GW 2 Devs/Playerbase Twitter Discussion

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

As an aside, I would be pretty embarrassed to belong to an ideology that had to excuse libelous and unprovoked accusations used by its thought leaders to start confrontations and then fall back on indefensible claims like the other side is mean and therefore deserved it. It's not hard to understand why people find it so hard to feel sorry for them when they run afoul of their own bad ideas.

[Astralporing.1957]

@Soa Cirri.6012 said:We've both given other examples of people being fired over saying things that were offensive, and no matter the ideological position asserted, the firings have gotten more numerous over the past few years. It is unequivocally a growing trend.Do you know why? It's because when someone decided to be extremely uncivil in public before, that was usually heard by maybe handful of people. That meant that, unless the press somehow got involved, or it involved someone important, it often got ignored. When someone does the same things now, but on social media, it can reach a much wider audience. For all practical reasons this is now a current-day equivalent of someone in the past having their offensive statements published.

It's not a matter of trend. It's a matter of reach.

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

@Astralporing.1957 It's refreshing to see someone have a sense of perspective and an appreciation for context on the internet. Excellent observation.

[Soa Cirri.6012]

@"Astralporing.1957" said:when someone decided to be extremely uncivil in public before, that was usually heard by maybe handful of people"Past few years" refers to 2015-2018, under the usual assumption that "few" means 3. Twitter is 12 years old. Social media is 15 years old. How long ago is the "before" you're referring to?

If it's just about public and media awareness, there have been innumerable celebrities (the ultimate example of a public figure) who have had scandals, controversies, and PR explosions in full public view since the very beginnings of the profession. Many of those scandals involved far worse "bad behavior" than even JP exhibited. And yet those actors kept their jobs, and still went on to get work, with most of them still working today in the same industry (assuming they're still alive). All that people expected from public bad behavior was public condemnation—and that was given. Now, people demand blood. Had today's social media expectations existed back then, Hollywood would be deprived of half of its current population, and yet, that is not the case.

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

@Astralporing.1957 As you might be becoming aware, this conversation probably isn't one worth having. We're not dealing with honest brokers at this point. I've relentlessly explained all aspects of why this isn't a case of arbitrary corporate censorship, as well as how this sort of thing is not a threat to free speech (as if anyone here who is upset about this actually cares one iota about freedom of speech,) and it has mostly fallen on deaf ears. The day will have to come when they realize their ideas don't work before they'll be willing to listen to new information. I only hope that day comes sooner rather than later.

[wayward.4792]

Just gonna dip in again to reinforce, again, that devs in the Seattle area are overwhelmingly not happy about these firings, and the firings specifically have substantially increased local membership in GWU.

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

@wayward.4792 What's hilarious if not tragic about that is, ArenaNET saved their jobs and livelihood by respecting the dignity of their customers and preserving the public reputation of their brand. It's incredibly selfish for them to expect every other employee in the company to suffer the consequences of their peer's bad behavior. If they can't look at that conversation and understand their former coworker was making hateful accusations in public against a perfectly polite customer and that it could have costed them and their families much more in the long run than it did, maybe they don't value their jobs and their employer as much as they should. This attitude of ungratefulness and lack of perspective in our culture is plainly suicidal. We can't afford to burn down our workplaces and balkanize our communities based on nothing other than ideological affiliation. History has shown us repeatedly that leads only to misery and poverty.

[wayward.4792]

@The Knight of Hope.8023 said:@wayward.4792 What's hilarious about that is, ArenaNET saved their jobs and livelihood by respecting the dignity of their customers and preserving the public reputation of their brand. It's incredibly selfish for them to expect every other employee in the company to suffer the consequences of their peer's bad behavior. If they can't look at that conversation and understand their former coworker was making hateful accusations in public against a perfectly polite customer and that it could have costed them and their families much more in the long run than it did, maybe they don't value their jobs and their employer as much as they should. This attitude of ungratefulness and lack of perspective in our culture is plainly suicidal. We can't afford to burn down our workplaces and balkanize our communities based on nothing other than ideological affiliation. History has shown us repeatedly that leads only to misery and poverty.

I mean I disagree with just about everything in your post, but I'm just gonna note - as I have upthread - that even before this, ANet was not exactly considered a great place to work. The general reputation around town is a place with comparatively low pay and difficult management.

