Discussion Thread: ArenaNet News of 21 February 2019 [Merged]

[Warkind.6745]

Fighting something big with colors and tweets. They should put you on an LS team.

[Randulf.7614]

Play the game they made for you. That’s the best support u can give

[Danikat.8537]

I don't think there's any harm in letting Anet staff - both those who will be leaving and those who will stay and continue to work on GW2 - know how much you appreciate their work so far. Within reason I think you could do that in any way you think is appropriate. Post messages on the forum to share what you like about the game, maybe send a single message on Twitter, changing your characters colour scheme, talk about it in-game etc.

But I don't think there's any hope of getting NCSoft to change their minds. Decisions like this aren't made impulsively, and they're not likely to be reversed once made. Absolutely nothing we've been told about it suggests public opinion on Anet or NCSoft was a factor in the decision so it's virtually impossible that would change anything now.

[Erasculio.2914]

You may as well send "feel good cookies" to ArenaNet.

Probably one of the first things that will impact GW2 will be the morale hit from having the layoffs. Those who are left will be very shaked, especially if a lot of people are dismissed. I wouldn't be surprised if some try to leave the company before something like this happens again. And those that remain won't work at 100% with all those upheavals.

Then, there's the matter of how much GW2 has already lost. We have already been told that ArenaNet was moving people from GW2 to the now cancelled projects, to the detriment of the game. Now, it appears those people won't be returning to GW2 - they will just be fired. The game was already suffering, and will continue to do so.

And notice how ArenaNet is promising they won't cancel the announced content - but no word on long term plans. We may get a season 5 (with how many episodes? And what about the quality of each episode?), but after that?

So yeah, ArenaNet could really use some help. I simply doubt there's anything we can do to help them.

[Abelisk.4527]

Have every player spend $1000 on Gems xP

[Cyninja.2954]

@Erasculio.2914 said:You may as well send "feel good cookies" to ArenaNet.

Probably one of the first things that will impact GW2 will be the morale hit from having the layoffs. Those who are left will be very shaked, especially if a lot of people are dismissed. I wouldn't be surprised if some try to leave the company before something like this happens again. And those that remain won't work at 100% with all those upheavals.

Layoffs are not synonymous with a company shutting down. Please stop treating this as such or provide more evidence to the contrary. While layoffs are never great or something to strive for, they are not uncommon occurrence even in very successful companies.

Case in point: https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/2/29/2833313/blizzard-lays-off-600-likely-primarily-in-customer-service (there is tons more, I just really don't feel like having to dig up something which is a common occurrence in the industry).

@Erasculio.2914 said:Then, there's the matter of how much GW2 has already lost. We have already been told that ArenaNet was moving people from GW2 to the now cancelled projects, to the detriment of the game. Now, it appears those people won't be returning to GW2 - they will just be fired. The game was already suffering, and will continue to do so.

No, we were told Arenanet had moved people to non GW2 related projects. We know that some of those employees will be let go. We also know that publishing will get merged back into NCSoft which will cause overlap of positions. Unless you have more specific information on which roles and employees are getting laid off, you might want to take it slow on your assumptions.

Given how most publishers currently are downsizing in many departments except actual game developers, please show proof that developers are affected.

@Erasculio.2914 said:And notice how ArenaNet is promising they won't cancel the announced content - but no word on long term plans. We may get a season 5 (with how many episodes? And what about the quality of each episode?), but after that?

Yes, they literally got the news on Thursday. How dare there not be a road map in place hours later. Do you understand how merging within a company works? You don't just dice roll on who gets to stay and who needs to go.

They said GW2 is not affected and season 4 and 5 is still on schedule. Either show proof of this not being the case, or stop making assumptions.

@Erasculio.2914 said:So yeah, ArenaNet could really use some help. I simply doubt there's anything we can do to help them.

How come? The last years performance was good. What makes you believe they are in such dire a state?

[Erasculio.2914]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@"Erasculio.2914" said:You may as well send "feel good cookies" to ArenaNet.

Probably one of the first things that will impact GW2 will be the morale hit from having the layoffs. Those who are left will be very shaked, especially if a lot of people are dismissed. I wouldn't be surprised if some try to leave the company before something like this happens again. And those that remain won't work at 100% with all those upheavals.

Layoffs are not synonymous with a company shutting down. Please stop treating this as such or provide more evidence to the contrary.

Where did I say ArenaNet was "shutting down"?

[Cyninja.2954]

@Erasculio.2914 said:

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Erasculio.2914 said:You may as well send "feel good cookies" to ArenaNet.

