Breaking News From ArenaNet HQ - Public Skill Testing & New Event
SodOffShotgun
I dont know why some of you panic whenever skill change is mentioned. It's been 3 months since the last non test skill changes. You'd think people would want change at this point...
BoredJoe
Just to add my bit of negativity
It seems kind of pointless the prolonged skill change testing. Chapter 4 is due out in April (?) which will most likely have a new set of over-powered skills. By the time the Nightfall skill changes come in every1 will be talking about the next chapter and most likely trying it out in a WPE.
Thumbs up for the Canthan event though. New events are always fun.
It seems kind of pointless the prolonged skill change testing. Chapter 4 is due out in April (?) which will most likely have a new set of over-powered skills. By the time the Nightfall skill changes come in every1 will be talking about the next chapter and most likely trying it out in a WPE.
Thumbs up for the Canthan event though. New events are always fun.
Thom Bangalter
wtb automated tournies, not another pve event. unless there are hats.
Ugly_Jim
Why are there skill testing weekends at all? How about some permanent changes and make emergency tweaks when necessary?
But I'm amazed that even more thought is being put into the skill balance. This means that even more skills will be balanced, which is fantastic. I would have been content with the old patch being reapplied minus the nerfing-RaO-into-oblivion part.
But I'm amazed that even more thought is being put into the skill balance. This means that even more skills will be balanced, which is fantastic. I would have been content with the old patch being reapplied minus the nerfing-RaO-into-oblivion part.
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by drekmonger
GvG tournament delay = sad me. And possibly a mass revolt (or exodus) from the GvG crowd.
It would have been superior just to run the Nightfall championship as the original and Factions championships were run, holding back the automated tournaments until they were ready. The GvG game is bleeding players, in my unscientific estimation, because of this delay. There's a possibility that many will not return. HvH Ladder news? |
Izzy is very anxious to get the HvH ladder going as well. I won't say why yet, but I think it will become evident soon after it opens . . .
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Symbol
Are they going to release a list of the skill changes a few days beforehand? Considering how long it's taken to get to this point I think that isn't too much to ask.
|
I want to point out that Anet really seems to learn and adapt from their experiences. The reason why they are not just nerfing things right away when they think something is imbalanced is that they want to makes sure they accurately identify the root cause and then not overnerf things into unusability as has happened in the past. So the idea this time around is to get it right with the changed skills so that no further action on them will ever be needed, rather that to continuosly have to tweak them. It makes sense when you consider the time and effort that is required each go around for skill balances.
Relambrien
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Billiard
Izzy is very anxious to get the HvH ladder going as well. I won't say why yet, but I think it will become evident soon after it opens . . .
|
Looking forward to the reports!
Billiard
This thread is for posts relevant only to my trip to Anet. Any unconstructive rants are going to be deleted. There are already plenty of other places where posts like that are being made.
zakaria
Billiard..did you feel they are out of staff ? and it looks like they have alot of tasks on the schedule to do but the lack of resources that designing events,new expansions,new ideas...etc. make them going slow ? 
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by zakaria
Billiard..did you feel they are out of staff ? and it looks like they have alot of tasks on the schedule to do but the lack of resources that designing events,new expansions,new ideas...etc. make them going slow ?
|
They walked us through some simple steps in creating environments, monsters, players, and such. What became evident is that each is a multistep process in order to make things look polished and catch as many bugs as possible. But each step would take a week or more by one person, then be handed off to another for a week or more, and so on. So if something gets stuck early on, it can slow up the whole process for that particular part.
pug_ster
Cathan new year celebration and the triple drop week weekend is obviously a response because too many people have left Cantha for Elona. Many of you obviously seen the ghosttowns past cavalon or hzh.
Nickhimself
OMG ANET DOESN'T LOVE TYRIA OR ELONA
/sarcasm
Sound vaguely familiar with every other event that's posted, ever?
/sarcasm
Sound vaguely familiar with every other event that's posted, ever?
linh
Should this thread be temporarily stickied ?
