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Reddit's AMA with Chris Whiteside

245

Comments

  • RizelStarRizelStar Member UncommonPosts: 2,773
    Originally posted by nationalcity

    lol, so much for GW2 not having a gear grind next time I hear one person say how GW2 is so different because it doesn't have a gear treadmill I'm going to point them directly to this AMA............

     

    You mark my words by the time full ascended is in your not gonna be able to do anything without a full set....

     

    It's going to just as elitist as every other MMO out there.......

    What's sad is you are almost helping those people out if you read the answers.

     

    Sorry for double post :/

    I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.

    I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.

    P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)

    Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.

  • Zeus.CMZeus.CM Member, Newbie CommonPosts: 1,788

    E6:Fractals have become the end-all for making your character stronger. Players are vanishing from maps everywhere to grind grind grind for the now-strongest items they can get ahold of. It's disruptive to the community, the fun, and the manifesto. What is being done about this?

    This ties back to what i was saying earlier in which Ascended Gear and really any progression related reward mechanism that impacts the world globally should be introduced (Where possible) across the game and inside the different type of player's activities specifically. Allowing players to continue doing the things they love without focusing player migration to a specific part of the world. The introduction of the Ascended reward in one part of the game was a mistake and one that i don't want to make again.

    Soon Ascended Gear will adhere to these rules.

    Chris

     
    Arenanet admited to have made mistake by introducing new tier to be obtainable in a single dungeon of the game. That is good, and we can be sure they will fix that and introduce new ways of getting this tier of gear-.
     
    ...

    Players in WvW will be able to acquire Ascended items within that area of the game soon.

    Chris

     
  • RizelStarRizelStar Member UncommonPosts: 2,773
    Originally posted by Zeus.CM

    E6:Fractals have become the end-all for making your character stronger. Players are vanishing from maps everywhere to grind grind grind for the now-strongest items they can get ahold of. It's disruptive to the community, the fun, and the manifesto. What is being done about this?

    This ties back to what i was saying earlier in which Ascended Gear and really any progression related reward mechanism that impacts the world globally should be introduced (Where possible) across the game and inside the different type of player's activities specifically. Allowing players to continue doing the things they love without focusing player migration to a specific part of the world. The introduction of the Ascended reward in one part of the game was a mistake and one that i don't want to make again.

    Soon Ascended Gear will adhere to these rules.

    Chris

     
    Arenanet admited to have made mistake by introducing new tier to be obtainable in a single dungeon of the game. That is good, and we can be sure they will fix that and introduce new ways of getting this tier of gear-.
     
    ...

    Players in WvW will be able to acquire Ascended items within that area of the game soon.

    Chris

     

    Yea that was actually said awhile back as well, I believe I noted that sometime today.

    I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.

    I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.

    P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)

    Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.

  • MaephistoMaephisto Member Posts: 632

    Hopefully this puts a lot of fears to rest.  His answers seemed legit and were well thought out.  There will be, however, some people who want to see the worst in everything and still bitch and moan.

    As for his reluctance to answer some questions without further clarification.........can you blame him?  The outspoken minority is not known for taking "partial information" correctly.  That is why you never get any solid info on new content/updates until it's ready to deploy.   Kinda shot our own foot on that one.

    image

  • romanator0romanator0 Member Posts: 2,382
    I really hope people didn't expect there to be no vertical progression at all eventually introduced into GW2. It was confirmed before the game's launch that ArenaNet would be raising the level cap with expansions.

    image

  • KhinRuniteKhinRunite Member Posts: 879
    It's true that had they released Ascended items at launch, there would be no drama. They overestimated the MMO gamer's patience and understanding.
  • HomituHomitu Member UncommonPosts: 2,030
    Originally posted by fiontar

    So far, very disappointed with the AMA. there are many good questions there, even after weeding out all the chaff, but in three hours very few answers. It almost seems as if every answer needs approval from the higher ups and maybe has to be parsed by a lawyer before they can answer a question.