Probably one of the first things that will impact GW2 will be the morale hit from having the layoffs. Those who are left will be very shaked, especially if a lot of people are dismissed. I wouldn't be surprised if some try to leave the company before something like this happens again. And those that remain won't work at 100% with all those upheavals.

Layoffs are not synonymous with a company shutting down. Please stop treating this as such or provide more evidence to the contrary.

Where did I say ArenaNet was "shutting down"?

Great so we agree, Arenanet will not shut down and there is no reason to panic mode about GW2 right now, given it's their only project currently, right?

[Squirrel.6318]

I feel like they haven't really listened to our community. They don't really cater to the community. I've known them since GW1 prophecies came out. Gaile gray has been the ONLY one that has consistently reported or talked to the community for all these long years.

I was a hardcore supporter for them during the GW1 years, defended them so many times, but since GW2 came out, I definitely do not like the company anymore. There aren't really any major improvements to the game. Regarding major improvements, GW1 had alliances and faction wars when Factions came out, and then Nightfall had the hero system. Then EOTN added a whole bunch of content + the dungeons, I believe there were like 20 of them.

What did we get in GW2 in 6-7 years? gliders and mounts..............

I can't remember what happened, I think some major guys left the company when GW2 was released. edit: yeah it was two co-founders that left. I'm pretty sure that made a huge difference.

[Trise.2865]

Wanna do something for ArenaNet? Then do something for ArenaNet.

[Khisanth.2948]

@Abelisk.4527 said:Have every player spend $1000 on Gems xP

Based on the info they have released it is more like a mismanagement issue. More money would simply delay the inevitable.

[Ashen.2907]

@Leo G.4501 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:To the naysayers... I challenge any of you to come up with better ideas to increase revenue so the game can grow and prosper years to come. I'll be more than happy to discuss them, so let's see what y'all got!

This is one reason I harshly criticize these forums, because people are very willing to

literally

try to silence people for posting ideas or suggestions. It's one thing to criticize a suggestion as bad, it's a whole other thing to dismiss it and tell people to go away, stop posting or report your posts. I mean, quite a few posts in this thread should be reported as not constructive or off topic.

Derailing a thread is against the forum rules and I've had my posts deleted for that very reason. It's not even that hard to protect your post from being off-topic. Just make part of your post about the topic.

As for monetizing their game better, I'd say simply asking players what they want to see or at the very least, look at some low-hanging fruit and get some bucks out of it. People have asked for capes since the beginning. Figure that kitten out and put some backpiece capes in this game (might give me a reason to use those bulky shoulder pieces if they hang from them properly). And this isn't me suggesting something to counter some new financial trend, I've been suggesting stuff that I'd buy for ages.

Agreed.

I think a solid approach to continue to make money as a business is to produce things that people want to buy.

[Psycoprophet.8107]

Unfortunately there’s nothing us players can do for arenanet regarding their circumstances. One of two things happens now.1 gw2’s growth stays stagnant from lack of support and dies off or 2 they focus on it and it’s growth as a main priority and only try and branch to new projects when their structurally and financially able to due so without negatively impacting the support of gw development. Choice is between nsoft and arenet I presume.it isnt our responsibility to aid them in their business troubles.

[Leo G.4501]

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Leo G.4501 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:To the naysayers... I challenge any of you to come up with better ideas to increase revenue so the game can grow and prosper years to come. I'll be more than happy to discuss them, so let's see what y'all got!

This is one reason I harshly criticize these forums, because people are very willing to

literally

try to silence people for posting ideas or suggestions. It's one thing to criticize a suggestion as bad, it's a whole other thing to dismiss it and tell people to go away, stop posting or report your posts. I mean, quite a few posts in this thread should be reported as not constructive or off topic.

Derailing a thread is against the forum rules and I've had my posts deleted for that very reason. It's not even that hard to protect your post from being off-topic. Just make part of your post about the topic.

As for monetizing their game better, I'd say simply asking players what they want to see or at the very least, look at some low-hanging fruit and get some bucks out of it. People have asked for capes since the beginning. Figure that kitten out and put some backpiece capes in this game (might give me a reason to use those bulky shoulder pieces if they hang from them properly). And this isn't me suggesting something to counter some new financial trend, I've been suggesting stuff that I'd buy for ages.

Agreed.

I think a solid approach to continue to make money as a business is to produce things that people want to buy.

But would you buy a cape? Your answer is, yes you would, if it's of a reasonable price lol

[Ashen.2907]

@Leo G.4501 said:

@Ashen.2907 said:

@Leo G.4501 said:

@Swagger.1459 said:To the naysayers... I challenge any of you to come up with better ideas to increase revenue so the game can grow and prosper years to come. I'll be more than happy to discuss them, so let's see what y'all got!

