Guild-hall and Arena.Net on PvP

Guild-Hall Messenger

Academy Page

Join Date: Aug 2005

Here is the happenings over at another forum. I would prefer not to directly link as im sure gwguru wants people to read these forums.

But it pertains to GW and has a dev post so I thought I would post it here, sorry to any admins if I messed up somehow.

((((((From post))))))))

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Weekes
We may have been a little silent on the PvP issues lately. From me personally, I've been waiting for James' State of the Game letter because it will be much easier to address your concerns in light of what that letter has to say. And, despite the threads here, the "PvP issue" has not been as prevalent on forums as it once was. TGH has a strongly PvP oriented community, and too a large degree threads complaining about the state of PvP are largely made here; and even then by a vocal minority.

Obviously there is a concern that several top PvP-focus guilds have stopped playing. Their desires for the game (typically UAS) tend towards the extreme solutions that we are unlikely to implement. One of our goals for Guild Wars is to make sure that a Role Playing character can be brought into PvP and compete with PvP characters. A UAS option cuts into this goal significantly. On the other hand, it is clear that amongst the top few % of GW's competitive guilds there is an apparent need for (near-)fully unlocked accounts.

Some people

Faction is our first major step towards allowing players (and guilds) with a strong PvP focus to get to that goal of a (near-)fully unlocked account. We continue to receive very valuable feedback on the PvP issue for top-end competitive guilds from our testers and the forums here. And we're continuing to consider how best to address any remaining issues. Faction has already been tweaked once in response to community concerns. I think actions speak louder than words, and it's clear from our actions since release that we *are* listening to player concerns and we *are* taking carefully considered steps towards solutions.

One reason why I have not posted much on PvP lately is because there is only so many times you can say "we're listening and we have plans..." I don't like sounding like a stuck record . So anyway, here it is: We're listening and we are considering potential solutions for top competitive guilds. Please be patient, we're commited to responding to community concerns even if we can't always respond immediately.

Edit: I should also add that there's more than just PvP for us to work on. A lot of players would like to have a full Auction/Trade House system for Guild Wars, and we're commited to bringing that to the players as well (see the latest Fansite Friday).

__________________
Alex 'GhostRaptor' Weekes
Guild Wars Community Relations Team
NCsoft (Europe)

My name is Dac the Hork, Former Alpha Tester, Former Leader of Blood Eagle, I have over 2700 fame on my account.

This is an open Rebuttal of Arena.Net, the company. First I will go into detail of what drove me to make this post so hopefully it is understood at a much better level. I am a gamer, while it is not my life, if there is a great game that comes out I can be entirely consumed for long periods of time. I find a great fun in playing online games especially with an opponent or working together. I seek fun primarily in games, I have been through competitive games, fun games, hugely popular games, and dedicated 100s of hours to games 3 people played.

This post is in response to how Arena.Net has treated PvP in Guildwars. I will use the above post by Alex Weekes a Dev at arena.net along with quotes form www.guildwars.com The official Guildwars site. Into how Arena.Net misled gamers, used shoddy marketing models, and crafty PR to trick me and many other gamers into advertising and helping there game.

He mentions TGH is a small forum dedicated to PvP, pre release TGH had the widest user base in all Guildwars fansites. Yes the site he calls small and dedicated to guildwars was one of the largest most active Guildwars Forums besides maybe vnboards. The PVP minority as he calls it is actually the PVP community, all the issues we present, are spoken through guilds and reflect the entire PVP scene. What he does not realize is that PVP players in general do not post on forums or whine. In fact, My old guild Blood Eagle had over 50 members and of that 45 at least complained about the grind.

This "vocal minority" represents a huge population of gamers. Now why would PVP players be mad at what they bought? Well we wouldn't be so mad if Arena.net did not lie to us. Now calling Arena.Net lyers might seem a stretch to some, unless I showed proof.

Here is the proof taken directly from www.guildwars.com

"Built for Competition

If you like Player-versus-Player competition, Guild Wars was made for you. The game is designed to reward player skill and teamwork, not time spent playing, so you won't need to spend hundreds of hours leveling up your character to compete. New heroes can be deleted and created at any time, allowing you to create specialized characters or to have fun experimenting with profession combinations, skills, and attributes until you create the hero that suits you best. Guild Wars takes the best elements of today's massively multiplayer online games and combines them with a new mission-based design that eliminates some of the more tedious aspects of those games.

..and yet does not require players to spend hundreds of hours slogging through the preparation just to get to the fun bits....

Rather than labeling Guild Wars an MMORPG, we prefer to call it a CORPG (Competitive Online Role-Playing Game). Guild Wars was designed from the ground up to create the best possible competitive role-playing experience. Success in Guild Wars is always the result of player skill, not time spent playing or the size of one's guild. "

This sounds like a good game for a pvper right? Well yes it does, unfortunately Arena.Net lies and continues to lie on their site. With this false advertising of a game it isn't hard to sell copies to hardcore players.