I actually don't care to argue about Price, or Fries, specific behavior. It's nonproductive at this point; people gonna think what they think. I think regardless of your view on the situation, people presumably care about the ability of this company to recruit and retain talent to work on this game we all play - and should be aware that the knock-on effects here are not positive.

This has, if nothing else, created some real momentum for unionization among game devs, a thing that would greatly improve an industry that, for the most part, consumes people and spits them out.

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

@Zaklex.6308 I totally agree that people who disagree about things should be able to get along in the workplace. I also believe they have a responsibility to be mindful how they represent their company and the damage that they can do to their employer and coworkers by saying libelous and malicious things in public, especially towards their customers and partners. If these individuals in Seattle who are upset about these firings don't recognize that responsibility, they must not care very much about the long term well-being of their employer or their coworkers. We can all get along at work, but that also means acknowledging the rules and responsibilities that go along with that.

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

@The Knight of Hope.8023 said:@"Zaklex.6308" I totally agree that people who disagree about things should be able to get along in the workplace. I also believe they have a responsibility to be mindful how they represent their company and the damage that they can do to their employer and coworkers by saying libelous and malicious things in public, especially towards their customers and partners. If these individuals in Seattle who are upset about these firings don't recognize that responsibility, they must not care very much about the long term well-being of their employer or their coworkers. We can all get along at work, but that also means acknowledging the rules and responsibilities that go along with that.

Reminds me of an episode on STNG. Starfleet has a man interviewing the crew about Picard. He is prickly and fully annoying. He says to Worf, "You don't like me do you?" Worf replies "is that required?"

[The Knight of Hope.8023]

@Evon Skyfyre.9673 Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis also comes to mind. That came well after STNG though. I really miss late 90's / early 2000's television. D:

[Xenorak.2154]

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@"Zaklex.6308" said:Everyone keeps mentioning shareholders...there is only one shareholder of ArenaNet...NCSoft, so they are not really beholden to shareholders for their profit or loss, but to NCSoft and NCSoft only.

Another misconception is that JP was stating she didn't have to like anyone in the community on her personal Twitter, that is patently false, she was reply specifically to Deroir therefore her comment only applies to him(and he could be considered part of the 10%/90% ratio of bad/good in communities she mentioned).

Proper response could have been this: "We are aware of the situation and in the process of investigating, any action as a result of this will be handled internally. Thank you for you continued patronage."

I don’t see it as a reply to Deroir. It came afterwards, sure (it could hardly have come before it) but it’s part of a series of posts giving her opinions. She had been talking to other people before, some of whom were critical of her posts.

1) Today in being a female game dev:"Allow me--a person who does not work with you--explain to you how you do your job."

2) like, the next rando XXXhat who attempts to explain the concept of branching dialogue to me--as if, you know, having worked in game narrative for a XXXXing DECADE, I have never heard of it--is getting instablocked. PSA.

3) Since we've got a lot of hurt manfeels today, lemme make something clear: this is my feed. I'm not on the clock here. I'm not your emotional courtesan just because I'm a dev. Don't expect me to pretend to like you here.

4) The attempts of fans to exert ownership over our personal lives and times are something I am hardcore about stopping. You don't own me, and I don't owe you.

That’s a rant. Not a specific reply to one person.

The first today in being a female game dev tweet, retweeted deroirs post I believe. It might've been edited, but she had linked back to his tweet originally.

[Dami.5046]

People seem to forget that Anet although an American company, reaches a global audience. While being stand off-ish to customers there may be tolerated, in other countries it isn't.I worked in an industry for 22 years that meant I had to be friendly and helpful, that I had to suck up any rudeness. I had to suck it up the time I got spat at, the time I refused the sale of alcohol and was sworn at and had packets of food thrown at me, the time a customer was so lazy they rammed a trolly into my legs instead of saying excuse me and made them bleed.These are true experiences of what it is to deal with joe public face to face , not hiding behind a screen. In fact even when I followed company procedure to the letter and a customer left me seemly happy, they still rung up and I found myself in the managers office, because I had been 'rude'.Therefore I supported Anets decision, as that sort of out burst would undoubtedly gotten me into a lot of trouble. And make no mistake, I would of LOVED to have been able to say what I wanted to say- I wanted to ram that stupid 'customer is always right' down their throat. But you just don't- I needed the job and I needed to respect what the company's rules were.I supported a company's decision, due to how I would of been treated. Let me put it another way, I was off sick for two weeks. When my sick leave ended, and the day before I was due back and having spent 2 weeks at home I popped out with a friend and another employee saw me and reported me. I was sitting in a pub drinking a glass of water just to get out, but i still got a warning, and that was out of company time.I do not support hate on the internet so don't throw that cherry at me. I know all about this hate. I know what it's like to be 'told to die' I know what it's like to be trolled relentlessly to the point I had screen shots of my conversations photoshopped and put on a tumblr.
I don't think that because people work in an internet setting however , are immune to being disrespectful to their customer base, the people who at some point may be paying their wage, and it annoyed me that certain writers/dev I followed on twitter believed they had some level of 'freedom' to the point I was sick of the re-tweets and un followed them.I am pretty certain that if someone was rude to you in game, you either would block them or in some cases report them. That's no different in part to the issue today. We all expect some manners and respectability.Because If I refused the services of every company that had internal issues, I wouldn't buy or do much.

