I think Nightfall was pushed out too soon

The difference is that people who like the game don't spam the forums with why they like it.

... Wow, did you even read the post you quoted? That was the whole point. People here whine and complain regardless of what happens.

yes, you see the point I was making.

Happens, and with some database software it can happen very easily. Especially with ongoing projects where databases get fuller and fuller over time.

A simple cut and paste error can wipe out a whole section on a server.

And if the test server still looks perfect, QA might take a few days to catch it if it's 'outside the normal radar.'



I must be reading different forums. I keep seeing a lot of praise for nightfall, and only the occasional gripe.

And honestly, are you really 'rolling on the floor laughing your *** off' over disagreeing with someone? Seems a misplaced use of leet-speak there...

Nightfall be released earlier then completely finished was a great for getting much needed skills for balance in PVP.

nah. there were some bugs (missing shipment quest, dye trader quest) that frustrated me in istan, but the rest of nightfall was pretty much finished.

if there is anything to be frustrated about in nightfall, it would be the realm of torment!

(nightfall is polished)

Yes, everyone seems to get that wrong. There are at least 2 teams that work on GW. Each one alternates chapters. At first, all the teams worked on Proph. Then they split up. One polished Proph, while the other started on Factions. Then halfway through Factions, the one working on Proph started on Nightfall. Both teams have 1 whole year to make each chapter. (Trying to make a game like GW in 6 months would be insane.) And then there is probably a 3rd team that does all the events. (but I'm not 100% positive if that third team really exists)

OP, could you maybe edit your post so that it says somewhere that each game gets one year of development so we don't have this confusion?

Oh ya, and even without the elite mission and Razah, I still think Nightfall was released at a good time. Ya, there were some bugs, but all games have that, no matter how long they are developed. Plus, weren't those bugs fixed a week (at the latest) after they were discovered? And looking at that list of updates for Proph, it seems like each chapter has less and less updates and bugs, so it seems like ArenaNet is doing perfectly fine with this 1 year development per game and release a game every six months plan thing.

That is a good idea. Exept it would need to be balanced so you can't automatically create a max damage sword for your lvl 2 Koss...I know. It's just like the hero armor and the pvp weapon creation combined. You can chose what weapon you create for them and then when you make it, they auto equip it (just to make sure that only your heros use the weapons and not you). Also, the only way they can unequip their weapon is if you create another weapon for them, and then the weapon that they previously had is deleted. Also, the weapons damage is adjusted according to the hero's level. So lets say you are making a sword for Koss. At lvl 2 it is 1-2 damage. At level 3, the sword becomes 1-3 or 1-4 damage, continually going up every level. The only time you can make a max weapon for your hero is if that hero is lvl 20. And maybe you can also chose the weapons mods, but only if you unlocked it on your account?

Opps...got a little off topic...

I can't get too into it either. Not because of the story line. I'm just not down with the Mesopotamian (or whatever it is) theme. Deserts depress me. I would have liked to see it get more medieval or something. Or Nordic or something with Vikings. Or they could have to turned it into a vampyre game. A vampyre game in which you race carriages across mountains. The winner receives things like hair pieces and worn-out dentures.

But on a serious note: I really don't think they should have gone Mesopotamian/Egyptian on us.

Colour me impressed. Many other games have longer development times and are more worthy of our $50s.

You make it out as though a year of development time is something very amazing. Considering it is just new skins and a wee bit of new visuals for spells on an already preexisting frame work, it is nothing special really.

as has already been mentioned,

Prophecies had the longest dev cycle and yet was buggiest and missing most features on release



Nightfall was the best chapter of the 3 for having the *least* bugs on release

context is everything

As someone else stated, the reason you see _so much_ negative on the forums and so little positive is because those of us who love the game are actually playing it, rather than sitting on the forums complaining about it.

I loved the setting, and easily thought it was the most imaginative, most original setting to date. And I'm certainly not alone in saying so. There will always be settings that you don't care for. I, for example, hate Cantha in almost every way one can hate a setting.

You don't have to care for each and every setting that comes along, and no one forces you to buy the game if you don't like it, but there are many, many people that love Elona and that are quite happy they took Nightfall in that direction.

It is quite special because even though the engine is pre-existing, they are still adding NEW things to it.Its not just a slapdash of new graphics and sound.

Story design, Level design, monster design, audio design, Meshing, skinning, rigging, animations, compiling, recording new voices, QA, marketing, skill balance, updated lighting system

All in one year.

A few games take existing game engine frame work and its not just "new skins and a wee bit of visuals for spells".

Best example would be Gears of War using the Unreal engine or the Spiderman games using the Tony Hawk engine.

Like ive said many times before.

Guild Wars is trying to be like The Sims, with respect to expansion pack and content. Each add-on is the same basic engine but adds more and more.

Saying that the framework exists already shouldnt/doesn't devalue the work done.

you are forgetting that those games start out from scratch usually with an engine they licenced and are unfamiliar with.

they also have to start from scratch on every other aspect of the game from artwork to animations to everything else.

HERE IS A CLUE FOR YOU

GW...........

HAS AN ENGINE THEY ARE FAMILIAR WITH AND CAN IMPROVE ON THE FLY

GW HAS A VERY BIG ARTWORK/ANIMATION/EVERYTHING ELSE LIBRARY TO DRAW ON INSTEAD OF REDOING IT EVERY TIME.

THEY CAN CONCENTRATE OF IMPROVING THE GAME INSTEAD OF STARTING OVER EACH TIME.

IS THE FOG CLEARING A BIT?

think not, some players are dedicated as the WoW players, and I believe they are still waiting for something thats burning

I'd say NF was more ready then Prophecies. And with the new things such as gameplay and all, factions was worse then NF, since the Hero's work just fine... only need to be banned out of the HA map or at least push a 3 human limit on it.

No I'm not. 1 Year is (or at least, used to be) the norm for game development.
I reckon ANet beleived they could accomplish a game in a year because - look at how the client and update system works - it appears to me that GW uses its own scripting language, taking out much of the farce that could delay any other game, as well as allowing each campaign to both stand alone and link with each other.

As for the "new skins", that has to be the most foolish thing you could ever say. Most animals in the real world can be grouped into certain "families" (canines, primates etc). New skills have to be added, which isn't simply a case of fancy effects, they have to balance them out to the best of their abilities - why do you think they do the PvP or Preview events? Same goes for weapons, armour and other items. Then there are the maps. They have to design them, test them, tweak them.

And any bugs that do crop up are the ones that didn't crop up during testing. ANet can't see them coming, but at least they can correct them.

Deffo worthy of my £50 (CE ftw)