"it is clear that amongst the top few % of GW's competitive guilds there is an apparent need for (near-)fully unlocked accounts."

I guess there is a "need" for players to have an even playing field with access to every counter? Are you sure about this? In a competitive game as you speak based on skill, there is a need for a fair playing field? But only the best players deserve this?????????????????? So the ****ty players will be stuck with ****ty gear? Im sure this PVP game is going to take off.

"I think actions speak louder than words, and it's clear from our actions since release that we *are* listening to player concerns and we *are* taking carefully considered steps towards solutions."

well from such a respectful company that lies to gamers, now we will read this next quote. Yes I am sure you are listening, and I am sure from the response we get from Alex, that we will never recieve a quality PVP environment.

Anyway I have to say from the beginning of the game 2 years ago, Arena.Net has utterly lost all credibility to all serious and even casual gamers. They are not a good company and used false advertising to sell games at the expense of gamers. They did not uphold their promises which speaks volumes about them.

Anyway some people still have "hope" for Arena.Net fixing pvp. From the above post by alex it is clear they consider us a small minority and will never fix the game.

So to end the rebuttal a nice down to earth Dac The hork ending.

((((((Snip)))))))

From

*former*
Alpha Tester
Die Hard Fan
Leader of Blood Eagle

((((Snipped the flame. ~Narcism))))

Anyway here are the links to threads that started it although please respond and stay on these forums

PvP is dead thread that started it.

http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23837

rebuttal to post by a.net

http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/showthread.php?t=23908

While I will not support any side, I simply find it interested. Your take?

MSecorsky

MSecorsky

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

So Cal

The Sinister Vanguard

Me/

ANet could have created the perfect game for all, flawless to the Nth degree, and people would still bitch about something.

So far, I'm happy with it and looking forwards to the upcoming added content.

Sammiel

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2005

Large forum != majority of playerbase. In fact, in every game I've ever played where there was a forum prescence, the forum posters have always been vocal, and always been the minority. And those who fancy themselves the hardest of the hardcore are inevitably the most prolific of the posters, and thus of the whiners.

And that post was a senseless whine. I especially love where he says that they should move all the content devs to move to fixing PvP...good one. There are a variety of decent suggestions to help GW. A mindless, poorly written rant isn't helping anything. And the claim that the devs have made no updates to the game is also laughable. While they may not have been the updates the mighty elite PvP gods wanted, they were updates never the less.

Also, the part I find hilarious is the inflated sense of self worth from this class of player. You see it in just about every PvP oriented game, and its always amusing.

RTSFirebat

RTSFirebat

The Humanoid Typhoon

Join Date: May 2005

UK

Servants of Fortuna [SoF]

R/

To the OP...

While I agree with the points of your thread, this game is not primary PvP, nor is it PvE...

I'm kind of tired of people thinking otherwise.

Xellos

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2005

No Idea

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSecorsky
ANet could have created the perfect game for all, flawless to the Nth degree, and people would still bitch about something.

So far, I'm happy with it and looking forwards to the upcoming added content.
Ahem, Starcraft?

Go on Battle.net forums and try to find a overpowered thread by a top player. Oh snap, there isn't any. How is it a near-decade old game has better replayability and gameplay and balance then all these darn games nowadays?

To be fair, UAS is stupid when you look at it from a whole. Faction is fine, it's rather how you earn it and how fast a casual player can earn it that makes it plain stupid. GvG outfactions everything by a large chunk once your in the guild for 2 weeks, and your suppose to cater to everyone. Tombs is a joke as a whole, so besides fixing the whole damn thing, let's exclude it in faction. Arena's are fine, but the bonuses are crap, and aren't worth it. If it could stackable bonus where it keeps going up, it'll be worth something. Don't use some excuse because arena is arena, if a teams good enough to earn ten thousand faction by having a 100 win streak in this setting beating team arena teams, you better damn well bet they deserve it. Hell, factions not even that important to most people now that GvG.

The real lie and false advertisement came from the hype in interviews, and how in reality, the game engine couldn't support all the things they said they could. The game engine blows, it's a 3D version of Diablo 2. You can't even jump, and while jumping is pointless, it signifies that your character is bumpmapped and basically on a roller coaster map engine system. All those pathing problems and such you can blame on the sad engine. I mean the engines great for the $$ and stability purpose, but it severely cut down the options you can do.

Zuggy

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

Pocatello, Idaho

Team FahQ

R/Me

I don't see any false advertising. I've been doing PvP with a stock Paladin PvP template and it works great. I actually made to the HoH with a PUG with it. I'm tired of all the whining. The introduction of faction is proof that they are listening. I don't care if suggestions are made, but there is a fine line between suggestion and whining and this post is planted firmly in the whine section.

The Pvp whiners are the vocal majority. All you have to do is compare how many complainers there are to how many people are playing PvP at any given time. And I bet, that even at 3 am, the number of AMERICAN not european or korean just american PvPers out numbers those complaining about PvP.