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

@Xenorak.2154 said:

@Just a flesh wound.3589 said:

@"Zaklex.6308" said:Everyone keeps mentioning shareholders...there is only one shareholder of ArenaNet...NCSoft, so they are not really beholden to shareholders for their profit or loss, but to NCSoft and NCSoft only.

Another misconception is that JP was stating she didn't have to like anyone in the community on her personal Twitter, that is patently false, she was reply specifically to Deroir therefore her comment only applies to him(and he could be considered part of the 10%/90% ratio of bad/good in communities she mentioned).

Proper response could have been this: "We are aware of the situation and in the process of investigating, any action as a result of this will be handled internally. Thank you for you continued patronage."

I don’t see it as a reply to Deroir. It came afterwards, sure (it could hardly have come before it) but it’s part of a series of posts giving her opinions. She had been talking to other people before, some of whom were critical of her posts.

1) Today in being a female game dev:"Allow me--a person who does not work with you--explain to you how you do your job."

2) like, the next rando XXXhat who attempts to explain the concept of branching dialogue to me--as if, you know, having worked in game narrative for a XXXXing DECADE, I have never heard of it--is getting instablocked. PSA.

3) Since we've got a lot of hurt manfeels today, lemme make something clear: this is my feed. I'm not on the clock here. I'm not your emotional courtesan just because I'm a dev. Don't expect me to pretend to like you here.

4) The attempts of fans to exert ownership over our personal lives and times are something I am hardcore about stopping. You don't own me, and I don't owe you.

That’s a rant. Not a specific reply to one person.

The first today in being a female game dev tweet, retweeted deroirs post I believe. It might've been edited, but she had linked back to his tweet originally.

Yah she did but from what came after I saw it as a reference, not a reply since Deroir’s post was on July 3rd and this post on was on July 4th. She had been talking to people after his post. She posted after criticism from other people and she says “Since we've got a lot of hurt manfeels today”. Today, July 4th, not yesterday, July 3rd. Both the today and the a lot of hurt manfeels are directed towards the people criticizing her.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@Soa Cirri.6012 said:

@The Knight of Hope.8023 said:@Soa Cirri.6012 You seem not to realize that this individual was causing ArenaNET's brand to be associated with her victimhood ideology.That does not mean she

has

to be fired to make a disassociation. All it takes is a statement of, "We don't condone this, but it is not our prerogative to fire people for being mean" to disassociate from it. To argue that she

must

be fired, period, is to continue to offer an argument from ignorance.Moreover, there is no trend.We've both given other examples of people being fired over saying things that were offensive, and no matter the ideological position asserted, the firings have gotten more numerous over the past few years. It is unequivocally a growing trend.What you must understand is that when it comes to intersectional nihilists like this former employee at ArenaNET, this is their goal. They want a society in which they have enough legal and moral sway over companies that they can get people fired and run out of society for disagreeing with them. This is precisely why it is so good that ArenaNET refused to bend the knee here.Moreover, other like-minded people like her who want to put their ideology above politeness and professionalism can go form their own companies together and make their own go of it.So... There is an "intersectional nihilist" conspiracy with the

goal

to force their particular view upon society, and whom you refuse to bend the knee to. ...And yet you have no problem with them forming their own companies to literally conspire together in the attainment of power and influence?

Color me confused.

You are free to insult me by telling me to "think on this" in order to arrive at your preordained, requisite conclusion like some jedi master scolding a padawan, but I otherwise appreciate your tact and time. Thanks.

