Notice to ArenaNet

Well met,

My apologies to those at this site who have to read this, but I was advised by ArenaNet to post my question on fan forums. So, here we go. (please pardon any bad spelling or grammar)

Dear ArenaNet,

It with a great sadness that I feel the need to write to you formally with a complaint regarding Guild Wars Factions. I have been playing Guild Wars for nearly a year now and have had an impossibly good experience through out all that time. You have managed to create a fantastic game and since it remains free to play you have been consistent in updates and maintenance and I commend your dedication and efforts to make this the best possible game you can.

My complaint however has unfortunately shattered this perfect picture. Before Factions was released information was given to the community detailing the content of Factions along with the how and why people who own both Prophecies and Factions could link their two accounts to become one. There was much debate across many fan forums and websites as to the number of character slots and the like. Finally the following information was released.

'A Factions account offers 4 slots that provide access to the Cantha only, just as Guild Wars (the original Prophecies campaign) offers 4 slots for access to Tyria. If you choose to link your Prophecies and Factions accounts, you will have a total of 6 character slots, and all characters will be able to access to all areas of the map.' (Guild Wars Factions Official FAQ)
http://guildwars.com/support/faq/gui...ctions-faq.php

Now this caused a stir in the community to say the least. Many people, myself included could not understand why someone who purchased factions and played it separately was allowed to have 4 character slots while someone who purchased it and linked it only gained two character slots. In effect if you purchased and linked Factions you we not getting a full product. When this question was put to yourselves the response was give that those who linked their accounts gained access to all content, Gaile Gray on occasions passed on the information to us that linking would allow us to have 6 characters with 100% access as apposed to 4 with 50%.

After much debate it was clear to at least myself that to have 6 characters with 100% access to all content was indeed better then 4 characters (or more accurately 8) with 50% access. And so it was I made my decision to link accounts.

Now, a few weeks into the release, it has come to light that when transporting my Cathan born Assassin to Tyria, after completing all available missions in Cantha (all missions to master level I might add) I find I can do nothing with my character before Lions Arch. None of the missions that where available to Tyrian natives are available to my Canthan. While I have not taken my Assassin any further east to the shiverpeaks or Ascalon beyond, I have read on many forums that Co-op missions are blocked as well as certain areas of the map. On the flip of this when I brought my Elementalist from Tyria to Cantha, again I found that certain missions and quests are not available for Tyrians when they are for Canthans (I refer to most content around the shing jea monastery) Areas are barred and cannot be accessed due to not being able to partake of the missions that open them up.

It has been noted that your new Explorer Titles have taken this into account and as a Tyrian in Cantha or Canthan in Tyria we do not need to open 100% of the map only 100% of the map we have access to.

Now I come to the pinnacle of my complaint. And I refer you to the above quote and more:

'A Factions account offers 4 slots that provide access to the Cantha only, just as Guild Wars (the original Prophecies campaign) offers 4 slots for access to Tyria. If you choose to link your Prophecies and Factions accounts, you will have a total of 6 character slots, and all characters will be able to access to all areas of the map.' (Guild Wars Official FAQ my highlights)

'When you purchase Guild Wars Factions, you will receive an access key. Simply open the Guild Wars log-in screen and follow the prompts to add the Factions access key to your Guild Wars Prophecies account. Then you will have access to all Prophecies and Factions content.' (Guild Wars Official FAQ my highlights)
http://guildwars.com/support/faq/gui...ctions-faq.php

When did 'able to access to all areas of the map.' and 'have access to all Prophecies and Factions content.' equate to blocked areas and restricted missions?

'Yep, the Assassin and Ritualist can do the Tyrian missions and quests' (04/04/2006 Gaile Gray in game chat)
Sorc. http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=392746

Not once were we told that when we link our accounts our characters would have limited access to certain areas of the game world based upon their nation of birth.

Since were where clearly told that by linking our accounts we would gain 100% access to all content and no where has it even been hinted at that we would have restricted access, you must provide this. Your failure to do so means you obtained money from all those who purchased Factions under false pretenses. As far as I am aware several unhappy members across the forums have sent complaints but it seems that no official statement has be released as to how and why this situation arose. Your false advertising, misrepresentation and false/misleading information are illegal. As a consumer who purchased a product under the belief it would perform to a set standard based upon the information you gave, I am exceedingly disappointed that it does not as well as being highly irritated that you have made absolutely no attempt to explain why.