Dzan
Billard, what does Mike Gills do on a day to day basis when the world championships or other sanctioned tournaments aren't happening?
GourangaPizza
I will looking forward to pig head hat... or maybe not...
Arcador
Cool! I will wait the skill updates! This is going to be very interesting! I hope they did some of the things many mentioned about several imba skills (and Ensing stated that in his big post).
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dzan
Billard, what does Mike Gills do on a day to day basis when the world championships or other sanctioned tournaments aren't happening?
|
Yanman.be
Who's the ex-admin?
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Yanman.be
Who's the ex-admin?
|
Cube B.
I'm curious as to see what this new "game" for the Canthan New Year will be like.
Winterfest had a snowball fight, but I'm curious to see what they have up there sleeves for this event.
I'm guessing fireworks will be involved. And lots of clothing and items of one color, probably red.
Also, perhaps special "luck" quests. If you perform a certain action you recive a blessing, but perform another one and you get hexed. You know, like if you eat candy while in a town that's celebrating, then you get increased drop rates for the next few minutes. But if you, say... kill a warthog, you get bad luck?
I think that would be interesting to see. So many possiblities for that.
Winterfest had a snowball fight, but I'm curious to see what they have up there sleeves for this event.
I'm guessing fireworks will be involved. And lots of clothing and items of one color, probably red.
Also, perhaps special "luck" quests. If you perform a certain action you recive a blessing, but perform another one and you get hexed. You know, like if you eat candy while in a town that's celebrating, then you get increased drop rates for the next few minutes. But if you, say... kill a warthog, you get bad luck?
I think that would be interesting to see. So many possiblities for that.
AuraofMana
Going around asking your relatives for money by saying, "Happy New Years!"
Now... we should get 7 days off starting from Feb 18.... some other countries do it =(
Now... we should get 7 days off starting from Feb 18.... some other countries do it =(
Count to Potato
Its year of the pig, so i want to see Oink everywhere in keaining center you cach em and get 100k !!! 
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Cube B.
I'm curious as to see what this new "game" for the Canthan New Year will be like.
Winterfest had a snowball fight, but I'm curious to see what they have up there sleeves for this event. I'm guessing fireworks will be involved. And lots of clothing and items of one color, probably red. Also, perhaps special "luck" quests. If you perform a certain action you recive a blessing, but perform another one and you get hexed. You know, like if you eat candy while in a town that's celebrating, then you get increased drop rates for the next few minutes. But if you, say... kill a warthog, you get bad luck? I think that would be interesting to see. So many possiblities for that. |
Cube B.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Billiard
The new game is like a road race or horse race. Not really an Asian theme I suppose. We ran it a couple of times and it was pretty cool. I'll give more details later, like the skills available and such.
|
The Race seems interesting, I wonder if races will be a permanant additon, or just for the event? Well, I probably won't find out for a while.
As for testing weekend, that will be interesting. It does give me a chance to see places and try skills I couldn't normally see or use. And it's to help balance the game, so I'm not just mindlessly killing things for no reason.
Well, I'll just have to wait and see, I guess.
SodOffShotgun
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Billiard
The new game is like a road race or horse race. Not really an Asian theme I suppose. We ran it a couple of times and it was pretty cool. I'll give more details later, like the skills available and such.
|
Jetdoc
Love the upcoming update and event. Anyone else think that our "presents" for the event may come in little red envelopes? I look forward to the Dragonball Arena, if they decide to bring that back. Strafing FTW!
I am a bit puzzled as to the permanent skill change aspect of the testing event - I hope it's done a week or so after the test event ends, and not immediately after the event. That will give the developers enough time to read the messageboards to see the community's reaction to the changes.
I am a bit puzzled as to the permanent skill change aspect of the testing event - I hope it's done a week or so after the test event ends, and not immediately after the event. That will give the developers enough time to read the messageboards to see the community's reaction to the changes.
noir0
I think it means the changes that are done on the weekend will stay, but be tweaked as nesesary after the event.
