Update - 1/27/2011

I really hope this stuff took only a few minutes of one person's time.

The dervish update is LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG overdue (I know that many "o"s is annoying but I'm pretty frustrated with the time line on this crap). Holy god I can't express how late the dervish update is. I know they never set a dead line but when you say almost 12 months ago that it will be the next skill balance after the mesmer you kind of expect it out in maybe 3 months, 4 at the latest. This is full on insane how long we have waited for this dervish update, every time something else is added to the game it's just annoying now because I can't stop thinking why something else got priority over the dervish update we've been waiting almost a year for. Once or twice was excusable but we are talking about a years worth of updates which pushed the dervish under the rug.

The most annoying thing is we know the feature build won't come out until after the dervish update and the dervish update won't come out until after we get a skill preview. That means we have probably a week after we get the skill preview (which we still don't have) and then god knows how long after we get the dervish update for the feature build.

As annoyed as everyone is with all the "where's the dervish update?" posts, how about considering how annoyed people waiting for the dervish update are? They've been putting up with delays longer than people have been complaining about the lack of the update. At this point I just hope to god the dervish update is a golden mind blowing, world changing, game saving standard of epic pwnage sauce for the playability and enjoyment of the class and game in general. The bar is so RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing high for this update right now you couldn't reach it with space shuttle.

Nothing to see here, move along.

I sympathize with you(and many others). My thoughts are that they are putting off the Dervish update(again) in order to prepare for "X". X just happens to equal CNY this week. In March it will be set back to prepare for the lucky treats weekend and in April it will be put off for the Anniversary, April Fools, Dragon Fest, Wintersday in July(see a pattern?). Truth betold, I was kind of expecting this. Back in December, I figured after some bug fixes for Wintersday, they would have to turn around and start working on CNY.

The big question now is, will CNY have some surprises in store for us?

What exactly has been changed on hunter's isle?

Prolly a few minor bug fixes =]

It was about time they fixed that in Sanctum cay.
I have to try it an see how it is now.

I think that must be the record on a late bug fix. XD

I thought Sanctum Cay had some nice tactics to it that way...shame...
isnt it odd how they never fixed the "Vizier is holding the scepter" when u bring it to him anomily though

Very random assortment of bug fixes lol.

People shouldn't be that surprised it's not the skill update, whilst i know it's been ages anet has only once released a skill update 2 days before a mAT. I never expect anything outside the textbook 2nd thursday.

Ah well, hopefully next month ^^

Cool derv update. Just in case.

I had preferred they didn't do anything, or at least didn't release it as a stand alone update. The disappointment isn't worth it imho.

I would have been very dissapointed if they decided to release a full profession rework into an update that is not even two days away from a tournament.

As far as we know, they have taken on many more projects that we know about, which is why I don't really care what they have up their sleeves.

Someone can be both. I'm waiting pretty damn impatiently for the Dervish update and am getting a bit annoyed with how long it's taking, but it doesn't make it any less irritating when every update is met with a dozen people whining about it having not happened.

The whining is completely justified. If it is constant discontent that hammers the point into Anet's brain, than so be it.

At first It was as to be expected. They are always late by a few months.
Then I was pissed. They are not focusing on the things that matter with the game.
Now I am just jaded. I don't expect any of this to actually happen, ever.

People are still in that second stage lol

yeah, although its been a pretty quick transition into the third stage.
I dont expect anything but shit from anet in gw1 anymore anyway.

This does not affect my thinking of gw2 at all seeing as they are putting most of their resources into that, i know that they have limited resources in this and that is why everything is so RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing late all the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GOing time.


Now I just have to get 50/50 and get the RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO away from this game

I have been playing other games lately. Until new content hits, there is nothing left to see. I am looking forward to playing the updated derv and trying out 7 hero builds, but who knows when that is gonna happen. they did say before the canthan new year right? i would just suggest leaving guild wars on the shelf so to speak and playing a different game until the new content arrives. also, i can not believe we are almost to the 6th year of gw. there should have been at least 1 more expansion or stand alone game for gw1 before gw2. they could have tied all of the content together for both games. it's a real pity.