When I sent a request to you only available contact line (Support) regarding this matter this was the response I received:

'We appreciate you sharing your concerns with us on these potential issues. We have determined that this issue is not a bug, and that the game is working as designed.

Please feel free to share your suggestions or feedback about any matter on the fansite forums listed at http://www.guildwars.com/community/fansites/. The game developers frequently check fansite message boards to obtain feedback and suggestions players may have concerning these types of issues.

Your comments have been passed onto the developers, however we will not hear back from them, and thus will not be able to reply with there comments.'

This shocked me so much that I could do little else but laugh. Not only do you not answer direct questions about parts of the game people are unhappy with, you do not actually have a complaints department to whom I can send this. (If you do you need to make it easier to get hold of because I have search your site and found nothing but Support) Further to this, as you stated in the e-mail response, you suggested that I post this upon a fan site that the Dev Team will check for feedback and suggestions. This is unacceptable. If I have an issue with a product you produce I must have a suitable complaints procedure which I may follow. Asking that questions, especially complaints, be randomly posted on a forum in the hope that someone might read it is just comical.

Based upon all of your performance with this issue I have every right to take this matter to trading standards and say to hell with you, let the law sort it out (I am sure there are plenty of other people out there who would join any legal action against you in a class action, most would be doing it purely for money). However, I am a nice person. I recognize your position as the kid on the block of online games and do not wish to cripple your business with such a devastating lawsuit. I do not want to let this spoil my enjoyment of Guild Wars. I want everyone to be happy and have fun and for you to prosper and continue to produce fantastic games. You and only you can make this happen. Realize your mistake and either correct them or compensate those how have been effected by them.

Let us hope a member of the development team does read this and do something about it.

I agree that ArenaNet ought not to have misled us. Completely and utterly. Yet, I feel that there is not a single thing we can do that will get it changed. Not once has a multinational corporation listened to the public's discontent and made a fundamental change to their product without involving the law.

I have become rather disillusioned with ArenaNet in the past few weeks. While I love their game, the service with which they provide us can be, frankly, appalling - especially when I consider the way we are treated as we attempt to regain access to the accounts they have falsely banned.

This thread was not created in order for us all to discuss our personal gripes with ArenaNet. It was created to ask why they deliberately coerced us into buying their product under false pretences, which is, I feel, the question on everyone's lips.

I can foresee Gaile appearing on this thread in a while, nice as it is to see her, interpreting legal talk from Head Office in a manner we can all understand, making it seem like ArenaNet didn't ever tell us we'd be able to access 100% of the game with our characters. This is all well and good, providing our displeasure is forwarded and we receive an adequate reply. Not just "We have relayed your query to the Support Team" or somesuch guff. A reply from the developers, or whoever else is responsible for this, through Gaile or Alex or whoever. Even an apology would suffice. Just something to show that they have acknowledged they misled us. As I said before, I do not think we're going to get it changed.

We eagerly await your response, ArenaNet.

You are completely right about you everything you said up there in your complaint letter. We, the players, were most difinitely mislead, and none of Gaile's fuzzy math can change that.

Everyone grab your pitchforks and torches, we're forming an Angry Mob!!!

To Anet Headquarters we march!!!

Seriously though, Anet really needs to first admit that they lied, and then meet our demands regarding full access to both continents, regardless of a chracter's birthplace. Although, I have a feeling that in order to make their words match their actions, they would much sooner edit the text on the website than give us what we want.

Oh, and btw, where's this auction house/trade imporvement we have heard so much about?

Anet, don't turn into EA. Don't rush chapter 3. Even if you need to delay it a month, DO NOT SCREW IT UP!!! Make sure everything is perfect, and then release it. And for the love of God/Buddah/other religious figure DON'T YOU DARE EVER LIE TO YOUR PUBLIC AGAIN!!! Word on the street is that its a great way to lose money in record time.

While I would tend to agree with the op I must say I think its all a matter of interpetation

This is quote from the guildwars site:

I would ask of you where in there does it say "All Content". It dosn't, and while you might have access to all areas of a map, you may not have access to all content. Though that is vile water to tred in.

