Lack of communication between developers and its player base.

[Biff.5312]

It seems to me like there's been a lot of recent changes in direct response to demand as voiced on the forums. Of course if a given request gets little support, it also gets little attention. But all the major requests i've noticed have been and continue to be addressed.

[Gunstarheroe.2897]

One thing to point out is that it is 100% not just the opinion of @"Sillytune.1580". While I realise that I cannot speak for, or know the opinions of everyone in the raid community / other elitist areas (high level pvp/wvw etc) it's very easy to say that many agree.

Just look at teapot for example. Teatime has said on countless different occasions that the dev team needs to communicate more efficiently about the changes and directions they are heading with the game. Yes ... they don't need to tell us everything but keeping in touch with your community and explaining the direction you're trying to take the game with a patch is absolutely required to keep players from wondering why their class just got nerf hammed or why their class still hasn't got a skill fix e.x.t.

Take a look at just a single part of the latest league patch:

This clearly shows that they have a direction to what their patch is trying to achieve. With this, the community can not only understand why something was done ... but also work with riot to achieve the goal their patch is trying to achieve if it doesn't work the first time.

As it is now, druid & weaver just got nerfed highly with no explanations or goal in mind as to why.

A final point is that it feels much more like these nerf/patches are now being done purely to change the meta to stall the lack of content being added to the game."I don't care bout the new living story now ... the balance patch gives me loads to do" ... is a quote i've heard much too often and makes me wonder if the "gear treadmill" AreaNet swore to never .... tread ... is exactly what they are doing. Having to re-spec or just flat out change class every balance patch seems like an awfully good way to defeat the point of it all.

Yes, you can disagree and say "you don't have to change your specs/class you just want to" but at that point, you're not the kinda player who should speak with merit on this thread for the reasons @Lord Of Heaven.1307 stated.

[Gunstarheroe.2897]

Side note: explaining your patches also shows a actual understanding of the game your balancing. Something that also often seems lost in translation from development to players.

[Cerioth.7062]

@Sillytune.1580 said:

@"artemis.6781" said:So the game isn't what YOU want, so there must be a "lack of communication".

Second buddy, are you really okay yourself with the current state of the game, and everything that's going on so far?

Im perfectly happy with the game. Sorry you do not feel the same.

[pelle ossa.9705]

we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

[GrubySzymek.1362]

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

[pelle ossa.9705]

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story a new legendary weapon and nothing else....im still waiting even for some fixes to legendary armors , bt it seems that all the artst dev are inside gemstore....

[GrubySzymek.1362]

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

[IndigoSundown.5419]

I've not played LoL, but understand it to be a MOBA with no instanced PvE, no different game modes (i.e., everything is PvP), no story and no voracious MMO PvE players to constantly demand new playable content. It seems to be how GW2 might be if all dev time went into sPvP (assuming sPvP design was actually engaging). Under those circumstances, more devs would be on the balance team. Also, there would be no conflicting balance issues for PvE versus PvP content.

Even if GW2 has fewer players than LoL, there are an awful lot of stakeholders, and not enough time in the day for what seems like a pretty small balance team. It might be better to raise specific balance issues in the appropriate subforums than to raise a general issue like, "How much communication should the balance devs engage in." That's where I'd be reading were I them, not here.

Still, I support the OP's right to ask for more communication. I can see that s/he might be hoping to build enough agreement on the issue that Gaile might take it to management, saying something like, "We've got a storm brewing." That effort does not seem to be going all that well, though.

What do I think? I couldn't say whether this game is balanced well or not. I'm not privy to the current philosophy behind the balance passes. Without an underrsadning of what they're shooting for, I cannot know how far or how close they are from/to the mark. Communication might reveal that philosophy, but what happens when (not if) people disagree with the philosophy? How many stakeholders would have to disagree with the existing philosophy, and want a "new" philosophy similar enough to warrant their suggestions being the next best thing to a consensus?

Still, it might be useful for the devs (or management) to state the overall balance philosophy. That might give us something to discuss beyond just, "The game is balanced!" vs, "It isn't!." and, "The devs don't communicate enough!" or, "They do!"

[pelle ossa.9705]

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer ffs.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

[GrubySzymek.1362]

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

[LucianDK.8615]

Loud minority is loud minority. Most players doesnt go to the forums at all.

[Trae.2384]

Actually have to disagree, Ben aka the fractal dude is very active when fractal changes were implemented months ago and not only listened and responded but further implemented/fixed many of the comms gripes about the state of those changes. Maybe thats the only area of the game this applies though idk I dont really search a ton of other areas here. Also the confusion debacle was fixed very quickly, well not fixed but certainly adjusted to at least make mirage somewhat playable in pve again and that was clearly in direct response to the comms outrage of what was quite an odd move on their part.

[pelle ossa.9705]

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

ok so tell me how in others mmorpg the game director usually release liveletter and details about the stuff coming in at le4ast the next half of the year , how is possible that only arenanet can't do that? are you saying they are a noob company?

[Ephemiel.5694]

I really do wish they would make far better explanations for their patches rather than just "here's all we changed, figure it out".