This is one reason I harshly criticize these forums, because people are very willing to

literally

try to silence people for posting ideas or suggestions. It's one thing to criticize a suggestion as bad, it's a whole other thing to dismiss it and tell people to go away, stop posting or report your posts. I mean, quite a few posts in this thread should be reported as not constructive or off topic.

Derailing a thread is against the forum rules and I've had my posts deleted for that very reason. It's not even that hard to protect your post from being off-topic. Just make part of your post about the topic.

As for monetizing their game better, I'd say simply asking players what they want to see or at the very least, look at some low-hanging fruit and get some bucks out of it. People have asked for capes since the beginning. Figure that kitten out and put some backpiece capes in this game (might give me a reason to use those bulky shoulder pieces if they hang from them properly). And this isn't me suggesting something to counter some new financial trend, I've been suggesting stuff that I'd buy for ages.

Agreed.

I think a solid approach to continue to make money as a business is to produce things that people want to buy.

But would you buy a cape? Your answer is, yes you would, if it's of a reasonable price lol

I would buy a cape. Probably pay for guildies that couldn't afford it to get one as well (assuming that it could be decorated with our guild symbol).

[Gaile Gray.6029]

There have been quite a few threads created on the topic of recent news from ArenaNet.

I am sure you've read our update, but if not, please do. Then, we ask that you please feel free to use this thread to share your thoughts or discuss things with your fellow forum members.

As with any merging of threads, some minor continuity issues may arise. But merging is preferable to the redundancy of comments across multiple threads, and it does offer a better place for a meaningful discussion.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

@Squirrel.6318 said:I feel like they haven't really listened to our community. They don't really cater to the community. I've known them since GW1 prophecies came out. Gaile gray has been the ONLY one that has consistently reported or talked to the community for all these long years.

I was a hardcore supporter for them during the GW1 years, defended them so many times, but since GW2 came out, I definitely do not like the company anymore. There aren't really any major improvements to the game. Regarding major improvements, GW1 had alliances and faction wars when Factions came out, and then Nightfall had the hero system. Then EOTN added a whole bunch of content + the dungeons, I believe there were like 20 of them.

What did we get in GW2 in 6-7 years? gliders and mounts..............

I can't remember what happened, I think some major guys left the company when GW2 was released. edit: yeah it was two co-founders that left. I'm pretty sure that made a huge difference.

Those 'two co-founders' (both left ArenaNet and went to work at NCSoft West and subsequently left a year later) left ArenaNet long (2008) before Guild Wars 2 was released.You can easily find this information in the GW2 Wiki, the GW Wiki, or even Wikipedia.Thus, probably didn't make a 'huge difference'.

[Aryan Arlande.6184]

Proposition : Gamers march, once a week, maybe

[Neural.1824]

If I read this correctly, current projects that have been announced for Guild Wars 2 are not being dropped. Would love some clarification on what counts as "announced", because in spite of the issues I've had with it personally, I would love to see the big overhaul for WvW finished.

[Squirrel.6318]

@Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

@Squirrel.6318 said:I feel like they haven't really listened to our community. They don't really cater to the community. I've known them since GW1 prophecies came out. Gaile gray has been the ONLY one that has consistently reported or talked to the community for all these long years.

I was a hardcore supporter for them during the GW1 years, defended them so many times, but since GW2 came out, I definitely do not like the company anymore. There aren't really any major improvements to the game. Regarding major improvements, GW1 had alliances and faction wars when Factions came out, and then Nightfall had the hero system. Then EOTN added a whole bunch of content + the dungeons, I believe there were like 20 of them.

What did we get in GW2 in 6-7 years? gliders and mounts..............

I can't remember what happened, I think some major guys left the company when GW2 was released. edit: yeah it was two co-founders that left. I'm pretty sure that made a huge difference.

Those 'two co-founders' (both left ArenaNet and went to work at NCSoft West and subsequently left a year later) left ArenaNet long (2008) before Guild Wars 2 was released.You can easily find this information in the GW2 Wiki, the GW Wiki, or even Wikipedia.

Thus, probably didn't make a 'huge difference'.

You mean the opposite, this means they most likely did not have any part of GW2, which could be the reason why GW1 was way better developed and planned out better. The development of GW2 has been an absolute mess. While GW1 was clearly planned and developed more professionally.