I would imagine that it would be more correct for the consumer to believe that as an owner of both factions and prophicies you should be entitled to full content access with all characters. I must however say I am of the feeling that since Our characters come from cantha they are unaware of the plight that be fell ascalon, and as such your quest and story line start in the Lions gate and not in old ascalon.

RE: Auction houses

This was not something that was to be officially added to chapter 2. Its been discussed about a thousand times and all leads point to such things coming in the interm of Ch2 and 3.

If you can't get into and wander around the Nolani Academy mission (As an example) then you don't have access to all areas of the map. If you could just wander the terrain with the mission inactive, you would have access to the areas without the content.

I do agree, although I do not want all access and I do not believe that they have took part in any false advertisement, I think that the statements which were made, and you highlighted, are extremely general and could be misinterpreted to mean a number of things.

this part of your lost content does not stand to reason.

it is the equivalent of chapter 1 presear which is also blocked.

i see nobody demanding access to presear so why should they have access to all presear equivalent in chapter 2?

aside from a few missions (1/2) i found access to most of the island with my Tyria elemonk.

i see no room for complaint on that side.

I hear you on this. The only good reason I can think of doing this is so there wouldn't be a bunch of high level Tyrians doing early Cathan missions and messing it up for the new players and vice versa. Maybe they will open it up later. Here's to hoping.

This is the reason I quit playing GW. Tired of all the fanboiitis that constanly seems to surround this game, it all stems from the fact that theres no monthly fee, well I dont know one First Person Shooter, and lets be honest GW is a FPS with , Ive never heard of one that charges a monthly fee. It is not an RPG game, it is not a competitive RPG game, there is no role playing, the character are shallow and one dimensional, all you do is kill the opponent.The only games I know of that charge a monthly fee, are actually RPG games, Everquest, Lineage, World of Warcraft with content too make it 'seem' worthwhile. The company has been lying from the start when they tried to pass this off as a MMORPG, which just happens to be the fastest selling segment of the gaming industry, it aint no coincidence.
Anyways people have been fooled for a long time, and the glow I think is finally starting to wear off.
You give people something 'they think' they are getting for free and they will follow you for a long time, only know are all the lies, lets be honest and call a spade a spade, only know are all the lies Anet has shared, whether intentional or not, now they are coming back to bite them on the derrier.
I'll tell you what I honestley forsee for this game, not that I think many even care, they will rush as fast as they can the next, LAST, 2 editions out, before the backlash gets so bad, screw the auction system, screw the LFG system, 'just get the game out while we can still make a bit of cash of it.'
Im sorry, the day they announced that they would be selling character slots, I quit playing, went out the same day and bought World of Warcraft, I guess if you want a real MMORPG experience you can either pay or play on private servers, or settle for weak substititue, it worked for a while, but not for long, never got more than 5 months(3 toons with over 5 million XP combined) into it, after clearing the high level areas for the 10'th time what else is there? Nothing.

get your facts straight before you move on to your grind game.

Anet never tried to say it was an MMORPG instead clarifing that it was a new model.

in case you havent figured it out this is not meant to be a permanent babysitter for you 24/7/365 of content to grind.

it is play it til it is not so much fun and then come back when you want to play more or the next chapter comes out.

bye

5 months of play and you bitch about it?

Although it never was posted on the official site that we could do every thinki, Gaile Grey, emissary to the people from Anet, and giver of infromation that she is only sure is 100% factual told us, simply 8x50% or 6x100%

I can see arguments aimed at "well you have 6 slots with 100% access, you choose what part of that 100% they cana ccess" but that is just silly, she really should have went more in depth and stated that the slots, not the characters on those could access everything initially. Considering she comes to give her little talks in a PvE outpost one would assume that something like that was aimed at PvE content, as PvE char can access all modes of PvP.

I do feel we were mislead, quite gravely, I don't feel bad I cant do Shing Jea Monestary with ym Warrior, except that I cant become a Protector of Cantha now. And yeah, bit silly to let lvl 20s go and pwn those missions, but theres nothing stopping a Tyrian character getting ran to Drok's, power elveled and maxed armour, and then goign back, at level 20 to do Great Northern Wall.

Also, since its not really goign back in the storyline to get to Shing Jea its also silly to ban us from going.

I am a PvE player, I hate PvP quite honestly, and when I heard Factions was going to be PvP heavy, even in PvE environs, Jade Sea etc, I was consoled by being led ot beleive I could do the entire Propheices campaign.