I think you are purposely missing the point.Those people who wish to carry their own personal ideologies around with them to exercise whenever, wherever and at whoever they wish because they believe they are above common decency or a business's expectations, are free to create, build and run their own business... a business that employs others and relies on others in order to have a business.Then we can sit here and pick apart that business and the decisions it too will be forced to make when faced when real challenges are placed before it.

You keep saying that PF is just forgotten about.. I disagreeIf things went down like you seemingly think they have done, then surely the one person with an axe to grind would be PF. With JP it doesn't take any reason in particular for her to go on whackadoodle social justice parade because that is how she is and she thinks she has the right to say and do whatever she likes, when she likes no matter the consequence of it all.

I am pretty sure that if PF was coming out doubling down on a narrative that did not exist until it was pushed by JP then he would not be "forgotten".

JP's desire to be a social justice extremist no matter if a situation warrants it or not is why she is not forgotten and because it makes a good click bait opportunity for those bias media outlets.. cos you know, they too see an opportunity to exploit controversy for their business.Like you say, where is there support, their stories, their opinions on PF's "no longer employed by the company" status.. nowhere, but if anyone deserves the attention for your notion of unlawful firing it is surely PF, but they don't because why? - -Is it because PF is a man so their is no social injustice to report here and if there were it does not fit their bias of the narrative and so not good for business.??Is it because ahhh well PF simply deserved it, nothing to report, move along ?Or is it because he chooses to not place himself on a pedestal like JP to serve out some insatiable egotistical social justice extremist ideology?Or is it that they have tried to get PF on record, but PF has declined seeing the error in his actions and the harm it has done, is doing and could do in the future and believe it or not he has no desire to burn bridges and bite at the very hands that fed him and his family for so long until he did something deserving of the consequence he was met with.???

JP and KF both have a great deal of experience, one has been with his employer for 12yrs+ and to my knowledge has never found himself front and centre of any such high profile issues like we have today, which I see as an indicator that this person does not let his person feelings or ideologies rule his heart head or his mouth as a norm. The other, equally as experienced through time served, but who has a much more interesting CV shall we say..

I see PF as a person who made a noble yet foolish call to jump to the defence of his co-worker that day and if I was a gambling man I would put money he now understands that, hence he is acting like the professional person I would like to think he is and others who know him likely believe him to be, by saying nothing and getting on with his life - I wish him every success in the future and would gladly shake his hand and say that to his face.I do not believe he sought the attention that day and he doesn't seek it today either and I believe he also now understands that JP has gone way off the charts with her personal victim crusade and is likely embarrassed in seeing how she is taking things to the levels we are seeing and doesn't want to associate or expose himself or his family to it anymore than he already has done.I hope, no actually I believe he does now understands that Deroir, ANET and its employees, and the games community as a whole deserved to be treated much more respectfully than they were and sees now that everyone is just acceptable collateral damage to JP.

It is perfectly understandable someone decides to defend another especially when its a co-worker or a friend, it is also understandable for people having views and opinions that differ from others. It is perfectly fine to stand up to any form of social injustice and inequality - I believe it to be noble in fact. But not every conversation people have or every paragraph written on a forum or social media outlet warrant such public derailment for that cause. The reason those causes exist is to stop the harm those injustices do, not create more harm by acting like an extremist and then becoming the very problem you supposedly stand against...and then have the nerve to claim victim status when it's clear you were in the wrong.There was no such reason other than JP's own inability to take even the slightest criticisms bolstered by her desire to create controversy and put herself on a pedestal to get her noticed, to silence others opinion's whilst forcing her own ideologies and beliefs down the throats of all us sexists and non believers. And when it met with consequence its everyone else's fault, she's the victim, her employer is a terrible place to work, women are second class citizens inside the walls and it was cowardly how she was fired....

