Perhaps this new model is not ideal?

[Vayne.8563]

23 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Problem is, we keep hearing "wait and see" since after LS4 when we learned that an expansion got cancelled. That has been several years, one whole LS season and expansion, and a year after that, and we're still in the "wait and see" stage. Because, surely, a change for the better is just behind a corner and a game will surely move into a new direction that will make it more sustainable and able to offer us all what we want. We haven't seen evidence of that yet, but it doesn't mean it's not happening. I mean, lack of evidence is surely a good thing, right?

Unfortunately, years playing this game wore out my optimism a bit thin, so i'd prefer to actually see some evidence this time.

So, i wil leave the optimistic approach to the future Star Citizen players, and in the meantime will base my judgements on things that i can see. And not on things that may (or may not) exist somewhere in the future, if we're lucky.

 

Well, I liked the beginning if the Icebrood Saga quite a lot (everything up until Champions).  And I really enjoyed both the story and the zones of EoD.

You may have been waiting to see since Season 4, I'm waiting to see since EoD, which is a much shorter time and since I'm happy Season 1 returned and because I'm happy they're finally doing something about the trading post and I like some of the other things they've patched in the interim, I haven't really been waiting to see that much at all.

People who think that Grothmar, Bjora, and Drizzlewood weren't popular or successful are probably not a majority of the playerbase.

 

I also don't mind the strikes that have come out, though I haven't done any of the challenge modes yet. I probably should at some point.

 

And while people really don't like the Nightmare Tower, I sort of do. No idea why. Might just be nostalgia.

 

At any rate, you may be waiting since Season 4, but I'm willing to bet most people aren't. Most people waiting that long would have left, and undoubtedly some of them did. But I'm of the opinion that plenty of people liked EoD.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Vayne.8563
missed word

[Aridonas.7615]

On 3/4/2023 at 5:47 AM, vares.8457 said:

https://www.arena.net/en/careers

 

Praise Joko... please do not do this to the Guild Wars franchise again.

[Randulf.7614]

There is no timetable. Speculation is 2-3 months based on some vague info and someone extrapolating 10 weeks based on a 10 part achievement (I don’t know which or how accurate)

Anyway, doubt it will be until after SaB. Possibly after Dragon Bash too

[Woof.8246]

If it doesn't work we can always go back the old formula

[Swagger.1459]

On 3/4/2023 at 6:35 AM, Ashantara.8731 said:

Wouldn't it be better if ANet focused only on expansions story-wise and stopped releasing rushed tiny story pieces in between? They could instead focus only on Strikes and Fractals as filler content, maybe?

I see threads asking whether we needed more story. Well, yeah, it is the heart of every RPG. But it's worthless if it's being delivered in such a frustrating manner like the current chapter was.

Thoughts?

No. Quarterly content updates are better than dry spells in-between yearly xpacs. This update was a "tiny story piece", the rest (according to the blog), will be more than a "tiny story piece". 

 

"The first release in an expansion cycle is the launch point for a new story arc, bringing with it two new open-world maps, two Strike Missions, new gameplay and combat features, new Masteries, and new rewards. In the following quarterly updates, we’ll add another open-world map, additional story chapters, challenge modes for the Strike Missions, a new fractal dungeon and challenge mode, new rewards, and additions to the new systems introduced in that expansion. Once that expansion’s story is complete, the next expansion will be just around the corner." 

Edited March 6, 2023 by Swagger.1459

[Sobx.1758]

7 minutes ago, Swagger.1459 said:

No. Quarterly content updates are better than dry spells in-between yearly xpacs. This update was a "tiny story piece", the rest (according to the blog), will be more than a "tiny story piece". 

Kind of depends on what content they'll provide, but overally agreed.

[Zok.4956]

12 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

t's about the assumptions being made, because this isn't a TV series. 

Didn't you started the comparison with a tv series a few posts ago? 😉

 

12 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

The fact is, we don't know what's being worked on in the background.

Yes, I can agree to that. We do not know whats beeing worked on in the background. We don't even know how much is worked on other projects not related to GW2.

When the massive layoffs happened a few years ago (between a third and nearly half of  the employees were fired) it was communicated that GW2 was not affected because those all worked on other, unanounced projects. And the work for the announced WVW-Alliances was silently stopped for years without communicating this to the players (yes, it's now been slowly worked on again...). Anet does have a history of not telling the "full truth".