When the dervish update was first mentioned I was initially happy that my dervish might see more play again. I was patient and excited for the first 3-4 months and then slightly less patient after almost half a year went by with no derv update, but still hopeful that it would be worth the long wait. Now, I am approaching the most important and busiest period of my first year at college and almost all of my enthusiasm for this derv update has died. By the time the derv update comes I probably won't even try out my derv till August and even then I will be busy with preparation for A2, university and other things. When I do try it out, I know for sure I will not think it will have been worth such a long wait.

Expecting anything out of a-net that's linked to gw1 at this point is futile to be honest.
I gave up on them when they said FB would follow derv update.

Also known as "After hell freezes over"

To be honest, I'm expecting GW2 in August or September of 2011. If I was ANet, I'd shove the Dervish update and Function Build out as soon as possible and just make fixes, because at the current rate, I'll be playing GW2 before they implement the stuff I want to see. And at this point it's pretty clear that the Dervish is dead and not carrying over. Give it its prime time already, before it's truly a forgotten relic of a game long gone.

I kinda wish GW: Beyond didn't exist sometimes...

It means that ANet would actually have to fix classes and balance the game without having to rely upon an excuse and a distraction.

Sadly im only hoping for the dervish update so that they could if possible make a update to other professions before gw2

(this is because i haven't got any dervish on my main acc so it won't affect me, not because i hate dervishes and their easily abusable skills.)

I'm pleased about the Sanctum Cay fix.

Maybe we can do Mission+Bonus in one run from now on.

Only thing I know is that there used to be a spot on the Western edge of the guild hall where you could walk halfway down the wall, that got fixed.

I'm hoping that when the Dervish Update finally comes, Vow of Silence is buffed to "classic" Ursan Blessing levels.

You know what I'm talking about! It's so mindbogglingly unbalanced that people could solo Hell's Precipice in Hard Mode.

Im positive the GW1 team is only 2 people ever since they diverted their resources to work on GW2.

Im looking forward to what they did regarding smiting monks. They claimed they were going to rework smiting along with mysticism.

You always could, after delivering the Restless Spirit to his final peace just flag your heroes up on the grassy hill over looking the pier and pull the mob (a few at a time) using a long or flat bow... it was never difficult. The whole mob could be pulled a handful at a time without ever causing the Vizier to spawn.

You could always do mission & bonus in one, (1) just don't get on the boat when the primary is done or (2) pull them

You know , i hardly believe GW2 could come in about 7 months , just watching at the few informations we have at the moment , and to the fact that they still need to add those last winds of change or whatever . I would say spring 2012 if lucky to be honest....

But well , they could just select a random pool of dervish skills and change recharge or whatever and say " here you go with dervish update " . The henchman contest of september 2009 was the start of those terrible updates in my opinion...

Well you can TRY to be honest all you want, but, it's not going to be August or Sept of 2011. They haven't even opened a beta or preview play yet. Online with GW1 they had a preview play in May at some major convention and then it was nearly an entire year before the release beta play build. So, I don't expect GW2 until between Apr and Jun of 2012 and I'd give good odds those are correct speculations.

I'm rather concerned about this update. My theory for the random bug fixes is that Winds of Change and the dervish update are stuck in the (re-?)design phase, so that the programmers are working on the "Ultra Low Priority Bug-Fix To-Do List" until new content is ready to implement. Am I the only one who is under that impression? Has someone a better explanaition?

They've already stated, multiple times, with emphasis, that they will not be releasing any sort of preview or beta play until very shortly before they are ready to do the full release. That they want a fully functional and all-but finished product to present in beta so that there are as few differences between the beta and the final product as possible.

In terms of the overall speed of release of the dervish updates, the Embark Beach content, 7 heroes, etc. I'm going to offer up a theory...

I worked for a company a few years back which had had an f2p game already out and in the market for about 2 years before I went to work for them. Their first release had been an indie game, one a few hobbyist developers honestly threw together in about 6 weeks. It acquired something of a cult following about a year after it went live, and suddenly the population exploded and people were eagerly asking for a newer, more comprehensive continuation of the game. Suddenly these 4 guys were trying to undertake a massive project based off of what had been just a hobby. A non-paying hobby.