If your unsatisfied with the PvP you should have realized that you wouldn't like it as an Alpha Tester. That alone makes me wonder about your credibility. You knew before anyone what was in store and went along with it anyway. I did 2 BWE's and knew what the PvP would be like, INCLUDING UNLOCKING.

Just yesterday I replied to a post on how I thought the maturity of the of the GW community was stabalizing to the level it was when we were playing the BWE's, I guess I was wrong.

Xellos

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2005

No Idea

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuggy
I don't see any false advertising. I've been doing PvP with a stock Paladin PvP template and it works great. I actually made to the HoH with a PUG with it. I'm tired of all the whining. The introduction of faction is proof that they are listening. I don't care if suggestions are made, but there is a fine line between suggestion and whining and this post is planted firmly in the whine section.
Works great? Made it to HoH? News flash, some guy MADE it to HoH back then with 4 henchmen alone. Does that mean his build PWNZ? Stock Paladin Template? You can believe all you want, I'm not some conversionist, but try playing something that isn't beatable by Alesia and Stephen. No wait, I take it back, the henchmen are after all better then a significant amount of players.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuggy
The Pvp whiners are the vocal majority. All you have to do is compare how many complainers there are to how many people are playing PvP at any given time. And I bet, that even at 3 am, the number of AMERICAN not european or korean just american PvPers out numbers those complaining about PvP.
Europeans are scarce enough as it is buddy, if they started complaining, the whole europe server districts would be empty. Korea? Wait where did the original War Machine and where did Kor go again? =(


Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuggy
If your unsatisfied with the PvP you should have realized that you wouldn't like it as an Alpha Tester. That alone makes me wonder about your credibility. You knew before anyone what was in store and went along with it anyway. I did 2 BWE's and knew what the PvP would be like, INCLUDING UNLOCKING.
Some of us aren't alpha testers. And secondly, some of us thought it would umm, improve? And not ummm, keep sucking lower and lower? You've got to have low standards if you thought crap like Natures Renewel wouldn't be addressed in a month. Warcraft 3 patches faster then this.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Zuggy
Just yesterday I replied to a post on how I thought the maturity of the of the GW community was stabalizing to the level it was when we were playing the BWE's, I guess I was wrong.
Just now, I was going to make a post about how BlackAce finally got the job done and newbies started to keep quiet, but hey, thanks for letting the guy keep his job.

EDIT: Hey look, I found a shining example, someone made a new thread about something I wanted like, in BETA. Something that doesn't ruin ANYTHING, and all the excuses from A.net so far are beyond bullshit. Something as simple as this:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=32505

See that? It's toggle on capes. Wow, purely for that "neat" bonus. What was their rebuttle? Something about sense of loyalty if I remember, that Guild Leaders wouldn't want you not to show you your true allegience? Grow up morons, the Guild Leader will decide if they want to be asshats or not, but for those who play PVE and for those who like collecting your stupid 15k and fissure armour, people want to have the maximum "best look" ok? It's been said by me since beta, and you can't even spend 15 minutes to put something like this in. And people dare say "stop whining" or "Anet is so listening to us". I fail to see how they can make a legitimate rebuttle vs something as simple about this change which can only make the game more playable no matter how small the change is.

Loviatar

Underworld Spelunker

Join Date: Feb 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Xellos
and all the excuses from A.net so far are beyond bullshit. Something as simple as this:

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=32505

See that? It's toggle on capes. .
i get a link to a 24 page thread and i am not going to play sift through the haystack looking forr your idea

besided i have asked for cape toggle myself for a long time and will not buy a cape until it is available

if never i can live without it

Xellos

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2005

No Idea

Quote:
Originally Posted by Loviatar
i get a link to a 24 page thread and i am not going to play sift through the haystack looking forr your idea

besided i have asked for cape toggle myself for a long time and will not buy a cape until it is available

if never i can live without it
Lov, it's not that whether or not we can live without it or not, it's the fact that a 15 minute change was not done even though it was mentioned by people like you and me even back during beta and all they did was give a half ass excuse which probably took longer to make then go change it.

Sammiel

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jun 2005

There is no such thing as a '15 minute' change to a released piece of software. I know you think its a 15 minute change, but that has no bearing on how long it actually would take.

Also, Starcraft took at least a year post release to become balanced, so using it as an example for Guild Wars is just asking to be laughed at, since by that time line we still have a lot of time left before we need to worry.

And would you care to elaborate on your jumping comments? Since there is a jump emote, I'd venture to guess jumping wasn't added for gameplay reasons, and not due to some limititation of the engine. The engine is far more more than a D2 clone, but then again if I got a dime for every unfounded assertion on an internet forum I'd be giving Bill Gates a run for his money.

