Expectations and Reality

I think many GW 2 players have learned by now just how much to raise their expecations for LW content. After that jaw-dropping LW 5 reveal event (and by "jaw-dropping" I don't mean in an amazed/exciting way), I think we are a little less naive to hold to certain expectations.

These are some of the expectations players often have for new GW 2 content that they should, unfortunately, keep in control until we actually see different from LW content.

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Expectations:

1. LW 5 update will come around midday and I'll stay home from work, school, whatever to enjoy it!

Reality - The update has a decent chance of coming way past their intended release time and may not even be live at all tomorrow, making your special day-off a potential waste.

2. I can't wait to jump into the new content as soon as it's live!

Reality - There is a very high chance the new content will be loaded with bugs and significant issues that prevent progression of the new content and possibly prevent us from playing it at all. It's best to wait a few hours or even a day after it's released if you want to play without interruption.

3. The new episode will keep me busy for hours and days! It will hold me over until the next one!

Reality - The new episode is not only a LW episode which have always been paper-thin on content, but is called a "prologue" meaning we aren't even in the first chapter yet. What you can expect is for that first chapter to come in 3-4 months if not longer.

4. We're finally going on a new adventure! I can't wait to see a whole new storyline!

Reality - This is a prologue, which likely means it's more of an introduction than a full episode. Doing a prologue as a new episode likely means it's a way to stretch time until a full first chapter begins. We may get something new but it's unlikely it will be anything really significant and certainly not game-changing. Just setting up a new direction, setting, characters, plot, ect.

5. We might get new features like new elite specs and new masteries.

Reality - New elite specs and anything that significant would not likely come in LW or this early in LW. We will be getting new masteries, but from what we've seen it will be hard to measure up to masteries as cool as mounts and we can only hope they aren't as zone-specific as the HoT masteries.

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Keep those expectations realistic and rational. We all know LW and its track record.

they already said they haven't been working on elite specs for now. I'll try my luck tomorrow, luckily i work from home ;D

"Reality - The new episode is not only a LW episode which have always been paper-thin on content, but is called a "prologue" meaning we aren't even in the first chapter yet. What you can expect is for that first chapter to come in 3-4 months if not longer."

Well not really, because from what I know, Episode 1 is coming in November, so it's not 3-4 months of waiting.

Please delete, accidentally I made double post.

@"cNd.1096" said:"Reality - The new episode is not only a LW episode which have always been paper-thin on content, but is called a "prologue" meaning we aren't even in the first chapter yet. What you can expect is for that first chapter to come in 3-4 months if not longer."

Well not really, because from what I know, Episode 1 is coming in November, so it's not 3-4 months of waiting.

A release date for episode 1 has still yet to be confirmed. The only person to suggest a November release date was the person who sat down with Mike Z for the most recent interview.

When has an LS release ever not met their timeline? They all release at the same time. 6/7 PM my time is patch time, 0 exceptions. Your first point is completely null.

Speak for yourself. My reality -- Anet said they will start a new living world season. When I log on I check if is live; if not, go back to what I was doing, which most likely is logging onto wvw for "little while" and end up staying too long just because. Beyond that I build no expectations. I like to take things as they come. My only disappointment usually comes from achievements I can't complete myself cause I can't get a group to help me do them.

@Blocki.4931 said:When has an LS release ever not met their timeline? They all release at the same time. 6/7 PM my time is patch time, 0 exceptions. Your first point is completely null.

I think there was one episode which was delayed by a few hours, although I couldn't tell you which one. I remember getting home and being surprised the game wasn't updating, then getting on the forum and seeing loads of talk about the updating being delayed. But that was just once, normally they come out between 9am and 10am Anet's time.

When was the last time that a content patch given a definite launch date didnt make that date?

Why even make this thread?

@Danikat.8537 said:

@Blocki.4931 said:When has an LS release ever not met their timeline? They all release at the same time. 6/7 PM my time is patch time, 0 exceptions. Your first point is completely null.

One was delayed but it was because of really bad snowy weather. People joked that it was Jormag doing it.

Don't call your expectations "reality".

It's all well and good to lower expectations if you want to. It is healthy to make sure ones expectations do not start getting too hyped up, and lower expectations can mean happy surprises. But don't go around parading your pessimism as reality for something that hasn't even happened yet.

Interesting using the word reality . The irony is that your analysis is trying to make a personal subjective reality the norm for everyone.

My personal experience with patch day content releases has been reasonably satisfying. The occasional bug, few connection issues, pretty good track record since beta from my perspective.