[psyt.9415]

edited must have been referring to another thread that was merged into mine hard to figure out where my thread begins and another ends

[Bast.7253]

@"Swagger.1459" said:To the naysayers... I challenge any of you to come up with better ideas to increase revenue so the game can grow and prosper years to come. I'll be more than happy to discuss them, so let's see what y'all got!

Well, it feels like they've devoted quite a number of resources and staff to those other projects. So hopefully, aside from yet another "restructure" in regards to teams and what not, they can put content out at a faster pace. With new content comes new gem store items, new items that people will most likely be able to buy with gem to gold conversion. More people satisfied with the game and spending more in general. They really haven't done as many mount skins as I was expecting. We get the occasional pack of random mount skins, but many of them are fairly close to the original with a slight pattern change and the ones that aren't are locked behind those in an rng system. So, I can't imagine those are selling all that great.

I think making wiser decisions with resources and fully focusing and investing in Guild Wars 2 would increase revenue on its own. More time spent on the one game that earns most of the money seems like kind of a no-brainer.

If you think about purely gemstore items in regards to how they earn their revenue, the more things players want in the gemstore the more money they're going to make. They have a novelties and novelties preview tab, so they can add a plethora of anything from chairs, to kites, to combat tonics if they wanted. I really think they've underestimated the desire for combat tonics so far. They will soon have 7 mounts in the game, and we receive one unique mount maybe every few months for 1 mount. I.e. Warforged and fox jackal, lion griffon, goat springer, armadillo beetle. These are all top gem items that plenty of people have spent money on, myself included. The more of these items you make, the more money you're going to make. Just look at WoW's mount system and how many mount skins they've sold. It just hasn't gotten nearly the attention I was expecting considering the opportunity.

I think in general, the issue is that they've thinned their resources and personnel out so much that they've jeopardized the one game that's earning them all the money. If they shift all of their focus back to it, increase productivity, create more content whether it's gemstore, living story, wvw, raids, fractals, expansions, or current events and biweekly gemstore updates they will see an increase. But right now the people left on Guild Wars 2 are probably just scraping by with, probably a very tight schedule and very fine-tuned workflow just to keep up the pace they have with little leeway. They haven't created opportunities to earn money because they've been struggling to much to create what they have in the time that they have. Honestly, it may not be a huge boost, but I think if they ever got around to creating player housing and revamped their decoration system, including adding furniture sets/decorations in the gem store, they could probably earn quite a bit of revenue that way. Perhaps the issue is less that they need to diversify with games, and more that they need to figure out ways to diversify within one game. There's infusions they could make and add to the gemstore. There's a lot they could do just with Guild Wars 2, in my opinion, but with the workload they've had and the people they've had it probably hasn't been possible.

Despite the updated response, this will have an impact on Guild Wars 2, whether it's temporary restructuring halting the speed at which content is delivered due to team reorganization, or just ideas that they want to incorporate or scrap due to budget cuts or whatever. But I think, in the long run, after everything gets sorted out, putting in the effort to diversify and create more opportunities within the one solid game they have then revenue may see a pretty decent boost. And obviously, I'm not implying that they put 70% focus into the gemstore and the other 30 maintaining what they have, but as it stands without more frequent content in multiple areas and the most frequent changes to the gemstore being the return of old items with the occasional new outfit or gathering tool.. they aren't really creating more opportunities to entice players into spending money.

[Squirrel.6318]

Players will spend money on an expansion, if one is ever made, that is a guaranteed for most players. If an expansion was announced right now, I would pre-order it this very minute. The gem store however, I personally would not spend any money on it unless there is a really good sale which there is never. I can only imagine rich high income people spending money on the gem store. You don't get much out of it, except mostly cosmetics, but there are already so many skins in the game and you can mix and match and dye, so there isn't much point to buying cosmetics. And most skins cost way too much compared to other games.

If they want to make money off the gemstores, the key is giving good sales. Not this 20% off or 30% off BS, give 50%–70%. That'll make players buy gems to buy that skin or item. If there was 70% off the make-over kit, i'd spend the damn $13 CAD right now to buy gems to buy that kit. Not this ridiculous "20% off!!" Such a cheap greedy marketing scheme. Or those ridiculous kits that are like 3500 gems 59% off pay only 1600 gems!!! That's still like $30 for what, 2 bag slots, and what not.