Because of this we can only judge by the results they deliver. And we can only compare what they deliver to what they announced.

If you think it is still too early to judge because you hope it will become better ... that's OK.  But it is also OK if other people judge now based on what we already got.

 

[ProtoGunner.4953]

kitten, why change their 'strategy' ever kitten 1-2 years. It's unbelievable. There are so many unfinished or never touched again assets in this game, it's unbelievable. And still they think they 'know' it and again after a year or so they think they have to change it. Where is a new fractal, a dungeon, a new raid wing? WvW updates? Guild halls/missions? PvP updates?

[stormemperor.3745]

On 3/4/2023 at 2:35 PM, Ashantara.8731 said:

Wouldn't it be better if ANet focused only on expansions story-wise and stopped releasing rushed tiny story pieces in between? They could instead focus only on Strikes and Fractals as filler content, maybe?

I see threads asking whether we needed more story. Well, yeah, it is the heart of every RPG. But it's worthless if it's being delivered in such a frustrating manner like the current chapter was.

Thoughts?

I only care about new armor and weapon skins anyway. Whichever brings me fastest is best content. Also 4th elite spec, something good for necrom, duck harbinger

[Gibson.4036]

12 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

It's not misleading.  The end of dragons was the end of a ten year story arc, which makes this the beginning of a new story arc.  Star Trek has series that take place at the same time in the same universe, or around the same time. The two series both have beginnings.

It's not the beginning in that it's the start of the game or the commanders story. But it's the beginning of a new phase of the story. We've had 10 years of build.  Perhaps this new beginning should have been stronger, but it's not misleading to call it a beginning.

Definitely a beginning, but not the beginning, if that distinction makes sense. It can’t even be compared to two tv series in the same IP. A new series in the same universe has a whole new production company, with a whole new vision, whole new cast of characters and actors.

At best, we’re looking at the next season in a long running series, in which the team has expressed interest in taking the story in new directions, and changing the delivery format a bit.

As much as anyone might like a completely fresh start, this isn’t that.

 

[Izzy.2951]

This new update is really dissapointing, and the neglect on raids or re-playable content is too. I think they are just not putting barely resources into the game and its rather going to the new project, as contradictory as it sounds. (from what they have said about going hard on gw2 development again)

Edited March 6, 2023 by Izzy.2951

[Gibson.4036]

12 hours ago, Woof.8246 said:

If it doesn't work we can always go back the old formula

Or iterate more, iterate harder.

It’s a very large table. 😄

Edited March 6, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[Vayne.8563]

1 hour ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Definitely a beginning, but not the beginning, if that distinction makes sense. It can’t even be compared to two tv series in the same IP. A new series in the same universe has a whole new production company, with a whole new vision, whole new cast of characters and actors.

At best, we’re looking at the next season in a long running series, in which the team has expressed interest in taking the story in new directions, and changing the delivery format a bit.

As much as anyone might like a completely fresh start, this isn’t that.

 

Nah, it's not true.  This was a ten year story arc. It would like a continuation of Lord of the Rings after the ring was destroyed. It's unlikely that this moment wasn't even conceived when the game was launched. I think you're actually missing my point entirely though.

 

A new season doesn't have to start with a bang, if there have been ten seasons before and the new show starts. You don't have to have a story that grips you from the first moment.  You're building to a new crescendo. We just came off the climax of a ten year story., the height of it, the strongest meta, the last boss.  Anything that came after it was going to have to begin again.  It's the start of a completely new story arc after completing a very long story arc.  And you can't start the new story arc with a climax. You have to start it with something that has to build. 

 

They introduced or brought back popular characters and they went with Cantha's looming energy crisis. This used the old story as a springboard for the new, which was a good idea.

 

The problem is, because this isn't a TV series, the story isn't the only thing or even the main thing. As much as I enjoy story, the fact is I've run AB more times than I've done any story.  I've run Dragonstand and TD and even DE as many times as I've done even the stories I've done the most.

I've run fractals far more times than I've done any of the stories.  More hours in WvW and PvP than stories. The rest of the game is the game, the story really is only a small part of it.  Which isn't true of a TV series at all.