Aracos79

Aracos79

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Great Southwest

Shadowstorm Mercenaries

E/

I think the major problem here is a basic difference in philosophy. Hardcore PvPers (and forgive my generality) tend to be "instant gratification" types. They want to play NOW, win NOW, kill right the &*$@ NOW. They don't want to wait even 5 seconds to become full-blown killing machines. Anything that deters from that objective therefore becomes "pointless" and "grind". Does this make them poor players, or whiners? Not at all. That's just simply their desire and expectation.

PvE players on the other hand are just the opposite. They see gratification in long term goals... getting all the mission bonuses, capping that last elite skill, whatever it happens to be. They get giddy everytime that "<item> Unlocked" box pops up on their screen. Exploring the game world is a pleasure for them, not a chore.

To a degree, ANet dug their own grave by promising exceptional PvE and PvP content. It is very difficult (and from the rants it looks impossible) to please both of these groups. What satisfies one tends to upset the other. Some PvEers thought the Faction system would devalue PvE play for example. I think however that we have to take ANet at their word that they are trying. The problem is that they set a goal that is probably never attainable.

LoneDust

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2005

I have to say these topics are getting pointless. It's so obvious that Arenanet lied to us from the beta, and does not intend to show their development plan to the public for discussion. Arenanet either does not want or have the financial backing to commit to an actual competitive community. They dug themselves a pvp fan base in the beta, cashed in on their support, and then when the game is released they found themselves wanting to sell even more copies of this game for traditional mmo/role playing players. Oh the original hardcore pvp fans can wait; they are addicted, and they will buy this game for sure. We must push the game further to attract more mmo players! To meet that goal, we need to push for new maps, new quests, and more armor and weapon models!

Money first, suggestions later. When the game just came out, a lot of things were still unbalanced/unfixed. Forget about the guild-cape suggestion. What about the problem of people going link-dead in mid-mission? This is still a major annoyance for both PvE and PvP play, like it was when I played in October last year. I've heard some rumor about how it was being looked at by the devs, and now the world rejoices when we have a mage henchie replacement at the hall of heros who drops firestorm 2 seconds after the target enemy is dead.

How much of the devs' attention is actually going into competitive play? We will probably never know. Gaile can say something on a FF, and the devs can decide to ditch that idea the next week! I'm guessing the whole suggestion of "let's find a fix for dropped players to reconnect to the instance" now sits in the buttom of some dev's waste basket as well, along with the idea of "casual game play, requires skills not time...".

It's been more than 3 months since the game was released, and the only official pvp contest we saw was the "beat the dev" event. That was more like a publicity stunt for E3/game release than a real tournament. There was a patch to enchance the pvp gameplay via factions. Oh Arenanet, you big tease! I want a good build to win and earn factions, while I need factions to get a good build! Hey but I can farm factions instead of killing against articifial unintelligent mobs, I guess I will shut up now!

Whatever happened to 3rd party observer mode in PvP? Don't tell me. It was an rhetoric question. I'll go back to farm factions now. I'm soon to unlock all the skills, and upgrade components anyway. Yes, I believed in false advertisement. Yes, I believe Arenanet lied to me, but I still play GW like a sucker. I'll play because it doesn't cost me 15 bucks a month, and I'll play untill all my friends quit playing. I laughed when some real life friend messaged me the other day saying how he just purchased guildwars, and how soon he would be able to play alongside with me. I know that he will rush through the story for the next few weeks to get his skills for pvp. If he refuse give up mid-way, I know that he will have to rush through the story at least two more time to complete unlocking skills for versatile pvp character creation. Life is a bitch, so is Guildwars PvP. I know he would never get to enjoy the story, but hey, it is only fair.

JoDiamonds

JoDiamonds

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Jun 2005

New England

Quote:
How is it a near-decade old game has better replayability and gameplay and balance then all these darn games nowadays?
Er. You've answered your own question. When they've put ten more years of work into Guild Wars, come back and we'll compare the games.

I'm not trying to knock Starcraft. But that's like comparing the weightlifting champion of the world to Superman and saying, "Pfah! Superman throws trains! This guy can barely lift a car!"

Quote:
it's not that whether or not we can live without it or not, it's the fact that a 15 minute change was not done even though it was mentioned by people like you and me even back during beta ...
Like Sammiel said, there's no 15 minute change. Even if it miraculously was 15 minutes of a programmers time (it's more), you have left out all of the decision makers who decide what to implement (this includes a lot of scheduling), as well as QA testing the feature to make sure it doesn't destroy the world (which is more or less how some forum posters will react even if it works perfectly).

Mentioning something "during beta" doesn't make it important or easy. It's still a large investment of time.

Orochim4ru

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

mustache riders

Quote:
They don't want to wait even 5 seconds to become full-blown killing machines. Anything that deters from that objective therefore becomes "pointless" and "grind"
Its more like 300+ hours until you can get everything you want, without a guild giving you stacks of unided runes, and unided weapons.

