PirateSpice.8735

@"Tuna Bandit.3786" I just wanted to thank you for providing us the perspective of someone with severe visual impairment on this. Up until now, I'd heard some complaints and thought much others in this thread: "It's supposed to be a hindrance to encourage you to want to get rid of it." Never once did it occur to me how it would affect someone with your impairment, so I wanted you to know that I appreciate you broadening my perspective. You obviously feel passionately about this, and some people are interpreting that as "overreacting". Go figure, someone feels strongly about an issue they live with every single day. You are showing far more empathy than many of the people posting here, seeing as you are not asking Anet to get rid of the effect for those that enjoy it, but merely to provide an option to make the game more accessible for everyone. Thank you for being a voice of reason and educating those of us willing to listen about what another person's experience might be like in a situation we take for granted.

I won't flame you, I promise. You have to understand that they're not just "displeased" with templates. They are literally breaking their characters' functionality, especially if they are using Legendaries. So, while you may be satisfied, others are going to have to spend months struggling to make use of the items they already struggled the most to craft in the first place. Plus, if we can actually get them to lower these ridiculous prices, better to stop them from selling more at the current price now that they'd have to refund later. The easiest and most universally beneficial solution is to roll back to how things were before the template system, when things actually worked. Then, when they have a template system that is properly beta tested by players and fully functional (and preferably reasonably priced), then they can roll it out again.

It is so frustrating that Anet thinks this is even coming close to addressing the problems with the template system. Anet, the only reasonable solution right now is to pull the entire system while you rework it. As it exists it is broken. It hurts the game and frustrates players. We realize that the overlords want the money that some people are paying for tabs, but meanwhile you have people actually leaving GW2 over this, and more will be leaving over the next few months while you leave this broken system in place. Remove the templates. Lower the prices. Stop gouging us on every little thing. It's insulting. I'm really trying to hold on to my enjoyment of this game, but the thing that is eroding it more than anything else is the blatant apathy from ArenaNet. I get that a company exists to make money and we are the source of that money. But if you treat us like cattle instead of valued customers, we're going to go find greener pastures.

Sticky this thread again, Anet. It should be obvious that this topic is not over with, and the community is demanding a response from you. The silence is deafening, and as usual, you are eroding trust. Please try to repair community relations. Start with some transparency and actual communication (not a "we have read your comments" dog bone). People will be so much more sympathetic if they feel they are being heard.

I'd be willing to see improved housing monetized, and I'm sure they'd sell decorative items on the gem store as well. But I'd be fairly upset if there were no way to also earn some items for housing in game, much the same way it can be done for guild halls. EDIT: Of course, this is all with the caveat that they sell things at reasonable prices...which ArenaNet has not had a great record of lately.

It's true that some people can be downright vitriolic and that's not very constructive. But the vast majority of what I'm reading hasn't been hateful, just frustrated. Sure, it's easy for the devs to take it personally, but they have to be able to meet the community halfway with a thicker skin if there is to be a better relationship and communication.

As much as I want templates in the game, it seems you blew this one, Anet. I never used ARC, so I can't speak to that, but I've yet to hear from a single ARC user that isn't upset at how poorly these templates perform by comparison. The one thing I can comment on is the price. Way, way too expensive. 500 gems for an Equipment Template slot? Are you out of your minds? If that were account wide, I'd pay upwards of 1,000 per slot. But as it stands, you're asking for 2,000 per character to fill out all six slots. That's ridiculous, and that doesn't even touch on Build Templates.

They most certainly did over-hype it. Both HoT and PoF's announcements received a similar treatment, so why did LS5 which could have been summed up in a short blog post with a trailer? Maybe LS1 got similar treatment, I'm not sure, but certainly the others didn't. We knew what they were going to announce, but the fact they hyped it up the way they did would imply they had something else up their sleeve. People have also been voicing criticism and giving constructive feedback for a long time. I'm sure there must be some toxic posts here and there but I sure have never seen them, so I'm inclined to think the amount of toxicity people claim is a lot lower than they make it out to be. Would this have blown up if they simply just summed up what was coming in a blog post? I highly doubt it. It's the fact of what they did and presented to the community as the "near future" which for all intents and purposes, nearly all people will be done with whatever map is released 2-4 weeks after it's release. As a community, we already know and accept this, there is nothing wrong with it. I'll play the new content, as many others will, but I'll need to be in there the first 2-4 weeks if I hope to complete most of the achievements. What's striking a nerve is there was no road map given to where this game is going because most of us know (though many don't want to seem to accept it), that PvE isn't a sustainable end-game. When a WvW map like Desert Borderlands is generally disliked by the community, but sees more player action than all of the Living story maps released, that's a telling sign about the state of PvE.Really? The HoT and PoF announcements were preceded by advertising saying they would be announcing a first look at a Living World season and handing out some goodies to attendees? Sorry, but no. Just because expansions were announced at live events doesn't mean every live event has to be about the same level of content. This overhyping was community-driven, and now those same community members are overreacting because they didn't get what they imagined ArenaNet had "implied" they would give, despite ArenaNet stating explicitly what they were giving.