This was a servicable beginning. But because the pause in content was that long, it felt more underwhelming than it would have had it come out 3 months after EoD launched.  A lot of the discontent comes from how long we had to wait for it. It's just my opinion, but I'm pretty confident that's the case.

[Vayne.8563]

2 hours ago, Zok.4956 said:

Didn't you started the comparison with a tv series a few posts ago? 😉

 

Yes, I can agree to that. We do not know whats beeing worked on in the background. We don't even know how much is worked on other projects not related to GW2.

When the massive layoffs happened a few years ago (between a third and nearly half of  the employees were fired) it was communicated that GW2 was not affected because those all worked on other, unanounced projects. And the work for the announced WVW-Alliances was silently stopped for years without communicating this to the players (yes, it's now been slowly worked on again...). Anet does have a history of not telling the "full truth".

Because of this we can only judge by the results they deliver. And we can only compare what they deliver to what they announced.

If you think it is still too early to judge because you hope it will become better ... that's OK.  But it is also OK if other people judge now based on what we already got.

 

The question isn't whether it's okay to have an opinion or not. The question is whether you state it as an opinion. Saying like it's a fact that Anet staff is too small to come out with a story is just speculation, but it doesn't seem to be phrased that way. It's unfortunate that a lot of people, too many people, read something on the internet, and they immediately believe it, particularly if they have no knowledge of a topic themselves. This comes from a bombardment of information and entertainment. We get so much information, taking the first thing that comes up in a search is often what we do, instead of actual research. But I fact check everything, because that was what I had to do when I was writing and editing.

My reply to posts of people expressing opinions as fact isn't an attempt to change the mind of the writer or even say it's wrong. I'm saying it's too early to judge, even if they have that right, so that others reading it don't immediately assume what they're saying is factually true. The more confidence people say something with, the more likely it will be believed. We see this all the time these days. The truth matters so little.

I try to make less definitive statements, precisely because I don't know. And I'm happy to admit I don't know. But if I listened to everyone in these forums, mounts would  have never come out, we'd never have gotten the first expansion much less the third and we'd never go to Cantha because of whatever nonsense people made up.

 

People don't get me, but it's pretty simple what I do.   "Anet is too small to produce new content."...  "We don't know that." 

That's pretty much the conversation I'm having. I'm not expressing a strong opinion that they are, I'm simply not drawing that conclusion at all. If more people did this, the world would be significantly different.  Maybe not better, but different. 

[Gibson.4036]

22 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

Nah, it's not true.  This was a ten year story arc. It would like a continuation of Lord of the Rings after the ring was destroyed. It's unlikely that this moment wasn't even conceived when the game was launched. I think you're actually missing my point entirely though.

 

A new season doesn't have to start with a bang, if there have been ten seasons before and the new show starts. You don't have to have a story that grips you from the first moment.  You're building to a new crescendo. We just came off the climax of a ten year story., the height of it, the strongest meta, the last boss.  Anything that came after it was going to have to begin again.  It's the start of a completely new story arc after completing a very long story arc.  And you can't start the new story arc with a climax. You have to start it with something that has to build. 

 

They introduced or brought back popular characters and they went with Cantha's looming energy crisis. This used the old story as a springboard for the new, which was a good idea.

 

The problem is, because this isn't a TV series, the story isn't the only thing or even the main thing. As much as I enjoy story, the fact is I've run AB more times than I've done any story.  I've run Dragonstand and TD and even DE as many times as I've done even the stories I've done the most.

I've run fractals far more times than I've done any of the stories.  More hours in WvW and PvP than stories. The rest of the game is the game, the story really is only a small part of it.  Which isn't true of a TV series at all.

This was a servicable beginning. But because the pause in content was that long, it felt more underwhelming than it would have had it come out 3 months after EoD launched.  A lot of the discontent comes from how long we had to wait for it. It's just my opinion, but I'm pretty confident that's the case.

Thanks for the clarification and I take your point that it doesn’t have to start with a bang.

A good start can be subtle, as long as it has enough hooks to catch the audience. Intriguing mysteries, pressure on characters that we know are going to build and get to the heart of them, foreboding that is unspecific but feels meaningful.

I don’t think it needed to be dazzling, but it’s best if it is a solid beginning with enough promise of what’s to come to pull us forward. Response to WLB on that point seems to be varied.