Aracos79

Aracos79

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Great Southwest

Shadowstorm Mercenaries

E/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Orochim4ru
Its more like 300+ hours until you can get everything you want, without a guild giving you stacks of unided runes, and unided weapons.
I truly hope you were intentionally taking my comment out of context. I know the amount of time needed to unlock everything is substantial. I was not attempting to make light of that.

My point was that most (not all) PvP players view ANYTHING that stands between them and full capability to be an unacceptable obstacle. Reducing the obstacle is not sufficient. The only thing that will satisfy them is to remove it entirely. Hence the OP's assertion, yet again, that UAS must be made available. And that's why there will always be an incompatibility between that wants and desires of the PvP community and those that primarily play PvE.

Shusky

Shusky

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

Flying Purple Hippos

Yes, a proper balance between PvE and PvP is something this game really needs. PvE, at least for me, is quite repetitive.

Now, when you are new to the game and pick your first character, it is likely that you won't know what your preferred style will be. That's why you'll most likely have to do the game again if you want to be competitive in PvP. And while I would really like to fool around with new and fresh builds, I think I'd rather die than again follow Rurik around, plant all these vines and babysit Jalis

Yeah, so I basically repeated everything that has been already said. Go me

Talesin Darkbriar

Talesin Darkbriar

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

California - irrigated desert...

The Myrmidon

E/N

You would think the OP has played some other MMORPGS besides Guild Wars. Several of his statements indicate otherwise.
Top Guilds have been driving content since UO; the straw that breaks the camels back is whether the game designers cave to the "pressure" from this top 1% of the population - yielding an unplayable game by the other 99%...EQ anyone?
Or stick to their guns, at the possible expense of losing these creme de elites to another more "acceptable" game..
Guild Wars has no monthly fees....so to the uber guilds:
Piss off.

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

Whatever is said, its true. Hundreds of hours playing not eh?

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ad.php?t=40106

and how many of them have uas? and equipment.
I myself have spent 300 hours so far, which pales in comparison to those guys but is still a fair amount, and im about half way on skills, about a fifth on equipment max.
So is that not a lie? Thats not bitching, in what is known as the 'world' people say what their gonna do then they do it (in a fair world before anyone says anything smart). This simply hasnt happened.
I love gw, the concept, playing, yada yada yada. im simply saying what has happened.

The top guilds....... mostly beta players whove been involved in the game for the last 2 years. Thats quite a long time, and they are dam knowlegable so its a loss to the strat communities like these forums, but there are 1000's of players around, and when i do /age, it says the games been out for 2 months>? or three. Thats no time at all.

Promises -----> unfulfilled promises = dissapointment.

Ill keep playing more than likely, but i do hope they fix it.

on a side note, uas isnt hard (still takes a while, im still going after starting whats written below....a week ago). Im talking about the principle up there^^

three characters, r/e, wa/mo, me/n. all good combos. get to beacons perch, it isnt hard, then run to droks. You can run to yaks nowadays as well. Then you have a lot of skills unlocked plus some elites. Then stroll through the game with elites and good armour. To those who are 'zealous', i say, you have a point, but get on with it

Reiden Argrock

Reiden Argrock

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

Arizona

Shadowstorm Mercenaries

wow, I mean wow......wow!
What a sad attempt at trying to discourage the very small amount of players of the entire GW community that posts on these boards.

You say lies? I say you just lost your touch, and don't have the skills to compete anymore.
The pvp templates are more than enough, and considering that the only builds wanted for pvp are these templates, I'd say you get a jump start by skipping the entire pve part, although you miss out on alot of fun, and a chance to not be like every one else.

This thread is complete stupidity, and if you think that A-net has lied or misguided you in anyway, then you should leave, we would be better off without you. Go play Warcraft 3 if you think it's so much better, or WoW so you can go camp a boss for 3 hours while I get another 4 levels on my char, and 10plat and 1000faction from arena's!!!

Pff, I don't need your kind, and neither does Guild Wars!

Phades

Phades

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jun 2005

Most of the pvp templates are very sub-par character builds and do not work very well with each other in many instances.

Commenting on the intellegence of the thread when compared against your opinion of the templates being "more than enough" looks more like an uninformed flame than a rational arguement.

To be quite literal, when compared to the time when UAS existed versus now, they don't have the "skills" anymore.

rii

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2005

UK

If they think that anet lied they have a perfectly reasonable right to say so. telling them to go away is not valid in any case.

and they are right.
Q: does it take hundreds of hours (or enought to take a reasonable amount of time to UAS?)
A: YES
Q: did anet say this would not be so?
A: YES
Q: would that imply then, that anet said a mistruth:
A: WHAT ELSE?

.........? whats wrong with that.


The guy posted a 17 win streak which was 'recent' dont know how recent, but really, lost the touch? methinks not.

Guild-Hall Messenger

Academy Page

Join Date: Aug 2005

Quote:
Originally Posted by Alex Weekes
There's a lot of bait in this thread . To be honest, I now regret being so open with that post.