If Anet had managed expectations, we wouldn't be discussing so much.Yes we would, because there is always a loud group of people that want to complain no matter what happens. True, they did what they said: they gave a sneak peak of the new season and nothing else.Nothing else? This is demonstrably false. The video speaks for itself. In their mind, it was just a chilled community gathering with long term fans to lighten up a rough year and celebrate the exciting new Saga. It's probably also the conclusion of the marketing campaign that launched in Q1 where they get to showcase the game and its nice community to new and returning player. But the way the announcement was advertised is completely out of proportion with the presentation itself. And to top it all, having the last interview about merchandising, is just handing out the stick to be beaten.How? They advertised it as a live event showing a sneak peak of LW season 5 to kick off PAX, and giving away some goodies to attendees. They did that and more. So, if it was out of proportion, it's because they slightly undersold it. The more hype you build, the more expectation you create. Perception matters more than facts sometimes and this even is really the epitome of this.Plus you know, the internet and all that digital anger...This is the most important thing you said. The community built up so much hype, thereby inflating their own expectations to an impossible standard. This really is all about the Internet and digital anger. Anet loses no matter what they do. They could have announced a new expansion and people would find something to complain about. They're just especially mad because they got all worked up over what they imagined Anet advertised, rather than looking at what was actually advertised.

Of course they hyped it. Nobody is disputing that. But they didn't overhype it. That was the community. They didn't oversell anything. They set expectations with the hype and they met them. You can try to paint it poorly all you like, but you're being disingenuous. No real announcements? That is just flatly untrue. Also, I'm getting really tired of people overstating the time they spent on merch talk. It was not 15 minutes. Go watch the video again. The VP of Marketing was literally on stage for less than 4 minutes. You are letting whatever negative feelings you have about this cloud your perspective of the facts. Go back and take a more objective look at what they did to hype it, what the community did to overhype it, and what Anet actually delivered. It's not the dumpster fire people are making it out to be. Not even close. FALSE. They did overhype this supposed big announcement. The new stuff they announced besides the living world(which we already knew about) did not justify a live event with a countdown. People rightly assumed that something of that magnitude would bring with it an expansion or equivalent content, which it was clearly not! This is why people feel cheated, because ANet failed in communicating this stuff properly. I'm sorry, but living world(again, which we already knew) and strikes and build templates, while good things, are not expansion-level content that justifies a gathering such as this. That people continue to defend this fiasco is just downright mind-boggling. They told us in plain language that the event is a first look at Living World Season 5. That was the very first piece of information we got about it. The live event was just because they were already at PAX. That isn't hard to understand. The community started the hype train long before the countdown, so you don't get to use that as an excuse. Sorry, but Anet isn't responsible for people letting their expectations run wild when Anet stated clearly what should be expected. What is mind-boggling is how people are throwing such a fit because Anet "dared" to have a live event when it was really quite convenient and easy for them to do so. All so they could show off something they're proud of, do something nice for the fans, and yes, try to hype the game and get some publicity. You know, to promote new players, which is good for everyone. I agree in general, but it is sort off disingenuous to say having a live event shouldn't change you perspective. The worst thing to me is that if this was just a blog post the general reaction would have been overwhelmingly positive :(It's not disingenuous when they've stated clearly what the event is about. And even if we accept the notion that the live event should change perspective...does that in any way justify the harsh criticisms? It's one thing to say, "I'd hoped they were going to have a bigger announcement." It's another entirely to rake Anet over the coals for not meeting expectations that they never set. I get that people are frustrated with Anet for poor communication in the past. So am I. It's an ongoing problem, and I know many of the complaints are legitimate (not about this event, but the tensions have been boiling). But for the community to blow up over this particular event only makes them seem entitled, and that doesn't help the legitimate concerns to be taken seriously.