Also, I dont really give a flying wossit about storyline, and atleast in Prophecies neither did Anet, you could kill a score of White Mantle before you find out they are evil, or Watch Rurik die and then go back and fight with him.
Now they od care about Story Continuity with their silly gates that stop people from having fun, I dont see the point exploring, since anywhere I'm meant to go, I will get sent to eventually, So I refuse to except any of the "Story Line" excuses in why we can't do Tyria.

Having moved characters betwene both contenants, I have noticed that Mehnlo seems to have been born and raised in Cantha, and also in Tyria.

I know that I have no idea of game coding, and I hate it when people say "how hard can it be for the Devs to...." But I'm afraid I have to say it this time, How hard can It be for the Dev's to remove whatever coding is stopping us from entering Greath Northern Wall, etc with our Assassin.

I bet their isnt many lines ot that code, probably only a few, and Anet, if you do read thi, please consider removing those lines of Code, if a player has the huge "I must obey the story line" thing going, then they wont go back ot Ascalon and pick up Tyira fro there, but Im sure that a large population of the GW community would be feel much more grateful if they could do Great Northern Wall if they wanted to.

OMFG I've never agreed more with anyone on any GW forum, will you father my children ?

We are really talking about clarity here and the burden is on Anet to be clear with us. I know that is difficult at times but I think they dropped the ball in this instance.

When we here things like "100%" and "all the map" it is reasonable to assume as I did that all the things that my Tyrian characters are experiencing will be available to my new Cathan characters. I know there can be different interpretations but let's be reasonable. I mean how hard would it have been to make it clear by saying something like "yes your Tyrian characters will have access to all of Cantha except for a few early beginning missions."

So either Anet intentionally was vague because they knew there would be a backlash against not being able to do certain missions or there was a disconnect between their design/programming teams and their public relations people as to what the product would really be.

we've been misled, and i'm sure they'll act like this thread was never even started.. too sad, cause the community deserves a honest awnser!

"Fuzzy math" always completely missed the point for me. I don't want to be told by Anet why I, as a customer, should feel content with 6 slots and not 8. I would like to be told by Anet why *they* feel 6 slots is more important for their servers/business than 8.

Basically I know anyway, account sharing, but they could've just be honest about it from the start. Companies don't pretend that copy protection is aimed at anything but consumer piracy, don't see why this is terribly different.

There is a clear business model that A-net has in mind. From day one people from the RPG side and the FPS side have complained about opposite aspects of the game. Guild Wars is what it is, which is a light cooperative RPG with a top level PvP component (CORPG). The game appeals most to those who came from diablo and M:TG, not EQ or Counterstrike.

A-net doesn't go out of there way to lie, but they have been dealing with demanding fans from a variety of backgrounds for a long time. Trying to explain how they see their business model as working has caused confusion. Combine that with the fact that some feature are simply in the works and other have led to major abuse. Through the testing process you see one system implimented, abused and replaced over and over again. This makes it more difficult for someone like Gaile who as community liason.

Some of your complaints are nit-picking. There were plenty of sources available that said that characters will come accross at a port and have access to all the high level material. If you were thinking with your brain and not your ass, you would realize that there is some benefit to having newbie zones which become exclusive and some content which is one time only (15 attribute quests and loads of easily one skill points). Powerleveling would be really simple if you had access to two newbie zones: you would do the Tyria zone and get skill quests, run to LA, run get on the island and get all your easy free skills and skill points.

Bottom line is an has aways been, full access to everything opens up the type of abuse that makes a game less fun. The goal of PvE in GW is to make following the campaign, doing the designed quests and farming the highest level areas the most profitable thing to do. In order to do that, certain limitations are put on the openness of the game.

If you took off your overly literalist glasses and looked at things in context, you wouldn't be suprised by anything A-net does. A-net has its share of issues, but these really aren't them.

Whether I can or can not access the early missions with my Canthan chars or vice versa is not really an issue for me. But: My most favorite char is a Tyrian, though and she's the only one I care about collecting titles for. It does NOT seem that I can get "Protector of Cantha" with her. Yes, I do want that changed. Titles should not be restricted to specific nationalities. It does not really make sense that I can get Master Rewards for 11 missions required and being prevented from getting the title by not being able to access the two EASIEST ones.