I did not say TGH is a small forum. It clearly isn't. It's one of the larger forums for Guild Wars, and it supports an active and vocal community. It has a PvP focus, and that focus is valued by us. A lot of the high-end competitive players and guilds post here, and that feedback is valued as well. Constructive feedback is valued much higher than destructive ranting.

So let me cut to the chase. I obviously posted too much initially and the essence of the post was missed. Here are the key points:

1. That top-end competitive guilds have (or in the process of) stopped playing is a concern that has been noted.

2. UAS is not a likely option. You've known that for a long time, it's time to move on and start suggesting viable alternatives that involve both the PvP and RP characters.

3. Faction was our first major step. We're receiving valuable feedback and considering further options in light of that feedback.

4. We're commited to high-end PvP in Guild Wars.

__________________
Alex 'GhostRaptor' Weekes
Guild Wars Community Relations Team
NCsoft (Europe)

The rebuttal by a disgruntled awhole pvper (I have his permission to post)




Listen, we have heard this for 3 months.

We know you listen and understand what is happening to PVP.

We would like you to actually care enough to do something about it. (not weekes but A.net)

You can sit and say we are listening, thinking, plodding along, carefully considering, debating, interested in constructive feedback, and rolling around in money.

The fact is NOTHING will change until they get rid of the grind mechanism that was introduced. This is simply the fact that each skill and item has a huge time to unlock.

THIS HAS BEEN STATED BEFORE, faction unlocks are ridiculously slow, and need to be increased by amazing factors, imo 30x more faction in arena alone.

This will not change until Arena.Net decides to change there stupid policy of basing PVP off PVE times.

Increase all gold drops so people actually get nice items, increase faction, increase the number of skills available at every trainer, quadruple the number of skill points.


cuz all you have done so far is actually..


nothing.

Aracos79

Aracos79

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Great Southwest

Shadowstorm Mercenaries

E/

I think the OP just reinforces the point I've made twice in this thread. PvPers want access to everything, right now, no waiting please. They view ANYTHING (PvE play, faction, unlocking) that stands between them and full access as unacceptable. Please understand, I get where they are coming from and I don't have a problem with that. We each would like to play the game in the way that suits us best. And for the instant gratification PvP crowd, this is what they want. Fine, well, and good.

The problem is this... ANet has committed itself to providing quality PvE and Pvp content. Doing both, and keeping both communities happy, is the problem. Add to this the fact that PvE and PvP are linked in Guild Wars. Personally I like that they are. I prefer using my PvE characters in PvP play... it's more satisfying for me. But that's just me, and we all play differently. ANet faces a challenge of it's own making.

Finally, as to the "high level PvP guilds" that the OP referrences... these truly are a very small percentage of the game community. ANet has the same obligation it has to them as it does to all other players. Their needs don't come first, but neither do they come last. They deserved the same attention and weight as all others.

Long term solution? I truly don't know. All I know is that I'll keep playing and enjoying myself, and hopefully you all can too at some level. See you in Tyria.

MSecorsky

MSecorsky

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

So Cal

The Sinister Vanguard

Me/

...Or ANet can ignore the whiners and keep up the good work.

Aniewiel

Aniewiel

Smite Mistress

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Land of AZ, USA

Rt/E

Everyone acts like 3 months is a lifetime. I am sure that there were unexpected "snafus" on the game's release that have had to be dealt with before any major changes/additions can be made. Give them some time to work out the kinks before you start labeling them "liars" and blatantly saying that they don't care and aren't doing diddly for -you-.

Have SOME faith that the devs and the ANet team truly do have your best interests at heart! It is NOT good business sense to have a bunch of disgruntled people running around the 'Net talking about how rotten they are and that they've been "lied" to, for Pete's sake. The proverb, "Patience is a virtue" seems lost on some and you need to sit back and relax a bit!

Guild-Hall Messenger

Academy Page

Join Date: Aug 2005

If they have changes coming, why dont they post what those changes will be??? every change so far has been half of what it was said to be.

Faction is still hugely slower then PVE to unlock things!

600 hours is fast for unlocking everything...

I dunno but that seems like grind to me.

MSecorsky

MSecorsky

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Jun 2005

So Cal

The Sinister Vanguard

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guild-Hall Messenger
If they have changes coming, why dont they post what those changes will be??? every change so far has been half of what it was said to be.

Faction is still hugely slower then PVE to unlock things!

600 hours is fast for unlocking everything...

I dunno but that seems like grind to me.
If you choose to go the quick route, that's the price you have to pay currently. All this time you're wasting in here whining, you could be out in PvE unlocking skills.

Think man! Think!

Divinitys Creature

Divinitys Creature

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2005

Somewhere between the Real World and Tyria ;P

The Gothic Embrace [Goth]

I think frequent visitors to these boards should try and have a look at The Outpost forum at www.guild-hall.net today. Today was a big day in which a LOT of people expressed their feelings about the game. The kinds of posts made there tend not to be made here, so if you want to see a very PvP oriented view, you might like to read some of the threads there.

