Six character slots confirmed

No, if you are content with any number of character slots, I say go for it. There is no reason to mock you for that. But saying that you don't need something and so nobody should get it deserves a little mocking, don't you think?
And by the way, my arguments are a little more than "I need it". I said that I can see no reason for ANet to deny us two character slots. How about you buy a meal at McDonald and also take a beverage. However, if you want to drink your beverage together with your meal you can only drink half of it while still paying the same price. And then you think "What a lucky git I am - look at those people who have no meal, but a full beverage!"

The burgers would probably cost more than the server space
Oh, and your half burger thing is stupid as the whole calculation that ANet has given makes NO FREAKING SENSE.

Two. The four other ones haven been there before.

Ah yes.

Let's make a calculation here.....
First of all skills. Let's just assume that skills are a string of bits that just determine if the skill has been learned - basically, you will only need 1 and 0.
So, let us say each character can have 1024 skills in Factions, that would be 1kilobit data for skills. Hey, let's just assume it is actually eight times more and say it's a kilobyte.
Add to that the class, looks etc that will all be referenced from a central database. Let's assume this information takes up, oh, 50 kilobyte. Remember, not everything will be saved as character data, that would be stupid and redundant.
Items will surely be referenced from another databank. Let's assume we need 1 kilobyte as a unique reference to that item. A character can carry 55 items (I am also counting the bags as an item, also the armour and weapons) which would amount to 55 kilobyte.
Then there is quest information for that character - that will take up a lot of space. I don't know how many quests there are, but let's say we need 500 kilobyte to store information about the current quest status.

If my estimations are anywhere near correct, the actual vital data about a character will probably not exceed 2MB and I already tried to exxagerate the figures. Let's add another MB per Account for the global unlocks.
I would estimate the investment in such a hard drive plus back-ups to not exceed 6000$. That is a minor, laughably small cost for such a firm. (Note: This fictional hard drive also stores all Prophecies characters - in fact, it should be able to store all characters.)

There, I tried. And once again, all my numbers are completely theoretical. I don't know how ANet stores data nor do I need to know. I know that all arguments against more slots are "I don't need them".

Oh BTW: hard drive space? DUH... im sure anet does multiple backups of that self same information.... i think that will cost money. Not to mention the fact they gotta pay the bills and the rent and the programmers and the staff and all that.

Try to take that into account too people.

I agree with you there, if they give the option for 1xtra slot for collectors edition you can delete all my other posts.

...your words prove that you don’t know what you are talking about. -data in a database is dynamic not static.

No i'm not... as small amounts of data to backup are not difficult to backup.

1. There is no way to quantify the amount of unhappy people there are over the lack of skill slots. I would guess it is no "small group", or rather a large group... read this thread please!!!

2. Yes, exactly -you see my point... there is no reason not to have more slots.

No, it is not good business to have no reason.

Look I am not rippin on guild wars- I think it’s a great game and anet has been doing a great job with the game updates... --I am angry that I can't play all of the primary professions. (There are also other valid points already stated in this thread for receiving 4 slots per chapter)

to make it simple for you

data at file planet sits there except for new material added or deleted. it is static not changing every time someone downloads from the site.

with GW your data is changing constantly instead of sitting there.

no matter how many people are downloading from fileplanet the data being downloaded DOES NOT CHANGE WHICH IS THE PURPOSE OF HAVING IT THERE FOR DOWNLOAD

file planet can have once a week backups and not lose much if the site crashes.

how would you lke to lose a week of GW work?

We should have a base of 7 slots (one for each core profession and a pvp slot) and have additional slots for each new profession in each chapter giving 9 for GW and GW:Factions.

Fixed that for ya.

yes! for those of us who play this game a .."lot" it is really nice to be able to try out new charachter types.
/sigh

when you start with something so far off it makes you disregard the rest .



a 500 GB disk will not hold more than 500GB

ACTUALLY LESS NOT MORE CONSIDERING NECESSARY FORMATTING TO PLACE AND RETREIVE THE DATA.

my 250 GB hard drives have considerably less than 250 GB of actual usable space due to that.

and as an American i can say that i (and we) have always considered a billion to be 10x 100 million

edit
deleted boo boo

--data does not take up more space if it is dynamic or static.

No there are 8 bits to a byte... get your facts right... look it up on google...here is the link

I paid for Prophecies, with 4 slots. Check
I will pay for Factions with 4 slots. Check
I will link my accounts and have 6 slots. Hey wait a minute!
Again, I will be linking, I am more a pve player than pvp, and i want Ciandra to go to cantha. But the math hurts my head, Matter can neither be created nor destroyed, but 4+4=6.