I mean lets look at some reasoning around her stance on all this....JP thinks the current storyline and for some time to come is all her work, even though its a team effort, a fact she easily pushes to one side after saying so herself.. but its all her work. - there is that pedestal again.ANET don't support women in the workplace, - but we see women's day events, which JP was supportive and actively engage with, she herself identifies as a woman trusted with the responsibility to lead in the company as do others across the company spectrum... hmmm is that not identifying their skills and abilities, does that not identify a respect for their contributions, is that how sexism works these days, does that paint ANET lacking in support for women in the workplace.. OR are they merely titles and roles made up to motivate them when making the top brass's coffee every morning.... c'mon, sshheeshhJP identifies that she actively encouraged women to come to the company because she believed ANET to be a safe supportive open minded company.. but in such a short time there seems to be a complete 180 and now they are the worst thing on the planet.. whilst of course still identifying that ANET rated her highly enough to fast track her into a position of responsibility, to lead the narrative though a major product update and beyond to influence and shape it the way that we are seeing and playing currently and "for a long time to come"Is it actually JP that chose to belittle her own contribution and influence that she, a woman, was given the opportunity to express through her role, in rebuking MO's praising of her work and his choosing a particular cutscene that he believes was a stand out moment, which he believes serves as testament to her work. … I think she once again did herself a large disservice.From the very outset of all this it was JP who thought she wanted to express her opinions on PC.. her opinions, do her fellow co-workers in the team have similar opinions.. most likely and that's perfectly normal and its perfectly ok for JP to have them, in fact I too found it interesting to read from an amateurs viewpoint with no experience to qualify me. Does that mean I can't have or share an opinion, am I not allowed to have "slight disagreements" - In fact did anyone stand up and say you cant have that opinion, cos I never read anything of the sort. To that end did MO say she never had the right to an opinion, cos I never read that either.If JP is all about truth to power, why then did it take a "slight disagreement" over some personal opinions on PC to push her to finally speak out. She has stated that she is not someone who is afraid to speak out, speak her mind.. why then has it taken her until now, against the grain of all things she has said, done, identified as positives, for her to finally act on her truth to power if she felt the company is run by cowardly men who talk down to women, lock her and other women to their desks and make them work 24/7, belittle their contributions and downplay their skills and experience, stifling their creativity and telling them to smile when members of the community have issues and opinions or maybe even acting like jerks as well. - nah I call BS on all this.Why didn't JP go to senior management and report this, act on her truth to power, speak out in support of all those women she feels are not safe in the company.. OR is this just in her head, is this just her typical victim defence mechanism coming into play when she finally gets that moment of clarity and realises "oh feck I screwed up big time".. I mean their is previous form to consider as well I guess.Is her cry for victim status borne out of the fact she is unable to take criticism, is it because she lacks the courage to stand up on that same pedestal she desires to be on, in front of her co-workers, Deroir, the wider community and her beloved band of Twitter Followers and simply say SORRY, sorry for acting like an idiot, sorry for accusing people of things that were never warranted, sorry for letting her own extremist ideologies rule her heart, head and mouth, and sorry for letting down all those that strive to combat real social injustices every day.

[Renoaku.4189]

Okay I don't see why she was fired yet perhaps someone can reply with (EVIDENCE) of (NEGATIVE COMMENTS) or being (HATEFUL) so I can read their posts for myself.

But speaking in General "SOCIAL MEDIA" should be protected by Law (FOR EXAMPLE) if I write on my "Facebook Page" I WORK FOR X COMPANY and then later I complain about the game, I should not be fired from a company just for complaining or sharing a negative opinion about a game.

Also companies who hire someone should not have any rights to tell people what they can and can't post, or (FIRE PEOPLE) from a job or work place just because they support a (Certain Religion) (NRA) (Political Views) or something of the sort and have their company listed as a work place on their Face Book for example.

The only exception is if a person (SIGNS AN AGREEMENT) but without copies of an agreement / forms they signed, there is no proof for the public to see.

Also on a side note I really don't trust GW2 anymore since the (Spyware they put into the game) the (Crappy Cash Shop) (Limited Customization Aspects) and Development direction I've tried many times over the years to get back into the game, but (Guild Wars 1) was still the Best GW2 by all means has better graphics, but the over-all development is a big flop in my eyes compared to what it could have been (Black Desert Online) is a much better game, and upcoming games such as (MHW) (Ashes OF Creation) (Crow Fall) will likely draw even more population away from GW2, just something to think about in future development...

But hey what do I know...

. Were all slaves to the system.... Society is a mess.... Too many dumb people in the world based off Real Life experiecnces with idiots, even when a person has the chance to learn things they still do dumb things, cause problems for others too...

Just need to hit a reset button, which btw is a whole Idea behind the move "The Purge" and "Rampage"...

But then some say the Earth is flat, and some believe in the Matrix theory...

Who is right, who is wrong in society, and when one thinks they know the "TRUTH" how do you define the world "TRUTH" or "REAL" ???