Aniewiel

Aniewiel

Smite Mistress

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Land of AZ, USA

Rt/E

I understand your frustration. 10 months seems long but, even then, it is still a young game. I want to see changes. I hope everyone gets happy some day. However, running around calling the devs liars and such is counter-productive to the cause. I just prefer to believe that they are listening and will do what they have promised. That they haven't only leads me to believe that they are working on things and, just maybe, they are harder to implement that originally thought.

They are NOT going to ignore good business sense and make a crappy game. It is in their interest (and I DO believe they watch, read and listen) to accomodate as many of us as they can as far as is possible. There are hundreds of thousands of us and only a handful of -them-. There are only so many hours in a day, so many employees in a company and so many wives/husbands/GFs/BFs who will put up with significant others gone for weeks at a time.

Sarus

Sarus

Ministry of Technology

Join Date: Feb 2005

Washington D.C.

Idiot Savants

Mo/

I've heard that most of the PvP oriented alpha players were just recently kicked out of the Alpha by Anet so I've basically lost all hope for this game. The only reason I play is because I like the people in my guild and hanging out with them online.

I really hope something else comes along that we can all move to it as a guild.

Kishin

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

The Twilight Vanguard [TTV]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MSecorsky
If you choose to go the quick route, that's the price you have to pay currently. All this time you're wasting in here whining, you could be out in PvE unlocking skills.

Think man! Think!
I hate how this is the only argument people can come up with against PvP players making some extremely eloquent points.

Maybe he doesn't enjoy playing PvE. I don't see why he should be made to play it if he doesn't. Especially since many of these people are people who've played the PvE for months and months even before release, and have all finished it once already.

Aniewiel

Aniewiel

Smite Mistress

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Land of AZ, USA

Rt/E

Kishin...maybe it was an attempt at levity? Maybe it was sarcastic? Maybe he was trying to inject humor into a rather humorless conversation.

But I do agree that people shouldn't HAVE to PvE if they dislike it so. I am sure that ANet will work something out to the mutual satisfaction of all.

Kishin

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2005

The Twilight Vanguard [TTV]

R/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aniewiel
Kishin...maybe it was an attempt at levity? Maybe it was sarcastic? Maybe he was trying to inject humor into a rather humorless conversation.

But I do agree that people shouldn't HAVE to PvE if they dislike it so. I am sure that ANet will work something out to the mutual satisfaction of all.
I don't assume any of that considering the condescending tone people around here take towards PvP players. Example, this:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aracos79
I think the OP just reinforces the point I've made twice in this thread. PvPers want access to everything, right now, no waiting please. They view ANYTHING (PvE play, faction, unlocking) that stands between them and full access as unacceptable. Please understand, I get where they are coming from and I don't have a problem with that. We each would like to play the game in the way that suits us best. And for the instant gratification PvP crowd, this is what they want. Fine, well, and good.
In response to this, let me say: PvP concerns aren't only unlocking. There are serious balance issues that also need to be addressed. In the case of unlocking, however, its the nature of the unlocking system (requiring repetitive play throughs and grind) that frustrates people, as well as the fact that they are cut off from so many possible options and choices by not having the skills they need.

It isn't a desire to be "TEH ULTIMATE KILLING MACHINE OMG" either. Its a desire to play with all the tools available in a balanced environment. But apparently, whenever this line comes up, people stop reading and start pointing fingers.

Odd Sock

Elite Guru

Join Date: Feb 2005

Ottawa, the super awesome capital of Canada

iQ

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aniewiel
Kishin...maybe it was an attempt at levity? Maybe it was sarcastic? Maybe he was trying to inject humor into a rather humorless conversation.
Maybe you should read what is posted and if you can't understand it then read it again. Being a new mod doesn't make you god and you should watch what you have to say or at least when you reply to something read the post twice.

Orochim4ru

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jul 2005

mustache riders

on the topic of being kicked out, one member posted this in response to an anet reply

Quote:
Alex, you just booted out a lot of people from the closed community who were from the leading PVP guilds in this community. Why? Because more of them started bringing up issues seen here on this board, and I can only guess that they were too busy trying to save their guilds in retail rather than log in to test the new PVE zone of the month.

You were told for months prior to retail, during BWE's, and post retail about the PVP community's concerns with tying competitive PVP into the PVE game.

For months people have been giving you all good feedback internally and externally that would help solve the issues, and it didn't revolve around UAS. Most of the PVP community's concerns went unanswered, barely answered, or we got a feature we didn't ask for shoved down our throats with little time for feedback.

Anet's response has been to come up with their own ideas, provide little to no reaction time, and then try to band-aid it with some other new thing.

The bottom line is we told you that skill points were a bad idea. We didn't like skill charms and charm rings because the drop rate was terrible. All you had to do was keep the charm system, and beef up the drop rate. You got rid of charms and gave us skill points. Charms could be traded, skill points cannot. We even asked for a guild hall charm vendor so we could allow guild members to make characters that could temporarily use skills.

