Fansite Friday - MIA?

Originally Posted by Tactical-Dillusions

Give us an update, even if it's just a new blade of grass in ascalon. How many folks would actually go look at it, if we were told the location? ROFL.

Originally Posted by Shinsei

Hadn't you already expressed your despise for the GW community on TGH in a thread of people unsatisfied with the recent FF, and how you don't want to do any more FF's because of that, or have I mistaken, Gaile?

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

One of the founders suggested last night that perhaps it's time to end the series. He has noted negativity, and I think he knows the FF's are a bit of work for me to do when I could be spending the time elsewhere, like doing the magazine interview I have in my in-box. I mean, it's pretty time-consuming when Mike was helping me with an answer while he was driving in to work, when I pulled aside four devs to expand an answer, and when I was at work past 8:30 writing and AJ was there late, too, in order to post for me. (That's not a "poor me" or "poor us" there, just wanted to show a bit of scope.)

I had responded to the "end the series" suggestion (and it was just a suggestion, offered with kind intentions) by saying that I believed that having weekly contact between the fansites (meaning fans) and primary members of the dev team was a really good thing. After all, FF's are seldom solo productions, and they nearly always involve input from a designer or other relevant team member. I said tonight that I strongly believed that we should continue the series. That it was a great way for fansites to become known, and a nice way for the community to keep in touch. And I think the series has been a great idea, and that quite a lot of good info has come out of it.

But let's be realistic: We are not, at this time or in this format, able to give detailed and specific information about Guild Wars' future. Questions that ask "Will you add this feature when you release next year" are usually not suitable for an answer. Yes, you want that sort of info, but we aren't able to provide it. Realistically, if the coming episode of the game has not yet been formally announced, so how likely is it the developer will discuss specific features? Yet there's a lot of hostility about such unanswered questions.

Perhaps the fairest thing would be to suggest that rather than looking at what we're not able to provide, you should step back and look at what we have provided. One of the question in this week's FF asked about a design decision: Guilds Lord elimination versus team kill. We were delighted to answer that, and hope that it provides some insight into reasoning for a game mechanic that players have been curious about. Questions like that, "Why is it..." or "Why did you decide to..." are what the FF's should focus on. Future features will be revealed in the appropriate time and place.

In the end, with the always-negative reaction here, I'm not sure that stating the expectations and giving a reality check on the purpose and the scope of the series will be productive. Somebody, or somebodies, are just not listening! I think the FF has quite a few new things to say. Maybe not the name of the next release, the types of new professions, or the exact numeric formula for all the new skills. It's too early for that. But it offers something of value nonetheless. I've said it many times: The FF's are not intended for the existing so-called "expert" player. They are not intended as fodder for the non-fan or the always-dissatisfied forum member / former player / other game fan / wonder-developer-wannabe who spend his time trawling (trolling, too) for any opportunity to bash the game or the dev team. The FF's are intended primarily for the newer player, or for the person who is considering becoming a player. And, for those individuals, they serve a purpose. But certainly, I could stop pinging the busy Design Team for answers, stop putting myself and my team under stress to meet localization and publication deadlines, and stop putting up content that you'd rather not read because, after all, it's all about you, right?

Reduced communication FTW?