Here you're wrong : Planetside is a MMOFPS with a monthly fee

Ok.. so let the tyrian be unable to do the quests in Shing Jea but give them access to the coops : it will please those who want to become Protector of Cantha and Protector of Tyria.. will please those who want to become Grand Master Cartographer in the 2 realms... and won't cause a problem of powerleveling. 2 coops are 10k xp (I think) and 6 skill points...I can do more in Sorrows's Furnace with a good team

Actually, there is only a bunch of high level Canthan doings early Canthan missions

'All characters will be able to access to all areas of the map' doesn't sound like a figurative statement no matter what pair of glasses you're wearing. Any way you slice it, it's blatantly untrue.

Please enlighten me. If you quit GW, and went out and purchased World of Warcraft.... why are you here?

~prime

I just have one thing to say:

WTF Anet? I still love you though....

We all should just learn from our mistakes. I pre-ordered Factions, got it the first day it came out, etc... Then we realize the content / map access issues.

I may or may not buy Chapter 3, but one thing is for sure. I will NOT believe what ANet tells me about it. I will not buy Chapter 3 until reading feedback from these forums about it.

ANet, I don't mind you restricting content, whatever you choose to do. I do mind being misled and for that reason alone, you will have to wait and see if you will get my money because I have to wait and see if I can believe what you tell me about the game is true.

Thank you.

Same here, At least what is said by the reliables, and not the fan-bots..

Wait wait wait...do you even know what the difference between an RPG and FPS is? Actually, I withdraw my question, because I already know you don't.

Role Playing Game - Where you control and act the role (class, statue) of a fantasy/fictional based character. Usually able to customize the gender and characteristic abilities.
First-Person Shooter - Not only is it ONLY first person, but it's also a shooter! OMG WHAT A SHOCKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guild Wars is neither fixed in first person or a shooter.

"All you do is kill the opponent"? Wtf? Never did Guild Wars' quests? What do you expect, The Sims integrated to Guild Wars and play homemaker?

And your partially intented logic on monthly fee with RPGs vs FPS is horrible I might add. If you don't like the game, you don't have to like it. But at least please don't look ignorant in the process.

edit: And you're probably going to respond to me by calling me one of those 'fanboiitis'. Ohs no, I'm hurt. ;(

On-topic: I do agree with the points of the OP's letter. But it just doesn't bother me at all because I wouldn't go back there anyways.

Exactly, GW will definetly lose its population when GW3 will be released.
BTW we wont get storage upgrade before Anet will release additonal charactor slot ($10 ea) service......cuz most people wont buy the feature.
It seem like storage and trading might be fixed in GW3 ....

Two words to anyone who believes that consumer response has no effect on products and so thier voices will not be heard on this issue so why bother even sayng anything:

New Coke.

When people's tastebuds made them run away from Coca-cola and they started buying Pepsi, Classic Coke made its debue. This was expensive for Coke to do, but it was a price they'd forced on themselves by changing the flavor of their product in the interests of mark-up and ignoring public tastes.

There is a point where customer feedback reaches a level no coorporation can ignore. that point is when people start looking for other places to buy their goods/services.

There are lot of things i don't like about this second installment. being misled about 100% content is just one of them. Most of my characters are back in Tyria now except for a few getting armor. When GW 3 comes out, its doubtful that any repair job Anet makes to the game will renew my faith enough to buy another instalment. By then, I will be too bored with the old to continue playing it. Guild Wars is a 1 hit wonder for me; a series with great potential that lost too much in the translation to make it worth spending more money on.

Does that mean I'm going to stop playing games like this? No. It means another coorperation is going to get my money. I don't know about you Anet, but I'm looking for my e-Pepsi.

EDIT: Yes; I'd love to get my characters running both Newbie Questsets so i don't have to grind for plat to buy skills in Factions or Mindlessly repeat the same quests every time I make a Tyrian. But Anet has already shown that if powerleveling was their concern, they could have cut it off at the knees. Simply put: how many folks here have done all four 15 atty point quests with one character?

Theres no reason for Co-op missions to be shot down; none at all.

Honestly, I dont see what the big deal is..

With the accounts linked, all 6 characters can access almost all of Tyria and almost all of Cantha.

The reason some parts are not available to characters from the other continent has nothing to do with ANet trying to rip you off or cut costs. Its just the design they though works best.