We told you that having one PVP ladder was too static. We said there needed to be more ranked competition using smaller team sizes because it gave guilds something to do when 8 people could not be found, or when the primary 8vs8 team was already in a ladder fight.

We told you that there were problems with Tombs, the maps, the bugs, etc and it was too easy for teams to exploit 4the win.

We told you that we needed a real guild database with detailed stats, win and loss streaks, and individual guild member information.

We told you that guilds needed more functionality, guild storage, guild titles, etc.

We told you that smurf guilds were a problem.

We told you that ladder decay was needed.

We told you that we recommend xp for a skill point be reduced to 3,000 exp after ascension and it was reduced to 20,000 exp.

I am not going to bother saying anymore about all the things that were suggested prior to and after retail. You can tell the people who don't know you as well as we do that you are listening, but you are not giving the people what they have asked for.

At the end of the day a significant portion of your playerbase bought this game to PVP, get into competitive PVP quickly, and have the ability to quickly develop counter-builds. You have not provided that game yet, and more and more people who are entering competitive and casual PVP are finding this out.

As someone else mentioned earlier, they won't come here and post.....they will just quit.

The reason that people are quitting, moving on, or reducing their gameplay (which screws up the ladder for everyone) is because you haven't delivered, and because you are giving people features other than what is being asked for. Those new features don't help or significantly reduce the core issues why people are leaving.

I hope you recruit more guilds for the closed test, and please don't boot them out when you get tired of them bringing up these types of issues and then complaining when you don't respond.

dbgtboy

dbgtboy

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Apr 2005

irl

i quit playing

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guild-Hall Messenger
600 hours is fast for unlocking everything...
Are you crazy? ive been playing 480 hours and i still have a shitload of skills to unlock, i barely have any ele or mesmer skills yet. I doubt ill have them all even after 800 hours, and if im lucky ill have them by 1000.

Sarus

Sarus

Ministry of Technology

Join Date: Feb 2005

Washington D.C.

Idiot Savants

Mo/

Quote:
The bottom line is we told you that skill points were a bad idea. We didn't like skill charms and charm rings because the drop rate was terrible. All you had to do was keep the charm system, and beef up the drop rate. You got rid of charms and gave us skill points. Charms could be traded, skill points cannot. We even asked for a guild hall charm vendor so we could allow guild members to make characters that could temporarily use skills.

We told you that having one PVP ladder was too static. We said there needed to be more ranked competition using smaller team sizes because it gave guilds something to do when 8 people could not be found, or when the primary 8vs8 team was already in a ladder fight.

We told you that there were problems with Tombs, the maps, the bugs, etc and it was too easy for teams to exploit 4the win.

We told you that we needed a real guild database with detailed stats, win and loss streaks, and individual guild member information.

We told you that guilds needed more functionality, guild storage, guild titles, etc.

We told you that smurf guilds were a problem.

We told you that ladder decay was needed.

We told you that we recommend xp for a skill point be reduced to 3,000 exp after ascension and it was reduced to 20,000 exp.
Best ideas ever which means Anet won't use them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aniewiel
Have SOME faith that the devs and the ANet team truly do have your best interests at heart! It is NOT good business sense to have a bunch of disgruntled people running around the 'Net talking about how rotten they are and that they've been "lied" to, for Pete's sake. The proverb, "Patience is a virtue" seems lost on some and you need to sit back and relax a bit!
You're starting to sound like Gaile Gray. In fact ... I think you are Gaile Gray!! *gasp*

Odd Sock

Elite Guru

Join Date: Feb 2005

Ottawa, the super awesome capital of Canada

iQ

How to fix PvP by Arena Net

- Let's kick everyone that knows their shit about PvP from the alpha
- Let's set up alpha boards and not have the devs respond to them
- Let's not go read fansite forums cause they too don't know what they're doing
- Let's develop PvE content that people will burn through in a 2 days

Aniwiel: that was sarcasm in case you couldn't figure that one out

Divinitys Creature

Divinitys Creature

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2005

Somewhere between the Real World and Tyria ;P

The Gothic Embrace [Goth]

Check out the articles at www.lotd.org
They were amongst the first alpha testers in this game and the gaming industry holds their views in high regard (AFAIK) and they are often invited by developers to test new games. Now that ANET has mistreated them, they (ANET) have done themselves a tremendous disservice.

Aniewiel

Aniewiel

Smite Mistress

Join Date: Jun 2005

The Land of AZ, USA

Rt/E

Odd Sock, believe it or not, I'm on your side. And I'm not quite as stupid as you think. I managed to figure out the sarcasm.

I HOPE that ANet is listening. I WANT them to respond to what PvPers want.

I want this game to be successful as much as anyone. Let's just hope that some news is forthcoming on what it is that is intended so that:

- either people can celebrate upcoming changes/balances/implementations

OR

- people can move on to another game if this one is not moving in the direction they want.