Linking the 2 accts gets you more stuff...your math is flawed.

Like the old UAS discussion or most nerf arguments, this thread brings a very interesting contribution to the forum: it demonstrates why it's pointless to argue with stubborn people who can't think straight. Barring a handful of well thought arguments and posts (from both sides), this discussion is a pile of yak poop: flawed logic, addressing wrong issues, bickering on minor or irrelevant facts, confusion between opinions and facts, direct attacks, and now argumentum ad nauseam by rehashing the same arguments over and over. Go to page one, the loop is complete.

The deal is clear: you can trade off 2 slots for the ability to play in Cantha with old Tyria characters. Your choice. Happy? Not happy? Either way, I don't care. Loviatar's poll numbers explain why ANet doesn't care either.

For the records, the questions that should be addressed are:
- in a perfect world, should we increase the number of slots (with or without factions)? why? why not?
- how many character slots should we have? why?
- more slots: would it have a significant impact on the ingame environment? how and why?
- more slots: would it have a significant impact on ANet's monthly costs? How?
- more slots: would it have a significant impact on GW sales? or more precisely: is ANet's business model exploiting the character slot limit?

Each of these questions can be addressed with a handful of relevant arguments (and counter arguments). Try to reread this thread and to find them. It's not that hard, really.

[QUOTE=Gargle Blaster]No there are 8 bits to a byte... get your facts right... look it up on googleQUOTE]

my bad for typing ahead of thought

1024 bytes to the KBYTE so a 500 GB disc which used standard 1000 comes out shorter each time sizes jump in capacity

minus the required formatting space as well

which results in endless questions of why does my 500GB drive only show as 450 GB? (450 is example not actual)

My math is not flawed, 4+4 is supposed to be 8.
Frog devourer is right however, and Im planning on 'sacrificing' 2 of my slots to take Ciandra to Cantha. It is worth it for me. It might not be for some people, because they are paying $100 for 8 slots, and only getting 6. I can understand their frustration.
And, Mandy, you mentioned that with linking i would get more stuff. What exactly would be the "more stuff" i am getting? Please include stuff that will not be available for people who do not link. I do believe that everything on cantha will be open to them as well.

Heh, now we're confusing matter with data...

I'll admit I'm the kind of player who doesn't want to play all the professions. Some of them just don't appeal to me, so I'm OK with the 2 extra char slots. I realize that others want to play all the professions and feel limited by the char slots.

But the whole math thing. Think of GW = Prophecies + Factions = 100% available content. Now you have a choice. Do you want 8 slots with access to only 50% of the content or 6 slots with access to 100%? I know, I know...you want 8 slots with access to 100% content. But that was never promised and is outside the current realm of possibilities (well, ANet could possibly change the code to allow more than 6 linked, but unlikely at this late stage)...it's not an option and never was. But feel free to complain about it, because, hey, it might make a difference. Then again it might not. But you have the right to complain about whatever you want.

Personally, I feel limited by 8 skill slots. I'm going to petition ANet to give me 16 skill slots because I want ANet to make their game my way. If I don't get 16 skill slots in Factions, I ain't buying it.

This whole argument, IMHO, is much ado about nothing. But others disagree. And that's your right.

On a side note, if ANet did give 4 slots to combined accounts for every chapter...could you imagine what the character select screen would look like? That'd be one heck of a crowd...

Quoted for truth.

6 new slots sounds good, I play 3 always and one for PvP and the new one then 2 new chars, maybe I will only try one out for fun. so thats 2 more 2 slots for PvP open then.

I wasn't confusing matter with data, I was being witty about the whole elastic math thing. But thanks for responding. I Dont feel quite so limited by the slots right now. I am only playing through for my second time. So as of now it doesnt bother me much.

about 200 more people have voted and the results are.........

Will you be buying Guild Wars Factions?

Yes, definitely!....................................... ........................1116
Most likely............................................ ..........................317
If there are cookies in the box, I'm there!........................107
Undecided......................................... ..............................89
Probably not............................................... ....................58
No way............................................... ...........................32
# Votes:............................................ ........................1719

Yes, definitely!....................................... ........................1116
No way............................................... .................................32

Most likely............................................ ..........................317
Probably not............................................... .....................58

still overwhelmingly in favor of not losing many sales

expanding to new countries and still selling well so it looks good

I don't think so... because most people don't want 4 slots per expansion. Some people want enough slots to play each profession as a primary. Most are happy with 2 slots per expansion.

As has been pointed out, the missing two slots from Prophecy will become less and less an issue.