It’s not, however, enough of a fresh start to expect the audience to go in tabula rasa, so to speak.
 

Yeah, the dragons are dead. New threat. But we’re carrying some of the same characters forward, dealing with Jade and ley lines, mysterious voices and prior romantic connections. And you’d get into a ship of Theseus quagmire trying to decide whether we’ve got a “new” ANet making the “new” story.

I appreciate your thoughtful contribution to these forums.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[Astralporing.1957]

44 minutes ago, Vayne.8563 said:

People don't get me, but it's pretty simple what I do.   "Anet is too small to produce new content."...  "We don't know that."

Well, according to Anet themselves, they had to operate in all hands mode (with no resources left for anything else) just to deliver to us all the content that came after EoD. And earlier they pretty much had to do the same to make EoD. We can very much estimate from that.

[Randulf.7614]

53 minutes ago, Gibson.4036 said:

Thanks for the clarification and I take your point that it doesn’t have to start with a bang.

A good start can be subtle, as long as it has enough hooks to catch the audience. Intriguing mysteries, pressure on characters that we know are going to build and get to the heart of them, foreboding that is unspecific but feels meaningful.

I don’t think it needed to be dazzling, but it’s best if it is a solid beginning with enough promise of what’s to come to pull us forward. Response to WLB on that point seems to be varied.

It’s not, however, enough of a fresh start to expect the audience to go in tabula rasa, so to speak.
 

Yeah, the dragons are dead. New threat. But we’re carrying some of the same characters forward, dealing with Jade and ley lines, mysterious voices and prior romantic connections. And you’d get into a ship of Theseus quagmire trying to decide whether we’ve got a “new” ANet making the “new” story.

I appreciate your thoughtful contribution to these forums.

This is why I highlight the IBS prologue as the standard bearer for starting a story arc. It doesn’t start with a “bang”, but gets everything right. I would say it’s perhaps the most perfect episode they ever delivered (subjectively speaking).

- full map

- varied content throughout the map. Even if you remove the strike, you still have lots of different events, places to explore, NPCs to listen to, a jp, a rock concert. Can’t remember if it had a new mastery.

- a story that introduces all the elements and keeps moving forward. We keeping learning new intrigues and plot hooks until it’s conclusion, which is both satisfying and keeps interest onto the next part

Even ls3 part one ended with intrigue - “Primordus is awake”. It was a limited and mixed reception map, but there was revelations and neat conclusions amongst a unique setting, whilst setting up for later with clarity of purpose. It moved with pace.

LS4 part one was let down only by its awful meta (which was still incredibly popular anyway). It had real meat to the story, lots of throwbacks, plenty of things going on, new currency to farm, masses of lore and again contained its own story, whilst moving us along into episode two. And it did that with quite a small map too.

In an action based video game rpg with big gaps between releases, you need to keep it moving and keep each episode relatively self contained with hooks to move into the next episode. It’s not that this episode was bad, it just wasn’t enough and it is absolutely right to feedback that if this the new model, it’s unsatisfying (if people feel that way). It’s too late at the end of the arc. At least course changes can be made - assuming they are willing to listen. The lore subforum has shown already a great willing to engage and listen from the devs. Let’s hope that positive attitude extends to those calling the overall direction too.

[Vayne.8563]

46 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Well, according to Anet themselves, they had to operate in all hands mode (with no resources left for anything else) just to deliver to us all the content that came after EoD. And earlier they pretty much had to do the same to make EoD. We can very much estimate from that.

If we knew everything they were working on. They also said there might be some surprises. We have no idea what those might be,. though, that's the point.

 

We can estimate anything with like. It's perfectly fine to estimate. If you bother to notice the posts I generally respond to (that some people call me out on) are the ones that are stating things as a definite fact that aren't definite facts. I'm sorry you take issue with that, but you know, it's what I do.

I strongly suspect that there's other work going on they're not talking about and we don't know about, because there sometimes has been in the past. It's not a fact and I can't prove it, but I'm not going to take someone's word that there's no one working on the game.  We'll have to see.

 

The difference is some of us are going to wait and see before making definitive statements and some will just say there'll never be another expansion, and we'll never get mounts.  Shrugs.