So they rolled out something new - also f2p but with a few account bonuses you could purchase, the fans loved it, and began screaming eagerly for more. Ok, off to work on a third release, and they needed help - which is where I came in. Setting up a support system for their two previous games (which were JUST a hobby, remember?) and having to deal with problems players uncovered with the game mechanics, etc. In the end, they'd released the second installment earlier than they should have... they'd given in to pressure from their fans, and cleaning that mess up was a hell of a job. I've never clocked so much overtime. LOL

When they were working on their third release, they'd done much as Anet has with GW2 and with these other updates... begun talking about them ahead of time. "We're working on this, that, and this other thing... more to come!" And yes, of course the fans were impatient. I mean, c'mon, we love the games we play or we wouldn't keep playing them, right?

So twist of fate... they're working on the third release, they're fixing mistakes in the second, fans are clamoring for both... and one of the primary developers and driving forces behind the network, dies. Car accident. So here are his friends/co-creators left grieving him and trying to roll out a product that he'd been a big part of the heart & soul of. Fans were getting more impatient... and at times, downright abusive... lots of negative chatter on the forums, lots of snide comments on blogs. More death threats for me as head of support. LOL

The guys made a decision... they had 7 major things they were working on, things the co-creator had been steadily telling the community about for months before he died, plus the third release. They knew exactly when the third release would be ready, give or take a couple of days... so they waited until about 14 weeks before that, and suddenly began releasing the 7 projects, one every two weeks.

End result? 14 weeks of very good press, very good community relations, very positive feelings among their fan base. 14 weeks of "ZOMG THIS IS THE AWESOMEST I LUV U GUYZZZZZ!!!111!!!!" 14 weeks of super positive, hyped up blog/twitter comments about how great the updates were, how amazing the new content was...

... and then the third release hit, and everybody and their brother rushed out to sign up and play, pouring in their money for account upgrades (gold packs, skill packs, etc.).

Those guys, who started as hobbyists, made a LOT of money. The third release was a quality product, still f2p... their entire income base rested upon the purchase of account upgrades... and they sold like hotcakes. By creating so much good will among the fans and the game review sites in the weeks before release, they guaranteed themselves a massive influx of cash. They created excitement, interest, hype... just by releasing content they'd intended to all along. It was the TIMING that made it all so lucrative.

ANet may be using a similar marketing plan... if they're intending GW2 to be released this year, they can get people really hyped up and invested in the GW universe by doing a flood of much-anticipated releases on a steady basis leading up to the launch of GW2. CNY...dervish update... 7 hero parties... Winds of Change... preview play at a con... beta... that's at least 5 major hype-inducing things that they could space out monthly, culminating in the release of GW2.

And with that kind of hype and the attendant good will it would generate, they can expect to snag (or bring back) a greatly increased customer base who will run out to buy GW2 as soon as it hits the shelves.

Cynical as it sounds...whenever you want something from a gaming company and it isn't coming as quickly as you want... look at ways they can PROFIT from making you wait. Ultimately, it IS a business, it MUST show a profit. They're going to make decisions based on what is going to turn the biggest profit. They'd be stupid to do anything less.

Professionally as a gaming industry employee, I find a lot of their decisions brilliant from a marketing standpoint.

Personally, as a gamer, I find them frustrating as all hell. LOL

yay Keiran Thackeray is mah hero naowz. I don't even know if this was in the update. I think I'm behind everybody else.

Very true, thanks for the good post.

Tho I rarely play my dervish it would be nice to see an update and see what can be done with the skills, regardless I think we are entitled to more information on Embark Beach, why are we entitled? Cuz I said so :P

Ultimately NCsoft will determine the release date...not Anet Grizzly ole boy. You also might want to take a look at the financial books of your socalled brilliant marketing skills as they've lost money the last two years.

Ok, as I've told you before in your numerous "GW sucks" posts, I am not male. About the only part you ever get correct is that I'm old... but then I suspect my sons are older than you as well.