Assuming that each Chapter comes with 2 new Professions (an assumption even I don't think can be carried out indefinately!), and assuming each linked expansion gives you 2 slots, by Chapter 10 you will have access to:

24 Professions and 22 slots.

Bigger issue than slots come to mind at that point:

Will Chapter 10 be giving us content for all 24 professions?

Will each of those 24 Professions be balanced?

IMO, this missing 2 slot issue is a short term one. Eventually, the ratio between number of slots and professions you want to play will be practically equal. It's only painful right now because it's been a year with only 4 slots... that will never happen again. With 2 expansions being planned for every year, it will take most people's time just to get the new skills for their old characters, and try out some of the new Professions, before the new Exp. comes.

I really don't think the slots is that big of a deal, unless you have all your 22 Characters running around with max weapons, several sets of armor, and all skills 5 years from now – and were still wishing for 2 more slots! (Man, that'd be quite an accomplishment if someone did do that!)

...namely?

@Loviatar, I severely doubt that poll is representative.... or relevant...

content yes.

specific for other than the 6 core plus 2 new probably not.

think of some of the generic quests we have done where you get a few assorted items for a reward no matter what your profession.

content yes assassin specific content in chapter 11 maybe/maybe not

we wait and find out

And the rantings on a forum are representative of.... ?

Mosch, by linking accounts your characters will have access to all skills and equipment in both Chapters... and all future chapters you link with.

Or do you think all Chapters will have the same content?

Oh, our rantings are not actually relevant, but I love to argue

And about that additional content.... you are saying me being able to use items and get skills that will be supplied by the new expansion is considered bonus content as a goodie for the returning player?
That's pretty harsh.
It seems that basically the additional content we get is the option to actually use the content we bought, please correct me if I am wrong.

I quit, I don't have the vocabulary to make my point. I have failed.

considering that it is a one vote per person poll so you cant stuff the ballot box i think it is much more relevant.

also another site which went ballistic over this still had over 75% saying they would buy Factions.

every site with a genuine poll has similar results so the one shown is not an aberation

I'm not seeing your point....

If you link accounts you are getting less professions and slots than you got originally. It makes perfect sense to me: 2 extra professions, 2 slots.

If you install as a new game: 8 professions, and 4 slots.

But since you already have the original Guild Wars, you already have the original 6 Professions and 4 slots.

What some people seem to want from Factions is a remedy to the original "problem" in Guild Wars: not enough slots to play all Profs.

But if Anet gives 4 slots with linking Factions, that will create a horrible precedent. They'll have to include 4 slots with linking every future Expansion, and THAT will add up - by Chapter 10, people will have 42 slots (and only 24 Professions).

No, the only remedy I can see now is to either offer bonus slots in some CEs, or sell additional slots online for cash.

i disagree just because you have slots available to you does not mean thay you must use them...

But people will... for storage, if nothing else. Now, I don't know anything about storage costs, but it seems to me that 42 slots X 5 million people (assuming the number of GW players grow) = a lot of storage!

Of course, this is all hypothetical. There's a chance we won't be getting 2 professions per chapter, or 2 slots, and that raises a serious question:

Would anybody here consider buying an expansion (new Chapter) for Guild Wars that does not have new Professions or slots, just new content for our old characters?

I would of course consider it, depending on the price!

Yes. And I'd buy the Collector's Edition.

Hooray!

1,a poll counts for nothing unless every 1 involved takes part(and with not even 2k votes that clearly isn't the case here).
2,some are happy some are not but thats a given fact of life that will never change no matter what the subject matter.
3,i have not heard of any bonus linked only content to back up gailes statement yet(i can recreate my favourite characters to play in cantha if i choose to with different armors/skills and items than there twin has over in tyria aswell as being able to play the new chars or my missing 2 chars again if i choose).
4,yes i would buy another chapter with no new chars as long as there was plenty of good and exciting new content or a good prof based storyline and it was cheaper due to me reusing my bought chars instead.
5,i'm more worried about other things in factions myself but i was in the original debate of char slots missing from prophecies which we thought was going to be solved in the old wednesday updates.but shortly after people started talking about buying second copies of the game extra accounts were sold online and we all got our answer that we would not be getting those 2 missing slots.the reason we will never get those 2 slots is because a.net are no doubt more worried about the backlash from those multi account holders than the stick there getting now.

more immportant things to consider are the pro's and con's of forced merged pve and pvp.this i see as a big problem considering the close relationship between both sides and the mutual respect both have for each other(lol).and also the the forseen problems the alliance system has for lone players and small guilds.but hopefully they have a backup plan to change this when the top alliances start camping on the elite towns/missions.