Sure it would be nice to have access to everything, but maybe they felt people would complain that their high level Canthan character has to do boring low level mission in order to feel that they accomplished everything. Or maybe (as someone said) they dont want low level areas flooded with high level characters, because then new players would find it too easy, and they wouldnt have as much fun... Or maybe there's some other reason I cant think of.

Still, 50% * 8 = 400%
and, 90% * 6 = 540%

I used to be an AVID fan, a "fanboy" of GW. But being lied to and then ignored. I'm relagating myself to a "wait-and-see" status on GW: III

Hopefully Factions will be deigned the "red-headed stepchild" of the series that never should have seen the shelf of a store. I hope A.net gets the message this time around, because if they screw up Chap. III, I won't waste my money.

Great original post.

Anet definitely falsely advertised "100% content access" with Factions.

Anet also falsely advertised the "Divine Aura" for the original Guild Wars CE.

I guess since they got away with falseley advertising the Divine Aura, they figured it would be no big deal to false advertise with other stuff, like 100% content access with Factions.

I must say to all the people who are saying they will "wait and see" on ch3.

A. I highly doubt 90% of you will follow through, you will either quit and not wait, or get it the day it comes out. I know I will be getting it the day it comes out even if the only reason is because it is made by Anet. They have never let me down with bad content before.

B. Just because 2/200 places information was misrepresented (Thom is right on the info reading "High-level" or "High-end" or "Post Ascension" on most sources) you are not getting ch3? Why? I can see that being logical if you didnt like either of the games, but if you dont like them...why are you here? I would like to see your source on this one...because I have seen everything they said it would be.

Agreed. If you take the time to break down the way it was advertised you will find the original post is correct.

What you have to take into consideration is the game costs around 50 bucks. False advertising or not, I'm pretty sure you got your money out of it. When compared to the cost of any other game ( no monthly) GW will let you enjoy the game much longer than others for your money.

I can see your point. But consider the bang for your buck per say, after all you paid the equivalent of playing for 3 months of a pay per month game,....... I'm sure you got more than 3 months out of GW.

Not a bad deal.

If you bought a non-hybrid car advertised as getting 90 miles per gallon (And a comparable price with other cars of the same year), but it only got 60 miles per gallon would that be okay? After all, it's still better than all the other cars that aren't hybrid out there even if it doesn't live up to what was promised. You'd have definately gotten your money's worth out of it.

At the end of the day it boils down to honesty, and our dealings with Anet has revealed them to be far from honest. Nope. Not in the slightest.

No problem.

Well seeing as I had no problem running all the way to the far eastern frontier with my Assassin. I still feel the map is rather open to everyone. But in reality its the Beginner nothing missions that are not open to opposing nationalities. Just clarifying that... Sure you can not enter mission but you can co to every town and map bip in the game, with exception of Tyian getting into the 3 bips in monastery and Local Square. But still I have no complaints. in all reality I doubt I would be wasting my time in many of those places with a lev 20 anyway. I barely did with my tyian character except for titan quests, and that privilege is still accessible 100%.

I'm pretty positive a lawsuit on the grounds of..."I'm suing ArenaNet, the developers of Guild Wars, because my Canthan character is unable to access beginner missions in Tyria, even when ArenaNet press releases implied the opposite" would have most lawyers laughing their asses off at you. I'd imagine that most lawyers would wonder if you were making fun of them.

I know I'd be making fun of you if I saw this kind of lawsuit in the news. I mean...even just considering a lawsuit is so incredibly lame and geeky that it'll hurt you worse than ArenaNet. Consider what would happen:

You bring this lawsuit.

It goes before a judge.

If the media gets wind of it, it'll get broadcast all over the place.

The judge looks at the case and throws it out because it's a complete waste of time, and probably mentions how tragically pathetic the entire reasoning behind the lawsuit is, and how infantile, juvenile, and painfully naive the entire thing is.

ArenaNet/NCSoft don't hurt from a "devastating lawsuit," because the lawsuit would be neither devastating nor a lawsuit.

And for shits and giggles, let's just take a step back and look at your entire point, shall we?

You're arguing that you've been done a disservice because a level 20 Canthan Assassin can't scout the area of Charr in Northern Wall.