[psyt.9415]

@Bloodstealer.5978 said:OP.. I have already posted comments to the kind of posts like yours that appeared in other threads, but I will give it another go..Set up your own business launch a product and sit back and hope that product keeps you afloat and moving forward forever.. maybe then you will realise ANET have a responsibility to their business, their employees, shareholders and maybe even a little to us players to ensure that the business remains viable. That means new projects need to be identified, new ideas tried out. Some will work and many wont, that is how it works. Do you think GW2 was just bank rolled by ANET off the back of a previous product that was beginning to show signs it had seen to many winters, what do you think should happen when blips occur in revenue do you allow it to become not just a blip but potentially a growing trend..Do you -

A - Go bury your head in the sand and hope by tomorrow all will be good again in the world, business as usual.B - Ask anyone and everyone to offer you charity in the hope it plugs the deepening hole that the revenue stream is pouring down.or maybeC - Plan ahead, take action, look into other ideas and new products that the company can add to its portfolio that might generate new additional revenue streams so as to not to continue to place so much reliance on a 6yr old product that is inevitably going to be faced with decline if it hasn't already.Sorry but the worst thing any business can do is stand still imo and trust to luck.

As for your hard earned dollars.. yep they are hard earned, but you chose to use them to buy something which you deemed of value to you.. that hard earned dollar isn't yours any longer it is ANET's.. cos you know they also worked hard to earn it... believe it or not ANET is a business with overheads, as is NC Soft, they are not charities set up to provide you with your fun fix and from the point you agreed to buy anything from them that is the last time you have any say in what the business does with that dollar.You may not like any particular facet of the business, whether that be NC Soft, ANET, Blizzard, Activision, Turbine or whatever/whoever, they may not like you but you choose to put money into the coffers, it is up to ANET/NC Soft as to how it gets spent, what it is spent on and that includes GW2 related content or other potential projects.. you are supporting the business that provides you access to GW2. without revenue you don't get to play GW2 period. Similarly if the business cant remain viable cos a 6yr old product is beginning to show signs of decline those other projects might just of been a lifeline to many employees throughout ANET/NC Soft and vice vera.. some of them proved to not be viable, others may still be in the pipeline.. we have no idea how or what effects they may or may not of had on GW2 other than the fact that if new products were never to be looked into there wont be a GW2 anyway cos they all have relevance to the business viability as a whole.

I disagree. Lately and its an increasing trend, companies in the gaming industry are chasing new markets ie. Mobile, Battle Royale, Card games and that's their prerogative it needs to be done to secure new revenue streams. But they need realize that if they are not re-investing in their core market they may lose that market while trying to chase the bird in the trees... pretty simple but you see it with EA, Activision/ Blizz and Square and I would say most likely Anet as well with this news. You can defend it all you want but the proof is in reality of the current layoffs in the game industry. If your just doing the bare minimum ie. sliding in a LS every 3 months and releasing new cash shop items while funnelling most of your resources some where else.... you may not be doing enough to keep the customers you do have happy. Gaming companies have been failing miserably at striking a balance in new projects and keeping their core market happy for the last couple of years and the result has been layoffs across the gaming sector. I'm not telling them how to spend their money... i'm telling them how to keep me and others like me and this content cadence is not enough sadly for me. The fact they have those resources available but aren't allocating them to keep their current player base happy is a shame. They can do what they want I don't really care and if its good enough for you that's great but I go where i'm having fun and that may not be this game the way things are going. They can care or not but that's my honest feedback.

[Bast.7253]

@Cyninja.2954 said:

@Erasculio.2914 said:And notice how ArenaNet is promising they won't cancel the announced content - but no word on long term plans. We may get a season 5 (with how many episodes? And what about the quality of each episode?), but after that?

They said GW2 is not affected and season 4 and 5 is still on schedule. Either show proof of this not being the case, or stop making assumptions.

To be fair, they said that we will get season 4 and season 5 as promised, not that they are on schedule. You can assume that with episode 6 and presumably the first two episodes of Season 5 already being in development, that they may not be affected in terms of the cadence. Because depending on their long-term plans and the fact that they have gone with a very linear story this season which may carry into the next, one minor change in what they had planned much further down the road may cause them to have to revisit some of these earlier episodes to make adjustments. Simply put, they promised that we will get the episodes, but not that we will get them at the rather unpredictable pace that we have. And we also don't know what Mike Z was referring to when he mentioned season 5 receiving expansion-level content with living story. If that expansion-level content consists of some feature that now has to be scrapped, reworked, or pushed for a later episode due to restructuring or resource allocation, it may have a serious impact on not only the schedule of releases but potentially the quality if said feature was meant to be a showcase feature like the Beetle was with Long Live the Lich.

Everyone is making assumptions here, because that's all you really can do at this point. I wouldn't be so quick at dismissing other people's concerns.