frog devourer asked some interesting questions before, and i want to see who else thinks that the content will fal the way i do, so i say again....

a-net have stated...

no new content will be released for guild wars once Factions is relesed.

i take that to mean that, where as a Canthan Monk/Fighter could (assuming they alow you to create new characters in ether Cantha or Tyria and thenchoose ether Tyria pre searing or Cantha Training ground as your newbie content) run through Pre Sear and get all or maybe most of the quests, items and skills, since the Tyrian and Canthan Core Skills will be the same for the 6 Core Classes....

a Canthan born Assassin Monk will only have access to the Monk skills/items/quests...

and a Canthan born Assasin/Ritualist will have access to exactly none of the skills/quests/items in the pre sear training area....

where as a character made with any of the 6 Canthan Core and/or new classess will be perfectl suited to Factions Training area, since the assassin and ritualist are catered for there...

And i see the same thing happening with the next chapters....the previous chapters specialist classess will find themselves confined to the chapter they come from, where as the core 6 classess will be able to romp about anywhere...

so agree with the poster (cant remember who) that said this will cause fewer assassin and ritualist class players...
sure, there will be a surge of them at the start, much the same way that you couldnt move for the spcialist classess in neverwinter when Shadows of Underentide and then Hordes of the Underdark came out.....
but, after the novelty wore off, and folks found they were not quite as flexible as they liked...they went back to the original classess...

so, expect 2-4 months of nothing but assassin and ritualists, both promary seperates and combined versions..and then a trailing off as the players realise, once the Chap3 expansion comes out....

the only Truly moveable classess are the original core 6....

Hmmm. Well, it is possible that future chapters will at least have some new items, maybe skills for previous "expanded" professions. We'll have to wait and see...

If GW offers no future content for new Professions, than there will be little reason to make them at all... because they won't be able to evolve and change like the Core classes.

Or maybe they'll make Chapters that "re-launch" popular expansion Professions (example, Assassin and Ritualists get new skills in Chapter 5 or something).

As this is a totally new model for an ORPG, your guess is as good as mine.


(BTW, has it been confirmed that we can make Assassins/Ritualists in Tyria? I always assumed we couldn't...)

Possibly but like always, the question i would like answered is will there be other plus 15 attribute quests to be expected in the FACTIONS area? Level 20 is max thats what they said. I won't mind that. Heck, I like playing the game and helping out when possible with quests for others, but it certainly would be nice to get a few added 15 point attribute quests. lol.

Would be nice if we can also have added space on our storage. I mean, my frigging warrior is carrying enough inventory to make him a rare merchant trader for all i know. Plus i got multiple armor types too.

Capital letters and commas are your friends.

And what is the technical difference between more attribute points and more levels?

There is much speculation that storage will be increased in Factions.

mordekai

well they said that they will continue the balance updates and the seasonal holiday freebies, so its not all doom and gloom, but...

they did say that all 6 Core Classes will be included in the following Chapters. (so even in chapter 10:Last Gasp of the Dying Warrior you would be able to play said warrior...*wonders if said dying warrior will be called Snake* hehe)

so again, although assumption is the mother of all frell ups....i assume that each seperate chapter will end its content updates the minuite the next chapter some online, barring ballance and seasonal fiddlings.

and they have already said that....
For the original 6 Core Classess, each new Chapter will include new skills, items and Elite Captureable Skills.

this does mean that if you want a particular Elite Skill, that you will need to not only merge your accounts to have access to them, but that you will have to travel back and forth between the various areas/worlds/continents to obtain and capture them.

so..for example....i have factions and prophecies and Blah-Blah....
in Prophiecies, i capture the Elite Skill {Necro is Cool}
in Factions, i add Skill {Necro in Panties that are sexy}
and in Blah-Blah, the hard to find skill {Necro does the Conga}

if i want my Blah-Blah character necro to have *all* three Elite Skills, i must have a linked account And travel between the various areas to get hold of them....

However, my Assasin from Factions will find no new Elite Skills in any Chapter but Factions, my Burger Flipper from Blah-Blah will find no Bread related skills in anything but Blah-Blah....

But my Core6 Characters will have access to many new Elites, since to be honest, the ONLY classess that will Constantly be catered for are again...The Core Six Original Classess

If your assumption is correct, then there is little reason to create the new characters.

This would actually help the argument about slots....

For those concerned about slots, don't even make an Assassin or Ritualist.

Actually, that's not a bad idea, since:

1. Everybody's going to make at least one of those, if not both.
2. There might not be continued support for them in the future.