LW eps + maps, gives me not only hours, but weeks of content.

And I'm still playing catch up.

@"WhatLiesBeneath.9018" said:Why even make this thread?

They think they are "helping".

@"cNd.1096" said:"Reality - The new episode is not only a LW episode which have always been paper-thin on content, but is called a "prologue" meaning we aren't even in the first chapter yet. What you can expect is for that first chapter to come in 3-4 months if not longer."

Well not really, because from what I know, Episode 1 is coming in November, so it's not 3-4 months of waiting.

What you know? Lol. Another example of a player putting expectations above reality. And even worse, assumption before expectation.

@Blocki.4931 said:When has an LS release ever not met their timeline? They all release at the same time. 6/7 PM my time is patch time, 0 exceptions. Your first point is completely null.

This is incorrect. Clearly you weren't around during the launch of LW 4 Ep 2 and 3.

Its another living world. People should know what to expect by now, not much will be new.

@Danikat.8537 said:

@"Blocki.4931" said:When has an LS release ever not met their timeline? They all release at the same time. 6/7 PM my time is patch time, 0 exceptions. Your first point is completely null.

This is incorrect. There were two episodes this season with major delays. Neither was delayed by "a few hours". A Bug in the System became a running joke with that title because of how long it was delayed with bugs. Their usual release time is noon on tuesday. It was finally available 6 hrs later near the end of the day. We thought that was bad, then came episode 3.

@Jayden Reese.9542 said:It's been noon est time except one time it was a bit more then an hour late. And as with most of your expectation vs reality I have experienced the opposite. The patch is on time. I get a couple weeks of playtime on the new map never expect it to hold me over till next one. Do I think this could be less content as a prologue maybe but I still expect to be occupied for a week by it at least.

This is incorrect. As far as what you experienced, that doesn't change actual occurrences.

@Ashen.2907 said:When was the last time that a content patch given a definite launch date didnt make that date?

This thread doesn't mention anything about them missing dates in the past. It points out the issue with certain expectations, including the possibility of missing announced dates in the future. They are very careful not to announce a release date they won't make, but that didn't stop them from releasing content that was unplayable. Releasing an episode in the evening on the day it was announced to be released is slick, brave, and completely disappointing. Releasing follow up content that can't even be played? Just ridiculous.

@"Brother.1504" said:Interesting using the word reality . The irony is that your analysis is trying to make a personal subjective reality the norm for everyone.

My personal experience with patch day content releases has been reasonably satisfying. The occasional bug, few connection issues, pretty good track record since beta from my perspective.

This is incorrect. This is the reality of the LW content. Claiming there is only the "occasional bug", a "few connection issues", and that they've had a "pretty good track record since beta" completely ruins everything about your "perspective" and credibility overall.

@ScyeRynn.4218 said:

Reality - The update has a decent chance of coming way past their intended release time and may not even be live at all tomorrow, making your special day off a potential waste.

@ScyeRynn.4218 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:When was the last time that a content patch given a definite launch date didnt make that date?

Really.

The very first point was about missing scheduled release time and/or date. Establishing that as the reality rather than a timely arrival as the expectation can only be determined or predicted based on past behavior.

@Ashen.2907 said:

@ScyeRynn.4218 said:

Reality -

The update has a decent chance of coming way past their intended release time and may not even be live at all tomorrow, making your special day off a potential waste.

@ScyeRynn.4218 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:When was the last time that a content patch given a definite launch date didnt make that date?

Yup. Their past releases have been late. The possibility of them missing an announced date will be their next achievement. Not looking forward to adding it to the list of failures.

A pretty fair thread to make. The company is not very good at timing and hype, and it often leads people to believe there will be something more or different than what they actually end up receiving. Companies make mistakes, that's fine. The trouble with this is that they haven't learned from past hype fails.

I'm all right with more LW and we don't need to pretend that the formatting is something brand new or that "saga" was anything more than a slip of the tongue. We didn't need a theater announcement that told us things we already knew that were then summed up better in a short website post. I'm fine with what we're given, but I'd be way more fine with it if it wasn't always preempted by deceptive marketing buzzwords and hype that doesn't match the product.

So yes, my expectations have become low. I've been told to get hyped for no reason too many times to bother now. I wait a day or two after each release for bugs to be smoothed out, then I go and see whatever got added, sometimes with pleasant surprise.

If you want my honest hype, be honest about what you've got coming. A dull truth is better than a shiny lie.