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by noir0
I think it means the changes that are done on the weekend will stay, but be tweaked as nesesary after the event.
|
sumasage
Yay New Year in Canthan. Since Canthan is base on Asian (Chinese), it only right to have a new year since the Chinese new year is coming up.
Neriandal Freit
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Billiard
What they told me is that they will tweak during the weekend as needed, based on the feedback people are giving and what they see themselves, and then the changes made will become permanent on Monday. I think they must feel they are pretty close to being done now after tweaking based on feedback from the last test and just want to double check things before keeping them.
|
xxSilhouette
Ohh finally something to happen in Cantha!!! =D That should be fun!!!
Mister_Smiley
Well its good that their going to have another event it seams that are almost done with getting the skills fixed.
As for the New event, great idea and i can't wait to see what goes on.
As for the New event, great idea and i can't wait to see what goes on.
Son of Urza
Moa Bird Racing = CHOCOBOS!
Which is awesome even if it isn't actually Moa Birds.
I like the "Public test, tweak, public test, tweak, post" method of skill balance.
Which is awesome even if it isn't actually Moa Birds.
I like the "Public test, tweak, public test, tweak, post" method of skill balance.
drekmonger
It's not a Final Fantasy Chocobo style race, more of a Mario Kart type thing.
There's a write up over on Vault concerning "Roller Beetle Races". http://gwvault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=25925
There's a write up over on Vault concerning "Roller Beetle Races". http://gwvault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=25925
Billiard
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Neriandal Freit
Hey Billiard, when are we at Guru going to be able to see your write-up of the Q/A's and what they told you and the fellow Elite sites participants?
|
Anyway I am trying to get caught up on other things now, so I am shooting to get that report out by Friday or so. Sorry for the delay, but this trip put a bunch of other stuff behind and I need to catch up before I can move forward. The trip report was halfway done as I had worked on it there, while the Dev Roundtable report will have to be created from scratch now.
sindex
Alright I need to be tough here. They honestly think that what they are doing (including the new event and way to improve the skill base via the fans) is really going to return people to GW? Are they going to try anything new and unique in getting the fans back into the game? They must be aware of the competition, especially you know who. You are the press; so press on and keep the information coming. Thank you for the info so far.
Pwny Ride
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by sindex
Alright I need to be tough here. They honestly think that what they are doing (including the new event and way to improve the skill base via the fans) is really going to return people to GW? Are they going to try anything new and unique in getting the fans back into the game? They must be aware of the competition, especially you know who. You are the press; so press on and keep the information coming. Thank you for the info so far.
|
The tengu festival was a huge hit with the fanbase, and i can see this being a huge hit too. And what 'unique' things can they do? If they TRY anything different, people will bash them with the whole 'OMGWTF WoW did this!!!1' (since WoW have done EVERYTHING).
sindex
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Pwny Ride
Dont be so harsh ffs. Theyre showing that they havent completely ignored and forgotten Cantha. You dont NEED to be tough, you WANT to be, and i can tell you this will get alot more people playing (during the event period at least).
The tengu festival was a huge hit with the fanbase, and i can see this being a huge hit too. And what 'unique' things can they do? If they TRY anything different, people will bash them with the whole 'OMGWTF WoW did this!!!1' (since WoW have done EVERYTHING). |
As I said before there are some things that A-net is aware of when it comes to forms of competition. Especially since one of them is sucking in a good amount of air from what’s going on in GW. I am not asking for big miracles, but pondering the idea that there might be space for better improvements to come. Besides what has been laid before us in events and skill balances via community. I know A-net can really pull it off, I am just wondering if they will?
Billiard
I talked to a bunch of people concerning GW and WoW. Although they don't like to talk specific numbers, several people did say that GW has been constantly growing, not losing players. After talking to the guys from France and Germany (the Spanish guys didn't chat as much since they don't feel as comfortable speaking English), I am pretty sure a lot of the GW growth is in Europe. Just look at the ladder and HA.