I'm well aware that they lost money during the last two years. This would be surprising, why? They released zero new-purchase content beyond costumes. They focused the majority of their time and attention on creating GW2 and maintaining GW1, they are not pay2play... they need, and expect, GW2 to pay off big. A hype-attracting/good-will generating build-up as I described above would absolutely fit in with that kind of goal, and pretty much assure its success.

Don't worry, Bassma, I'm sure even GW2 will provide you with plenty of opportunity to lecture us (yet again) on how awesome WoW is, how smart Blizzard is, and how stupid we all are for still playing GW. You'll still be able to have your fun...honest.

Maybe they'd do more bug fixes if people didn't go on rants about the dervish/hero update every time a normal update happens.

BTW Dervish update is being done *before* the hero/feature build update because apparently people b****ed about that one louder so it got moved up in priority.

Well just don't be surprised when I get to say I told you so if the Apr/Jun 2012 release comes to pass. The average game nowadays takes 5 years to make and even then most of them are a POS out of the gate. So since the initial offering came around 2007 I wouldn't expect the release to be much earlier than 5 years from that mark. We might get to see it before the Armageddon of Dec 2012.

Or perhaps because it's been on the to do list for 8+ months, back when the old Live Team lead was still in charge. Hero parties were rejected by her so it's coming out first because it came first.

I heard it's harder to reboot an entire profession than it is to simply buff an already perfectly fine profession.

Especially with several opinions being spun around as to how the reboot should be approached.








(In case you didn't get it, I was talking about the Dervish in regards to the Mesmer)


Also, I know that a lot of posters here are PvEer's, but it was a damn good thing that Anet didn't push the update TWO DAYS from the mAT. Doing so would've made for a relatively horrible tournament and more flaming than there already is. It happened in the past and it would sure as hell do it again.

Keep in mind, they are constantly changing a meriad of skills with only 2 (possibly 3) coders from the ground up just to meet the standards of the Test Krewe. And we do not want to have another fiasco like the last profession buff (Some of you may not remember, but certain Mesmer skills were overpowered after their update and it took them a good two months of band-aid fixes just to get them slightly on par with the rest of the profs).

Am I telling you to be patient? Well, maybe, but that's only because I've never been that excited for the Dervish since they were released. But what I am telling you is they have a damn good reason for taking their time on this one.

Life was better in the RPG world when they didn't implement player vs player. It didn't matter who was a little overpowered than the next class. You adventured together against the elements and not each other. Also in the good ole days you had 5 classes period. Warrior, Ranger, Cleric, Wizard, Thief and you could combine up to 3 of those together in one character and still have a lot of fun. I remember I always went for the Ranger/Fighter/Cleric build. Had 2 pets, great range attack and some healing, protection and turning undead skills with some decent parry and dicipline skills until they nerfed the way you could combine fighter class with others...and why? you might ask? Because crybaby pvpers said it wasn't fair. PVP has always ruined most RPG games in some form or fashion over these last 10 years or so. The game starts out great for PVE and by the time PVPers get through whinning the PVE game is ruined and then the game falls apart and the PVPers wonder what happened to all the population?? lol

In the case of Guild Wars though they ruined both sides of the fence PVe & PVP, most are leaving or have left. Cities and outposts of Prophecies and Factions are ghost towns now. Even Nightfall is pretty barren except for the trade areas. Same thing happened to other mmo's. Add too much and too many places to play and the population splits up and eventually disappears.

Exactly.
The Dervish update is a total rework of the profession. Not only does it have to be reworked for PvP but also PvE.
PvE I can see being the biggest problem. They would have to test the mobs who use dervish skills as well since it will also affect them.
They would have to test,rework,test,rework,test,ect ect.
It would be a total pain in the ass to do it and I wholly appreciate Anets hard work.
I am really getting sick and tired seeing people constantly complain about these updates. They are failing to realize that a lot of painstakingly hard work is going into these updates and it takes months and months to get these ready. If something doesn't work then they throw it out and start anew.

Anet is not slacking off no matter what others might think.