[xersues.7189]

There's so much hyperbole in the these threads assuming reality matches theirs. "EoD was a massive disappointment" and what appears to be judging an entire business model of a studio update on the first piece of content, seemingly forgetting the rest of the roadmap. There clearly isn't any data showing "massive disappointment" on any universal level, than one's own expectations. On the contrary, the game is thriving, bringing in revenue, and we keep getting updates.

 

This was an extension of EoD and added as included in the box price. No one was asked for for money for it. We have more optimizations of DX11 for everyone coming soon (included for free), and more content coming after that. Not to mention you can just look up how often content tends to be released from 10 years of history.

 

A studio has to optimize various update types: Framework, Balance, Events/Skins/Art releases (Monetized or not), and Content updates and some of these have direct trade-offs while others do not. It's pretty clear given the amount of time it's taken some of these updates that there are clear expensive tradeoffs to be made to get them out. Otherwise they wouldn't be delayed or released in pieces (WvW, DX11, Chromium framework,etc).

 

There's plenty of threads giving very actionable and reasonable feedback on the currently released content to make it more rewarding and more fun. 

 

What I think many of these threads are primarily concerned about is what are the potential content updates, what is in them, and what is it going to eventually cost for new content. They honestly didn't say. How much of this continues just to be part of the previous box price versus when the new cost of content is released isn't known. But objectively, this was a small included content drop that didn't cost anything extra. The rest of the feedback belongs in the other threads.

 

If they provided updates like this and didn't ask for any additional money for them, what's the big deal? Give feedback on the content, but the rest of these speculations on staffing/cost is just nonsense. I don't know if any company can placate the consistent doom/gloom that is not even worth engaging with.

[Gibson.4036]

1 hour ago, xersues.7189 said:

There's so much hyperbole in the these threads assuming reality matches theirs. "EoD was a massive disappointment" and what appears to be judging an entire business model of a studio update on the first piece of content, seemingly forgetting the rest of the roadmap. There clearly isn't any data showing "massive disappointment" on any universal level, than one's own expectations. On the contrary, the game is thriving, bringing in revenue, and we keep getting updates.

 

This was an extension of EoD and added as included in the box price. No one was asked for for money for it. We have more optimizations of DX11 for everyone coming soon (included for free), and more content coming after that. Not to mention you can just look up how often content tends to be released from 10 years of history.

 

A studio has to optimize various update types: Framework, Balance, Events/Skins/Art releases (Monetized or not), and Content updates and some of these have direct trade-offs while others do not. It's pretty clear given the amount of time it's taken some of these updates that there are clear expensive tradeoffs to be made to get them out. Otherwise they wouldn't be delayed or released in pieces (WvW, DX11, Chromium framework,etc).

 

There's plenty of threads giving very actionable and reasonable feedback on the currently released content to make it more rewarding and more fun. 

 

What I think many of these threads are primarily concerned about is what are the potential content updates, what is in them, and what is it going to eventually cost for new content. They honestly didn't say. How much of this continues just to be part of the previous box price versus when the new cost of content is released isn't known. But objectively, this was a small included content drop that didn't cost anything extra. The rest of the feedback belongs in the other threads.

 

If they provided updates like this and didn't ask for any additional money for them, what's the big deal? Give feedback on the content, but the rest of these speculations on staffing/cost is just nonsense. I don't know if any company can placate the consistent doom/gloom that is not even worth engaging with.

We don’t have some pieces of specific information we really need to judge the new model. That leaves a lot of room for both fears and hope to grow.

It’s too bad ANet was unable or unwilling to share price point and specific timing with the announcement of the new model. 

[Astralporing.1957]

4 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

If we knew everything they were working on.

Well, if "all hands" does not really mean "all hands", then maybe they were working on something else. Except that lack of additional processing power over doing one project at a time was the explicit reason for the changes they brought up.

In short, since they said working on LS precluded them from working on any side project, i can only assume they weren't working on any side project beyond LS. At least when GW2 is concerned anyway.

4 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

They also said there might be some surprises. We have no idea what those might be,. though, that's the point.

Surprises will (maybe) happen in the future. Basing on the previous statement, it's not something they have been already working alongside LS though. It's something that can only happen at the point where the amount of the resources previously commited to LS work will be decreased, thus freeing some resources on other projects.