    I really hope they answer the questions assembled on "that unofficial GW2 fan site". A lot of good questions, most of which have nothing to do with Ascended gear and most of which I'd really like to see an answer for.

    Oh he's definitely consulting with other developers from various departments for most of the responses.  Either that or he's really mulling over how he wants to word them.  

    That said, I think his answers have been solid enough thus far and he has promised to continue responding late into the night, even after he gets home.  

  • GurstenGursten Member Posts: 5
    Originally posted by HorrorScope
    Originally posted by PaRoXiTiC

    The crying will never stop. This is exactly how an MMO should be. Gear released throughought an entire year and you taking some play days to farm/grind for the gear. Its not like your grinding your life away.

    People please go back to your consoles. We are so sick of hearing you cry about how it takes to long to get items in an MMO. Please, again, go away. Go play something else if you have a problem with it.

    We can since it's no different.

    Imo their game can't compete on a dungeon level with the best dungeon/instance based mmo's.

    This was the games signature (horizontal) that and open world de's. In a couple months now they have gear progression and almost all level 80's for PvE are running a dungeon. This is in line with the likes of Failcom, no joke. No one, but no one would have thought this was possible at release and anything suggesting it would have been called the biggest troll ever at mmorpg.

     

    They're gonna make it - they need more time. Competition is good for us customers, but it's harsh for any gaming company Nonetheless it gives them ideas. RIFT did good releasing their expansion. They added level scaling system to their game.

    ANET is trying hard to give us the game we want or they think we want. Ppl complained about the lack of high level content, they've added some and now others(hopefully not the same ppl!!) complain about the grind that comes with it. So yeah it's a lil harder than expected, for us players and for them devs. For me it's still the best mmo game I've played since UO DAOC SWG and L2. Not that I didnt love LOTRO or SWTOR.

    Keep going ANet, I want some more GW2 new stuff.

    Complaining about things that go wrong is good too as it make the devs work harder and we get the best for our money.

  • killion81killion81 Member UncommonPosts: 995
    I give them credit for openly admitting they made mistakes.  A LOT of people read that response and most people don't like saying "I was wrong".
  • NailzzzNailzzz Member UncommonPosts: 515

         Here is one of the bigger problems i see with arenanet going foward (aside from completetly destroyed credibility). Adding constant power creep to a sub game is a good way to keep people playing and paying you the $15 a month. The more money people play and the longer they play, they more likely they will keep playing and you dont have to worry so much about losing your cash flow, unless you really screw things up with an update. Attracting new players is secondary overall to them since they still have cash flow.

         Now the Buy 2 Play model means that in order to continue making your game profittable, you need to make it accessible for players looking for a new game. If a potential new player looks into your game and sees that it wont take forever to reach a comparable power lvl to the vets, they may give it a go. If they see that it will possibly take them months or years if ever to reach the point where they can be on the same footing as the vets, they wont bother.

         As it stands now, sure the grind is nothing especially compared to alot of other mmo's. But give them a couple years. at the rate they release content it will get out of hand quickly if this last patch is any indication.

         Unless they make the cash shop the primary form of funds for the game (and do you REALLY want that?), vertical progression and grinding end game or rng will actually kill this games profitability.

         Oh well, at the very least it confirms to me that i will not be investing any more money on this franchise. Such a shame.

  • SilentstormSilentstorm Member UncommonPosts: 1,126

    What you got here is people who are horizontal basically not wanting to share the game. Kinda selfish and childish especially considering the vertical and hardcore/pvp outnumber you greatly. I said in a different post I like a game that isn't one dimensional where you have the {option} to do whatever you like. Alot of people say vanilla wow was like that to a extent it's also been labeled as the best mmorpg during that time. So I won't knock a company trying to do something like that.