Of course they hyped it. Nobody is disputing that. But they didn't overhype it. That was the community. They didn't oversell anything. They set expectations with the hype and they met them. You can try to paint it poorly all you like, but you're being disingenuous. No real announcements? That is just flatly untrue. Also, I'm getting really tired of people overstating the time they spent on merch talk. It was not 15 minutes. Go watch the video again. The VP of Marketing was literally on stage for less than 4 minutes. You are letting whatever negative feelings you have about this cloud your perspective of the facts. Go back and take a more objective look at what they did to hype it, what the community did to overhype it, and what Anet actually delivered. It's not the dumpster fire people are making it out to be. Not even close. FALSE. They did overhype this supposed big announcement. The new stuff they announced besides the living world(which we already knew about) did not justify a live event with a countdown. People rightly assumed that something of that magnitude would bring with it an expansion or equivalent content, which it was clearly not! This is why people feel cheated, because ANet failed in communicating this stuff properly. I'm sorry, but living world(again, which we already knew) and strikes and build templates, while good things, are not expansion-level content that justifies a gathering such as this. That people continue to defend this fiasco is just downright mind-boggling.They told us in plain language that the event is a first look at Living World Season 5. That was the very first piece of information we got about it. The live event was just because they were already at PAX. That isn't hard to understand. The community started the hype train long before the countdown, so you don't get to use that as an excuse. Sorry, but Anet isn't responsible for people letting their expectations run wild when Anet stated clearly what should be expected. What is mind-boggling is how people are throwing such a fit because Anet "dared" to have a live event when it was really quite convenient and easy for them to do so. All so they could show off something they're proud of, do something nice for the fans, and yes, try to hype the game and get some publicity. You know, to promote new players, which is good for everyone.

Of course they hyped it. Nobody is disputing that. But they didn't overhype it. That was the community. They didn't oversell anything. They set expectations with the hype and they met them. You can try to paint it poorly all you like, but you're being disingenuous. No real announcements? That is just flatly untrue. Also, I'm getting really tired of people overstating the time they spent on merch talk. It was not 15 minutes. Go watch the video again. The VP of Marketing was literally on stage for less than 4 minutes. You are letting whatever negative feelings you have about this cloud your perspective of the facts. Go back and take a more objective look at what they did to hype it, what the community did to overhype it, and what Anet actually delivered. It's not the dumpster fire people are making it out to be. Not even close.

Just...please no. I don't really care about the whole "schoolgirl" thing. It's just that it doesn't fit the setting. I'm so tired of seeing things like t-shirts and baseball caps in Tyria. This would be the same sort of immersion break.

Jackal, hands down. It's just got so much style, I feel like a bad ass when hunched over at a full run on its back, and teleportation, baby!

All I keep hearing is that Anet created "so much hype". Did they really? Sure, they got us excited about an announcement, but they told us right from the start what that announcement was about: Living World. They managed our expectations from Day One. Then, everything that came after hinted at the content being about the Shiverpeaks/norn/Jormag. Expectations managed. "But they rented a theater!" So? They were already in Seattle for PAX. Renting that theater allowed them to put on a free event for fans in the area that didn't require them to be PAX attendees (which is not free). As mentioned in earlier posts, it also served to promote the game as a whole, both to new players and to show that it is alive and well after the layoffs, particularly in competition with WoW Classic. So, where is all this overhyping that ArenaNet did? Elite Specializations, expansion, new race, WvW restructuring, etc., etc. ...I've heard it all, and all of it came from the community, not ArenaNet. Could ArenaNet have given us more? Sure. I'd have liked that, too. But where they gave us a lot was in the realm of story, which is exactly what they promised. They didn't fail to communicate anything. The community failed to listen to what they were told.

Yes! Preferably one that splits in the middle!

Yes! This! Please! It would be especially useful for swapping outfits and mount skins without needing to manually retool the dyes to avoid the new skin looking goofy.

I'd like to see the Aetherblade armor skins come back. As for new items, I'd like to see a plant/sylvari themed mount pack. The jackal is already ideal for a fern hound style mount. That aesthetic for all mounts would be amazing. I imagine a roller beetle that's a big seed with vines sprouting out of it (this amuses me greatly).

I started out in agreement that one hour was way too long, but after reading through this thread, I've been convinced otherwise.

I don't know of it's related, but I've also noticed that now back items cannot be brought back into view when sitting in chairs. They would always vanished when sitting (or doing any emote, really). But you could bring them back by clicking the item's visibility off and then on again. But that no longer works. Why, Anet, whyyy? For that matter, why does the back item vanish during emotes in the first place?