Those missions are minimally interesting and exciting on the first time through. After that, most players can breeze through them. In fact, I'd wager that most minimally experienced players can do those missions completely drunk and high. Those missions are that mindless and simplistic.

But yet you believe your Asassin or Rit is missing out by not being able to do them? What possible reasoning could there be? Three measly skill points? A total of 6k xp for doing three missions?

Come on, dude. Use some common sense here. Those three Ascalon missions shouldn't even count as game percentage in the first place. That's how easy and mindless they are.

Hell, compare the respective Pre-Sears of Tyria and Cantha.

In Tyria, the "newbie" area is Pre-Searing Ascalon, which basically has no challenge at all (you can't even amass DP).

In Cantha, the "newbie" area is Shing Jea Island, and it's pretty frigging deadly. You can easily hit 30% DP in a matter of minutes.

Those are nowhere near the same kinds of Pre-Searing. In fact, I think now that we've experienced Shing Jea Island, we can actually expand what the Pre-Sear Tyria portion is. After all, from a difficulty, challenge, and "WHAT THE HELL" standpoint, Shing Jea has much more in common with Post-Sear Ascalon than it does with Pre-Sear Ascalon.

Re-definitions are in order:

The Pre-Searing of Factions is Shing Jea Island.

The Pre-Searing of Prophecies is Post-Searing Ascalon.

And if you still don't believe me, answer me this: which area in Tyria better prepares the player for actual combat/gameplay? Pre-Searing Ascalon or Post-Searing? The answer is a very clear Post-Searing Ascalon.

Both nationalities have already had their Pre-Searings. Neither one of them needs to do it again on a different continent.

It's not really the fact that I can't access the missions in Ascalon/Shing Jea that I'm angry about - it's more that we were expressly told we [I]would be able to[I/] access them and we now find out we can't. I know it's clichéd, but it's the principle of the matter. They led us to believe we would, whether they intended to or not, this is the effect they had, and are now refusing to acknowledge we ever believed "100%" meant "everything from both games". Which, in my mind, it still should.

Well met,

Just an update to let you all know how things are going, I am still waiting for an official response /yawn. I would like to thank all of you across the boards who have supported my complaint, I have enjoyed the banter between the pro's and con's of the situations. I would mainly like to thank all those a gwonline for their resounding community support. Not only did they find my complaint funny, they openly tore it to pieces with the thread finally being closed not 24hrs in. Now it drifts in to the void of forgotten posts never to be seen again. I notice Gaile has posted this morning on gwonline but no response to my thread would be forthcoming because a) its on like page three b) its now closed so she cannot respond.

Despite what they may have thought they were doing, this has actually strengthened my argument against ArenaNet. But how I hear you ask? Well as a company ArenaNet is obliged to provide adequate complaints procedures for unhappy customers to follow. They do not, instead I followed their advice and posted my information across the fan forums. In doing so I have undergone undue stress from the ridicule and humiliation I have suffered from my peers on account of my complaint not being confidential between company and client. Further to this the fact that the forum in question has closed the thread guaranteeing its lose in mass of the information there the randomness of hoping a dev team member will read it has just become hysterically unacceptable.

If no body has any objections I wish to bump this thread once daily (unless constant posts keep it on the front page) or request that it be made sticky until ArenaNet take notice. One out of three 'community' sites has failed this community member already.

Just a reminder to all out there. I still love Factions and play daily. Its a great game, I just feel there are some issues that need to be addressed to make it better.

Many thanks.

Advocate, I am highly amused by your post.

Seriously.

The Support site is run by NCSoft. Not arenanet, so your method af addressing an issue with ArenaNet is completely wrong.

If you wish to complain to ArenaNet in a legal manner, I suggest you write a letter to their head office in WA.

Address details as well as details of who works for Anet can be found here:

www.arena.net

The support site is NOT a legal channel between a customer and company. It is a place where customers can get support for game related issues. If you are unhappy with your purchase of Factions, I suggest writing them a letter and posting it to them.

They do. Write them a letter!

edit:more polite

Well met,

I am going to send my complaint to their postal address however I am unhappy with international postage charge I will have to pay to do so but I can wholly imagine they would employ a time consuming process like postage to resolve issues (like 99.99% of all other companies). Further to this it clearly does not state on their web site that for situations like this you need to post stuff to them, and again i refer to the support responce of posting it on forums for the dev to read. They are, again, failing to provide adequate information.