     

    Problem is you have people who are lazy and selfish who would exactly do just that knock the company. Want it all for themselves and screw the rest of the population of the game. That's fail and if you really want to act that way just quit the game you will be replaced with someone less selfish in mentality. If they want to make a game that suits everybody let them maybe they can pull it off. But don't play god all seeing and down the people for trying to make everyone happy.

     

    Reason I'm singling out the Horizontal gamers is because vertical fan base didn't cry this hard. They did cry and bitch but not to the extent the horizontal gamers are. Also you don't see any major publication complaining now that GW2 put vertical content in. They actually have gotten praise for doing it. But before this every pc magazine from NYC to China bashed them. This very site was hard on them for lack of end game. They responded and save the army of carebears crying the media has not attacked them. You tubers haven't I would know I'm cool with and subbed to majority of them. 

     

    Most you tubers were mad more about plinx than ascended gear lol...........

  • SilentstormSilentstorm Member UncommonPosts: 1,126
    Originally posted by romanator0
    I really hope people didn't expect there to be no vertical progression at all eventually introduced into GW2. It was confirmed before the game's launch that ArenaNet would be raising the level cap with expansions.

    Also something alot of people failed to read lol................But that is on the mainpage too.

  • observerobserver Member RarePosts: 3,685
    Originally posted by QSatu
    So far this AMA is what I feared the most. Everyone will keep screaming about gear and all other aspects of the game will be ignored. How many times do we ned to hear that Ascended gear is here to stay and we should deal with it?

    I agree so much.  This whole Ascended fiasco is going to overshadow the other aspects of the game that need more attention.

  • clumsytoes44clumsytoes44 Member UncommonPosts: 463
    Imo the biggest screw up they did was limiting how you could get ascended gear, making running FoTM did not score much imo. If they would have made craftable version's, and pvp version's from the get go, I think alot of this firestorm could have been negated or atleast deminished.
  • avalon1000avalon1000 Member UncommonPosts: 791
    It's not a grind to me because I don't care. My level 80 ranger has a mix of exotic and rare and I am just fine with that. I still did the Karka events and got along just fine. Sometimes I think we make our own grind in life....
  • HonkieHonkie Member Posts: 152
    Originally posted by Zeus.CM

    The problem is that they destroyed their manifesto with this patch and raised concern among their loyal GW1 playerbase (which is a major percentage, including me), that's why so many questions are about that gear.

    I found that the discussion on Reddit put my concerns to rest.  The part where Anet restated that they were going to continue to introduce ascended gear and have gear increases on tier gear in the future was quite soothing  Or maybe it was clicking the uninstall button that was soothing.  Either way, no more concerns about it and I feel much better.  I was part of that playerbase too, from GW1 with every xpac, and had been looking to stay with GW2 for just as long.

    We all know they wouldn't have addressed it if they didn't have significant measurable outcry about it.  That 10,000+ post thread in their forums was part of it.  The posts I've seen about people not being able to find groups for anything other than FotM is another part.  The posts about "where did everyone go" leveling threads are part of it.  I'm think they have a significant measured decrease in logins to the game as well, but that's just speculation on my part.  But now they're committed.  They made it very clear in their statements today that they have changed their direction and they will NOT be going back to the philosophy that sold 2 million boxes of the game.  I guess only time will tell if the new players they can try to attract will be as lucrative as all the players they just burned and lost.

    NCSoft, the parent of Anet, has had their stock dropping fairly noticably though.  I can only assume that this drama with Anet is a part of it, since that will affect corporate earnings and investors are probably concerned.  I would be, since we've seen that with Star Wars NGE players WILL simply drop a game and not come back if they get angry enough over a change in development direction getting patched live, and there is the potential to have a product that can't turn a profit.  I'm not saying this is as bad as that, just that it shows that it's possible to destroy a product in one patch with a bad enough reaction and investors undoubtedly keep that in mind when investing in gaming companies.