Blizzard especially does a great job for this. They don't explain why they do changes when they're small like a few lowered or increased numbers, but whenever they do anything big, they actively try to explain their reasons for it like the character over/underperforming or talents being used way too much or way too little.

Here, i'm pretty sure most people reading the balance patch had to pull up the wiki to understand what the heck were the skills and what was changed [saying X skill will now use the increased/decreased % at all modes explains NOTHING].

[Magnus Godrik.5841]

Personally I think they give us the right amount of communication. You dont want to give too much so you donymt spoil it and you definitely dont want to promise anything to the playerbase. They re way better now than ever before.

[Zaklex.6308]

@"Ephemiel.5694" said:I really do wish they would make far better explanations for their patches rather than just "here's all we changed, figure it out".~snip~

Here, i'm pretty sure most people reading the balance patch had to pull up the wiki to understand what the heck were the skills and what was changed [saying X skill will now use the increased/decreased % at all modes explains NOTHING].

If you aren't able to easily understand what those percentage changes mean, then you probably had no clue what the skill did to begin with...there should be absolutely no reason to go to the wiki to understand a simple percentage change.

Also, if anyone wants to know the ArenaNet philosophy on communication, just read this short article from 2015: https://www.guildmag.com/mike-obrien-on-arenanet-and-communication/

This was brought up on the old forums several times and we've been given answers, they have a communication style and they will stick with it, whether some of the players like it or not is besides the point, it's not going to change unless Mo changes it.

[Ashen.2907]

I would love to see more commentary on the patches. Some insight into the decisions would be nice.

[DarcShriek.5829]

I never understand why so many gamers think that when they buy a game, they think they bought stock in the company and now and forever more have a say in how the company runs it's business. It only seems to be the video game business. I never see it anywhere else. So many of them are so rude, it's like they think the devs work for them.

[Jumpin Lumpix.6108]

I feel like there is a lack of communication on the whole. The game doesn't even have public test servers like wow does. It usually results in patches hitting followed by emergency patches for various reasons to fix unintended consequences. I dunno why they are so tight liped to be honest, they seem to be very concerned with keeping secrecy in their development, which is understandable since other mmos tend to copy and reappropriate content.

[GrubySzymek.1362]

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

ok so tell me how in others mmorpg the game director usually release liveletter and details about the stuff coming in at le4ast the next half of the year , how is possible that only arenanet can't do that? are you saying they are a noob company?

I don't play other mmos so I don't care.

[pelle ossa.9705]

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

ok so tell me how in others mmorpg the game director usually release liveletter and details about the stuff coming in at le4ast the next half of the year , how is possible that only arenanet can't do that? are you saying they are a noob company?

I don't play other mmos so I don't care.

meh... this discussion is great....

[GrubySzymek.1362]

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

ok so tell me how in others mmorpg the game director usually release liveletter and details about the stuff coming in at le4ast the next half of the year , how is possible that only arenanet can't do that? are you saying they are a noob company?

I don't play other mmos so I don't care.

meh... this discussion is great....

There is nothing to discuss. We know content is being released in 2-3 month brackets. We know that fractals and raids are being released when ready and will be announced in advance. We know WvW changes are coming and no set ETA has been communicated pretty clearly about it. We know how long PvP seasons are taking and when new one is scheduled to be run it's visible in game UI.

So, what else do you demand?

[Durzlla.6295]

Personally I think the devs should explain WHY they’re making some changes more often, and at least tell us where they’d like the balance to go design wise so we’re all on the same page and no ones getting blind sided by changes etc. and on that end they are severely lacking in their openness.

However, overall their communication has been pretty damn good recently.

[Sillytune.1580]

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:

@"Kheldorn.5123" said:

@pelle ossa.9705 said:we really need a proper scheduling and a better communication about the direction of the game....

Schedules are more transparent now than they ever were.

not really... we don't have any small info about when things will come out (not a date , but at least a season...) like raids, new fractals, spvp at changes, wvwvw alliance, probably another overhaul of pof meta rewards and other stuff, the only things you know are that every 2-3 months there will be a map and a story and nothing else....

All these things are coming when ready and announced in advance. There is no reason to expect a schedule for next 12 months when devs are working on content right now and can't tell you if it's released may or november.

they aren't played with lego , they are making money of course they have internal scheduling, date, objectives and stuff , they are an important software house not a 2 guy indie developer kitten.... other mmo have a clear scheduling , and i don't think they are more smart or skilled than anet....

internal scheduling and official release date can be very different as things happen while creating content

ok so tell me how in others mmorpg the game director usually release liveletter and details about the stuff coming in at le4ast the next half of the year , how is possible that only arenanet can't do that? are you saying they are a noob company?

I don't play other mmos so I don't care.

meh... this discussion is great....

There is nothing to discuss. We

know

content is being released in 2-3 month brackets. We

know

that fractals and raids are being released when ready and will be announced in advance. We

know

WvW changes are coming and no set ETA has been communicated pretty clearly about it. We

know

how long PvP seasons are taking and when new one is scheduled to be run it's visible in game UI.

So, what else do you demand?

There is plenty to discuss, the content is not being released in 2-3 month brackets.Discussion here is not about Fractals and raids, it is about the patch notes and the balancing and the anets MISCOMMUNICATION with the playerbase.