselves lots of trouble if they took the time to look at and attempt to understand the trends of the game and the development cycles. No sense in complaining about it; it won't make it come any faster.

@Linken.6345 said:

@Illconceived Was Na.9781 said:

@maddoctor.2738 said:You posted Vale Guardian kill ratio and not Sabetha for Wing 1!Why not post all starting boss kill stats as well as the last boss stats?

Of course I should. I was just... um, testing you. (not the forum readers, just @Linken.6345)sighFixed it; thanks for letting me know. :)

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

more than 0.01% of the player base plays.Done... by leaving the raid team in place

• Wing 1:
  20% of those allowing data collection have credit for defeating Sabetha
• Wing 2:
  16% have killed Matthias
• Wing 3:
  14% have killed Xera
• Wing 4:
  14% have killed Deimos
• Wing 5:
  7% have defeated the voice in the void
• Wing 6:
  5% have defeated Qadim

And then you need to put the efficiency numbers into perspective. 5.1% have defeated Qadim, but it's also just 31% who have finished LS4E5 (not 6, that's even less). Efficiency contains a massive amount of "dead" accounts that haven't been played for a while. While it may be biased towards more hardcore players and thus over-represent raiders by a bit, it's probably safe to assume that about 10-15% of the population play the current raids. That's a niche, but niches are needed to retain players in any MMO. I'd expect raid development to more or less keep the pace it has had since W4 - the niche size probably doesn't justify a substantial acceleration, but it would also be foolish to send off 5-10% of one's player base by killing their niche.

@CptAurellian.9537 said:And then you need to put the efficiency numbers into perspective.

Perspective is probably more important than the data itself.Mythright Gambit was released with A Star to Guide Us

Raid first boss: 8.5%, last boss: 5%Story first instance: 40%, last instance 35%

The requiem collection was finished by 2.5%, half than the number of players that killed the last boss of wing 6.Mastery of the episode was achieved by 6.5%, more people killed the first raid boss of wing 6 than finished the meta achievement of episode 4

Raids are niche content, but so are those meta achievements and collection achievements.

@"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

more than 0.01% of the player base plays.Done... by leaving the raid team in place

• Wing 1:
  20% of those allowing data collection have credit for defeating Sabetha
• Wing 2:
  16% have killed Matthias
• Wing 3:
  14% have killed Xera
• Wing 4:
  14% have killed Deimos
• Wing 5:
  7% have defeated the voice in the void
• Wing 6:
  5% have defeated Qadim

That shows there's been a steady decline of those who manage to complete the content .. likely that shows a decline in the numbers playing it.