[Just a flesh wound.3589]

Once you get your workplace involved you can’t expect to escape the consequences of doing things that impact your employer’s reputation. Either separate your social media from your job and have a reasonable expectation of privacy or use your job to attract people to your site and behave like you’re on the clock.

[Astralporing.1957]

@Soa Cirri.6012 said:

@"Astralporing.1957" said:when someone decided to be extremely uncivil in public before, that was usually heard by maybe handful of people"Past few years" refers to 2015-2018, under the usual assumption that "few" means 3. Twitter is 12 years old. Social media is 15 years old. How long ago is the "before" you're referring to?Before the twitter era, of course. And in "past few years" i haven't noticed any trend you speak of. 3 years ago a game dev would have been fired for JP-like behaviour just as easily as now. There might have been less fake outrage from media sites, though.

@Soa Cirri.6012 said:If it's just about public and media awareness, there have been innumerable celebrities (the

ultimate

example of a public figure) who have had scandals, controversies, and PR explosions in full public view since the very beginnings of the profession. Many of those scandals involved far worse "bad behavior" than even JP exhibited. And yet those actors kept their jobs, and still went on to get work, with most of them

still

working today in the same industry (assuming they're still alive). All that people expected from public bad behavior was public condemnation—and that was given. Now, people demand blood. Had today's social media expectations existed back then, Hollywood would be deprived of half of its current population, and yet, that is not the case.That's because, for the most cases, people

expect

controversy from celebrities. Celebrities thrive on it. As long as it won't cross certain boundaries, it actually generates

more

popularity, not less. That saying, there

were

cases of actors, screenwriters, movie directors getting sidelined/shunned as a result of their scandals getting too controversial. Some of them eventually managed to get back to the industry, some didn't.Same (and to even greater degree) with musicians.

For politicians it was often career-killing - ironically it's only recently that it has become far more survivable (and sometimes even generating more popularity).

Notice, though, that an attack on our own fans/voters/target groups was usually heavily damaging even for top tier celebrities. And not just now, but practically always.

So no, this is really nothing new. The only new thing is how media react to it. Although, if you consider it more deeply, that also hasn't really changed - media just love controversies, even to the point of negerating them if there are none. It's just that they are now concentrating on different kinds of controversies.

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

@The Knight of Hope.8023 said:@Evon Skyfyre.9673 Rodney McKay from Stargate Atlantis also comes to mind. That came well after STNG though. I really miss late 90's / early 2000's television. D:

That was another of my favorites. I liked all the Stargate shows, except Universe. Even Robert Carlyle couldn't save that one.

[Bloodstealer.5978]

@"Renoaku.4189" said:Okay I don't see why she was fired yet perhaps someone can reply with (EVIDENCE) of (NEGATIVE COMMENTS) or being (HATEFUL) so I can read their posts for myself.

But speaking in General "SOCIAL MEDIA" should be protected by Law (FOR EXAMPLE) if I write on my "Facebook Page" I WORK FOR X COMPANY and then later I complain about the game, I should not be fired from a company just for complaining or sharing a negative opinion about a game.

Also companies who hire someone should not have any rights to tell people what they can and can't post, or (FIRE PEOPLE) from a job or work place just because they support a (Certain Religion) (NRA) (Political Views) or something of the sort and have their company listed as a work place on their Face Book for example.

The only exception is if a person (SIGNS AN AGREEMENT) but without copies of an agreement / forms they signed, there is no proof for the public to see.

Also on a side note I really don't trust GW2 anymore since the (Spyware they put into the game) the (Crappy Cash Shop) (Limited Customization Aspects) and Development direction I've tried many times over the years to get back into the game, but (Guild Wars 1) was still the Best GW2 by all means has better graphics, but the over-all development is a big flop in my eyes compared to what it could have been (Black Desert Online) is a much better game, and upcoming games such as (MHW) (Ashes OF Creation) (Crow Fall) will likely draw even more population away from GW2, just something to think about in future development...

But hey what do I know...

. Were all slaves to the system.... Society is a mess.... Too many dumb people in the world based off Real Life experiecnces with idiots, even when a person has the chance to learn things they still do dumb things, cause problems for others too...

Just need to hit a reset button, which btw is a whole Idea behind the move "The Purge" and "Rampage"...

But then some say the Earth is flat, and some believe in the Matrix theory...

Who is right, who is wrong in society, and when one thinks they know the "TRUTH" how do you define the world "TRUTH" or "REAL" ???