In addition, as a marketer I think the problem has less to do with their product and more to do with the promotion of their product. By many accounts GW is more responsive and has better mechanics than WoW, especially on the PvP side of things. WoW though has a much more mainstream following, so when someone is thinking about trying a new game, it's really common for them to know a bunch of people who play WoW. Personally I know of no one in RL that plays GW, other than the people I have met in game and then in real life. I think, and told them this, that NCSoft and ANet needs to really build up their brand and make people aware of how good GW is. I mean make some comparative ads for people, and new folks who don't have money to burn on subscriptions or time to burn on grind might decide to give GW a try first before they go for WoW. As it is now many of them don't even know that GW is an option.
Anyway all games lose players as they mature, and GW is no different. I see this all the time in XoO. But I also see a lot of new folks coming into the game as well. It's always hard to keep older players when the game no longer seems fresh and new, but ANet does try to do this with the balancing and events and tournaments. The thing is that they have a lot of irons in the fire and all of these things are complicated and take time. GW is just a couple years old and has already had two major expansions along with several minor ones. How many games have you played that have tried to do this while also constantly tweaking things to improve them, and while not changing any sort of monthly fee?
In addition, as a marketer I think the problem has less to do with their product and more to do with the promotion of their product. By many accounts GW is more responsive and has better mechanics than WoW, especially on the PvP side of things. WoW though has a much more mainstream following, so when someone is thinking about trying a new game, it's really common for them to know a bunch of people who play WoW. Personally I know of no one in RL that plays GW, other than the people I have met in game and then in real life. I think, and told them this, that NCSoft and ANet needs to really build up their brand and make people aware of how good GW is. I mean make some comparative ads for people, and new folks who don't have money to burn on subscriptions or time to burn on grind might decide to give GW a try first before they go for WoW. As it is now many of them don't even know that GW is an option.
Anyway all games lose players as they mature, and GW is no different. I see this all the time in XoO. But I also see a lot of new folks coming into the game as well. It's always hard to keep older players when the game no longer seems fresh and new, but ANet does try to do this with the balancing and events and tournaments. The thing is that they have a lot of irons in the fire and all of these things are complicated and take time. GW is just a couple years old and has already had two major expansions along with several minor ones. How many games have you played that have tried to do this while also constantly tweaking things to improve them, and while not changing any sort of monthly fee?
sindex
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Billiard
I talked to a bunch of people concerning GW and WoW. --snip--
|
For instance there are players who buy GW, only one time and have only one account. They play it for a couple of days and then let it go. Those accounts that are inactive, are hopefully not being noted by A-net in being a part of the whole? If not, are they accounting for the hours played instead of how many people are purchasing?
Keeping players is to drive home the idea of diversity in every sense. What can elder people love to do compare to that of pre-teens? I know you can’t keep everyone happy but, it’s the idea of learning from your player base, and take surveys of your fans. As well as those outside to the GW community to interview; offering more in little ways can be a good thing, even if the critics don’t agree all the time.
Going back to marketing, it can be done all they need to do is find the right representative in sales? Find new ways in introducing ways to public, in the aspect of account merchandise. An example of this is the Disney Company (poor Walt); they get there money mainly from merchandise which tops that of their amusement parks all together. Also not just improve the mechanics, but the overall lacking mechanisms that don’t gain ground with public feedback. As they say “raise the bar.”
The answer to your last Question would be Valve software. They are constantly expanding on what they can accomplish and do with their games. Even though they some major flaws in their design (“cough Steam and their mandatory updates cough”). They don’t charge as a pay as you play, but they certainly “bank” in episodic content and third party content. To me it’s a trade off between Valve and A-net; Valve provides the quality in unique gameplay and story, while A-net has a great way in dealing with accounts, mandatory updates, and mechanics.
Thank you again for your feedback.
Inde