 

4 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

I strongly suspect that there's other work going on they're not talking about and we don't know about, because there sometimes has been in the past. It's not a fact and I can't prove it, but I'm not going to take someone's word that there's no one working on the game.  We'll have to see.

It's not a definite, proven fact, but still the fact that they are hiring for "unannounced project", and one of the requirements mentioned is Unreal Engine, makes it almost certain that they are working on at least one major non-gw2 project.

4 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

The difference is some of us are going to wait and see before making definitive statements and some will just say there'll never be another expansion, and we'll never get mounts.  Shrugs.

You do realize, that without those people that were doom mode about "no another expansion" (which at this point was Anet's design goal, btw), we would not have obtained EoD. Nobody bothers to improve things (no matter how badly it is needed) if the customers are complacent with the current situation and are all "wait and see, it will surely get better on its own without us mentioning that we fear it won't).

[Cyninja.2954]

32 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Well, if "all hands" does not really mean "all hands", then maybe they were working on something else. Except that lack of additional processing power over doing one project at a time was the explicit reason for the changes they brought up.

In short, since they said working on LS precluded them from working on any side project, i can only assume they weren't working on any side project beyond LS. At least when GW2 is concerned anyway.

I don't think the statement was in regards to side projects outside the scope of GW2.

I took that statement as: we were working on living world and almost nothing else WITHIN the resources devoted to GW2.

Now I am sure there are fluctuations in regards to "all hands" of the studio being in on GW2 development. Which is irrelevant though for this argument since the only relevant question is: how much content can the studio put out with the resources they have devoted to this game.

32 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Surprises will (maybe) happen in the future. Basing on the previous statement, it's not something they have been already working alongside LS though. It's something that can only happen at the point where the amount of the resources previously commited to LS work will be decreased, thus freeing some resources on other projects.

I'd personally see "surprises" as minor unexpected content drops or reworks. For example: the rework to the Black Lion Statuettes and merchant is a "surprise".

32 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

It's not a definite, proven fact, but still the fact that they are hiring for "unannounced project", and one of the requirements mentioned is Unreal Engine, makes it almost certain that they are working on at least one major non-gw2 project.

I would assume a significant part of developer resources are already tied up in the next mini expansion tbh. I mean on the one hand, players want decent and well made (mini) expansions which are not rushed, at the same time the lack of those resources in periodic content gets scrutinized.

Again, we know how much work the studio can produce. It comes in at around 3-4 maps per year tops (with around 1-2 hours of story content, mostly padded with busywork in-between for the longer episodes) with no focus on anything else (that's around what the studio was producing during Season 4, which as I have mentioned was ALSO scrutinized by players for lack of story length or content, even if some like to dawn their rose tinted glasses now).

This translates into 2-3 maps at best (with around 1-2 hours of story content per episode), with some instanced content and maybe some tidbits thrown to WvW (and hopefully Spvp) mostly in form of balance patches.

Or let's take Season 2 as example: around 2-3 hours of story content at 2 maps for 8 episodes, with some fractal content alongside them. It's all a trade-off in the end and unless the game goes into a full on golden age which double the developers, will not magically increase.

32 minutes ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

 

You do realize, that without those people that were doom mode about "no another expansion" (which at this point was Anet's design goal, btw), we would not have obtained EoD. Nobody bothers to improve things (no matter how badly it is needed) if the customers are complacent with the current situation and are all "wait and see, it will surely get better on its own without us mentioning that we fear it won't).

Customer complaints or feedback are a necessity, true. They have to remain constructive and reasonable though.

Players telling a developer to allocate resources differently can be a reasonable constructive suggestion (with its drawbacks, we had to pay with long periods of content drought for this last expansion, still I too believe it is a net positive).

Being disappointed that content desire is not met by what existing developer resources can provide amount wise is not.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Cyninja.2954

[Gehenna.3625]

23 hours ago, DylanLucas.6058 said:

Well most likely they will charge for future episodes, so I dont hope they all will be light as this one......

And I never said I payed for this one.

Really? You haven't read the blog they posted?

The recap is that they will release smaller expansions more often and then there are quarterly content updates for which you don't have to pay. So this is one of those quarterly updates. You do have to pay for the expansions but not the quarterly updates.