Maybe read the whole thread, read the postings surrounding the issue, listen to commentary, do some research .. then enter the real world and stake your claim on the facts not just because you have a downer on GW2, it kinda makes your whole opinion look a tad weak to me... but hey I am just another dumb uncivilised person who is part of this whole messed up society I guess, so I best just stick my tail between my legs and find a dark corner to hide in.

[Mysty Meadows.1425]

One thing that is glaringly, painfully obvious, and has not changed. The loot in game is still bleh.. just sayin..

[Schopenhauer.4539]

@Mike O Brien.4613THANK YOU SO MUCH.This is sooo rare, no one dares to stand up against PC culture ruining videogames and you did.Im amazed, in love with Arenanet again, will return to the game wich i loved so much.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!I cannot emphasize enough how much this means to us.

[Ociocity.7560]

@Mike O Brien.4613 said:Recently two of our employees failed to uphold our standards of communicating with players. Their attacks on the community were unacceptable. As a result, they’re no longer with the company.

I want to be clear that the statements they made do not reflect the views of ArenaNet at all. As a company we always strive to have a collaborative relationship with the Guild Wars community. We value your input. We make this game for you.

Mo

And we are glad and thankful for it

I'm sorry how she tries to make you the bad guy, but it her only defense.

[Soa Cirri.6012]

@Astralporing.1957 said:There might have been less fake outrage from media sites, though.The only new thing is how media react to it.So in the post where I addressed the trend, those are specifically the things indicated as being representative of the consequences, and feeding into them.@Soa Cirri.6012 said:Outlets like Kotaku and Polygon, representing everything that is ideologically monolithic in their coverage of this issue, are the poster children of this process, and further fulfill and enhance the same cycle of polarization. [emphasis not in original]So to admit that changes in the way the media reacts have taken place is to unwittingly support my argument (and undermine your own), unless you would also wish to argue that the media does not inflame public outrage or enhance polarization. Because that's what I was asserting—changes in the media shift public expectations, which exacerbate polarization that the media then capitalizes upon to further shift expectations (a vicious cycle).@Astralporing.1957 said:expect controversy from celebritiesIf people expect controversy from celebrities and have always done so, there would be no change in their treatment over the past decade, let alone between pre and post Twitter. But we're at a point where the expectations have changed. Mel Gibson had his vicious rant in 2006. Christian Bale's vicious rant went viral three years later (2009). Both were cases where they said shit that was much, much more aggressive than anything JP did. Neither even apologized for months after the incidents (Bale almost a year later). All of it was covered widely by media, including social (Twitter was created in 2006). Bale was working as an actor on set when he had his spat, and didn't even experience so much as a blip in his career.Today? Roseanne makes an offensive tweet and her entire show is canceled within 24 hours.So if there has not been a significant shift in, or due to, changing perception, expectation, and public outrage, then what's going on here?For politicians it was often career-killing - ironically it's only recently that it has become far more survivable[emphasis mine]That's because political parties represent the apex of the consequence I was describing above, where the organization becomes monolithic to the point of peak polarization, so anyone within the organization is protected from public outrage by everyone around them sharing their own ideology. But politics is intrinsically ideologically selective (you have to toe an ideological line to even get the job in the first place) whereas entertainment (e.g. game) companies generally did not hire people by public vote upon ideological grounds.

To belabor this is to get sidetracked: the point is, only in a vacuum will ANET firing JP have no extended consequences. But in the context of reality, JP personally needs to get work again to live, and the only people who will hire her are other people who are ideologically similar to her. Meanwhile, JP's ideology did not come out of a vacuum either—it was fed and calcified, likely in no small part by media sites who espouse that ideology to feed the beast, which helps to create more people like JP, thus becoming a self-sustaining, and accelerating, loop, as I was attempting to describe previously.

But that's just my take on the matter. I'm not saying I have authoritative omniscience. It's one of the potential dangers I see in being flippant about firing people for offending other people.

@Ace Kenshader.1253 said:Well, keep in mind that most outlets are like thatSorry, to clarify: I meant to use Polygon and Kotaku as representative examples, not as exclusive ones.Not only are most outlets like that now, they became that way only recently. Five years ago, they were largely apolitical.

[BlaqueFyre.5678]

What’s hilarious about this thread is no matter how many new posts it receives it doesn’t populate to the front page like every other thread lulz, they want this thread to be buried into obscurity.