  • Size-TwelveSize-Twelve Member UncommonPosts: 478


    Originally posted by avalon1000
    It's not a grind to me because I don't care. My level 80 ranger has a mix of exotic and rare and I am just fine with that. I still did the Karka events and got along just fine. Sometimes I think we make our own grind in life....


    Such a rare moment of clarity on a forum so often full of shit and piss. Thank you.

  • SleepyfishSleepyfish Member Posts: 363

    "we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

    In other words, we are going to lie to you  now and say we always intended to be a WOW clone and that our Manifesto was total BS the entire time, god its only going to get worse now, if you don't like grinding gear I advise you get a refund while you still can.

  • ThupliThupli Member RarePosts: 1,318
    Originally posted by Sleepyfish

    "we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

    In other words, we are going to lie to you  now and say we always intended to be a WOW clone and that our Manifesto was total BS the entire time, god its only going to get worse now, if you don't like grinding gear I advise you get a refund while you still can.

    Before this patch there was vertical progression of gear in the game.  Once you hit 80 you had to gear up blue to green to exotic.  Why weren't you screaming about it and calling them liars then?

  • RizelStarRizelStar Member UncommonPosts: 2,773
    Originally posted by Honkie
    Originally posted by Zeus.CM

    The problem is that they destroyed their manifesto with this patch and raised concern among their loyal GW1 playerbase (which is a major percentage, including me), that's why so many questions are about that gear.

    I found that the discussion on Reddit put my concerns to rest.  The part where Anet restated that they were going to continue to introduce ascended gear and have gear increases on tier gear in the future was quite soothing  Or maybe it was clicking the uninstall button that was soothing.  Either way, no more concerns about it and I feel much better.  I was part of that playerbase too, from GW1 with every xpac, and had been looking to stay with GW2 for just as long.

    We all know they wouldn't have addressed it if they didn't have significant measurable outcry about it.  That 10,000+ post thread in their forums was part of it.  The posts I've seen about people not being able to find groups for anything other than FotM is another part.  The posts about "where did everyone go" leveling threads are part of it.  I'm think they have a significant measured decrease in logins to the game as well, but that's just speculation on my part.  But now they're committed.  They made it very clear in their statements today that they have changed their direction and they will NOT be going back to the philosophy that sold 2 million boxes of the game.  I guess only time will tell if the new players they can try to attract will be as lucrative as all the players they just burned and lost.

    NCSoft, the parent of Anet, has had their stock dropping fairly noticably though.  I can only assume that this drama with Anet is a part of it, since that will affect corporate earnings and investors are probably concerned.  I would be, since we've seen that with Star Wars NGE players WILL simply drop a game and not come back if they get angry enough over a change in development direction getting patched live, and there is the potential to have a product that can't turn a profit.  I'm not saying this is as bad as that, just that it shows that it's possible to destroy a product in one patch with a bad enough reaction and investors undoubtedly keep that in mind when investing in gaming companies.

    Not gonna lie I might of misread the answers in reddit but I didn't see that statement, I don't mind if I'm wrong cause it doesn't effect me, but where did they state that?

    I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.

    I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.

    P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)

    Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.

  • SleepyfishSleepyfish Member Posts: 363
    Originally posted by Thupli
    Originally posted by Sleepyfish

    "we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

    In other words, we are going to lie to you  now and say we always intended to be a WOW clone and that our Manifesto was total BS the entire time, god its only going to get worse now, if you don't like grinding gear I advise you get a refund while you still can.

    Before this patch there was vertical progression of gear in the game.  Once you hit 80 you had to gear up blue to green to exotic.  Why weren't you screaming about it and calling them liars then?

    No you didn't those stat increases were marginal, Ascended not only ups the bar on the stats, it also creates a mandatory window to do the dungeons because of Agony. Hell even if the stats were the same adding agony alone creates its own treadmill. Not to mention the boost it will give in WvWvW. Before this patch you would have passively picked up applicable greens and blues anyway just by playing the game. Ascended gear forces the issue and makes what used to be optional dungeons into a mandatory grind. I wont waste too much time arguing about it since frankly I am looking/waiting for other games now. If you are happy with it fine by me.