So in essence when you buy an expansion you pay for the quarterly updates that follow as I understand it. So really you pay for these quarterly updates by buying the expansions. Some say this update is free, others say that you paid for them with buying EoD. But you can't get to this new area without EoD, so I'm saying that we did pay for this when we purchased EoD.

But no more living world chapters. Just quarterly releases after each expansion from now on and the expansions you do have to pay for.

[Vayne.8563]

2 hours ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

Well, if "all hands" does not really mean "all hands", then maybe they were working on something else. Except that lack of additional processing power over doing one project at a time was the explicit reason for the changes they brought up.

In short, since they said working on LS precluded them from working on any side project, i can only assume they weren't working on any side project beyond LS. At least when GW2 is concerned anyway.

Surprises will (maybe) happen in the future. Basing on the previous statement, it's not something they have been already working alongside LS though. It's something that can only happen at the point where the amount of the resources previously commited to LS work will be decreased, thus freeing some resources on other projects.

 

It's not a definite, proven fact, but still the fact that they are hiring for "unannounced project", and one of the requirements mentioned is Unreal Engine, makes it almost certain that they are working on at least one major non-gw2 project.

You do realize, that without those people that were doom mode about "no another expansion" (which at this point was Anet's design goal, btw), we would not have obtained EoD. Nobody bothers to improve things (no matter how badly it is needed) if the customers are complacent with the current situation and are all "wait and see, it will surely get better on its own without us mentioning that we fear it won't).

You could be right.  But then,  I'm not so sure that having EoD actually play out the way it wasn't intended wouldn't have been better than an expansion.  I think you're absolutely right. A very vocal (and impatient) community forced ANet to change it's path and that path lead more or less to the destruction of the Icebrood Saga. I agree that the reaction was warranted, giving the number of voices saying the game was in maintainence mode, which I never thought was the case anyway.

 

So Anet creates three decent to good zones and then the pressure starts and the next thing you know, the entire structure of how they work has to change, because they have to work on an expansion. You're right, that probably did happen, and I"m sure most people see that as a good thing.  I'm not one of those people.

I would have preferred to see what plans they had for the Icebrood Saga, because I was enjoying it before Champions. The fact that the Icebrood Saga crashed and burned in Champions, to me, is one of the biggest issues that makes the game look bad right now. It used to be not having a contiguous story but they fixed that and no one I know expected that to happen either.

 

So the public roared, ANet react and that was good. Or was it?  That's a matter of opinion. No one really knows what would have happened had the public not forced Anet's hand in the first place.  You're assuming that it's better than it would have been, but that's still just an assumption. I won't say one way or another, but a rushed expansion and a rushed ending to what they were working on is certainly not better from my point of view.

In either case I'm interested to see what this new project is.

 

[Zok.4956]

18 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

The question isn't whether it's okay to have an opinion or not. The question is whether you state it as an opinion

Ok, I can understand that. Just to be clear: You mean the "you" in your sentence as a "general you" and not me personally. Correct? Because I also try to seperate fact from opinion.

 

18 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

Saying like it's a fact that Anet staff is too small to come out with a story is just speculation, but it doesn't seem to be phrased that way.

I don't read that as a factual statement. Because it is obviously a fact that Anet staff IS NOT too small to come out with a story. Because they have delivered a story (no matter how small, no matter how good) with the actual episode.  I read such statements as an opinion like "I think ... Anet is too small to deliver good/big story." and not as mixups between fact and opinion.

 

19 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

People don't get me, but it's pretty simple what I do.   "Anet is too small to produce new content."...  "We don't know that." 

But it is an obvious fact that Anet IS NOT too small to produce content. They proved it with delivering content.

 

17 hours ago, Vayne.8563 said:

The difference is some of us are going to wait and see before making definitive statements and some will just say there'll never be another expansion, and we'll never get mounts. 

Your statement looks like a hyperbole. Because the difference is more like speculating if the new episode is already a sign/result of the announced change of model, or if it is not. As long as Anet stays silent about this, both variants of speculation/opinion seem valid, at this point.

I think the story content of the actual episode is quite small and if this is not a result of the announced change of model it at least seems it's an unfortunate timing between the announcement of the model change and the episode's release that opened up speculations.

The worst part of all of this for me? Anet staying silent (like they often do).  Because Anet could end most speculations and could manage expectations with just a small statement.