  • RizelStarRizelStar Member UncommonPosts: 2,773
    Originally posted by Sleepyfish
    Originally posted by Thupli
    Originally posted by Sleepyfish

    "we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

    In other words, we are going to lie to you  now and say we always intended to be a WOW clone and that our Manifesto was total BS the entire time, god its only going to get worse now, if you don't like grinding gear I advise you get a refund while you still can.

    Before this patch there was vertical progression of gear in the game.  Once you hit 80 you had to gear up blue to green to exotic.  Why weren't you screaming about it and calling them liars then?

    No you didn't those stat increases were marginal, Ascended not only ups the bar on the stats, it also creates a mandatory window to do the dungeons because of Agony. Hell even if the stats were the same adding agony alone creates its own treadmill. Not to mention the boost it will give in WvWvW. Before this patch you would have passively picked up applicable greens and blues anyway just by playing the game. Ascended gear forces the issue and makes what used to be optional dungeons into a mandatory grind. I wont waste too much time arguing about it since frankly I am looking/waiting for other games now. If you are happy with it fine by me.

    Agony will affect WvWvW or the ring and backpack?

    I might get banned for this. - Rizel Star.

    I'm not afraid to tell trolls what they [need] to hear, even if that means for me to have an forced absence afterwards.

    P2P LOGIC = If it's P2P it means longevity, overall better game, and THE BEST SUPPORT EVER!!!!!(Which has been rinsed and repeated about a thousand times)

    Common Sense Logic = P2P logic is no better than F2P Logic.

  • kamenriderkamenrider Member Posts: 41

    So good, better, best and something unique/awesome looking for hardcore players not enough?  Is it because you can convert gems and buy a set of exotics cheap that made acquiring "best" too easy?  Can you buy ascended items or the mats on the TP?  Is it to increase cash flow for the game?

     

  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426
    Originally posted by Sleepyfish

    "we have never said there would be no vertical progression. We do intent to focus on horizontal but we will have vertical progression moving forward with the focus on zero grind and a very low power curve."

    In other words, we are going to lie to you  now and say we always intended to be a WOW clone and that our Manifesto was total BS the entire time, god its only going to get worse now, if you don't like grinding gear I advise you get a refund while you still can.

    FYI, originally GW2 was supposed to have unlimited leveling with diminishing returns. It was really never meant to be a horizontal game like GW1, just a game that's mostly about skill. The problem with Ascended gear is currently that it's doing vertical progression wrong.

    Looks like the AMA ended. Too bad he didn't answer all of the official forums questions, but well, there was a lot of them. The answers were a bit better than I expected.

  • mazutmazut Member UncommonPosts: 988
    Originally posted by Xiaoki

    Really should have kept his mouth shut, these comments are not going to help the situation at all.


    Biggest mistake was saying "we have never said there would be no vertical progression".


    Then he says they intend to focus on horizontal progression but will have vertical progression. Slowly rolling out a tier over the course a year then introducing another higher tier doesnt count.


    But he also insists that they design the game with everything having little to no grind. How can anyone lie that badly with a straight face? Its so laughably bad you cant get angry at it.

    Even if this is not exactly what most if not all was expecting, this gear is not hard to get and dont need months in grind. Which is the biggest difference to other MMOs. You can play FotM without it and its needed only if you want challenge. Also The actual stats are really not that big again compared to other MMOs where the next set of items has much higher difference in stats increase.

    I'm also a bit disapointed, but on other hand this give the "grind" for some people to keep playing for a while. And even I dont like grind, sometimes its ok in small doses. So far it looks like to get Ascended really dont lead to countless repeats and month of doing the same.

    If they keep it that way its tolerable and wont make me quit. I grind for achievements and specific skins, there is actually no difference. Just another thing to do.

     

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