Providing relevant questions for future FFs

PURPOSE OF THIS THREAD

Some of you may be familiar with this thread from GWG or, this thread from TGH. If not, just have a look at the quote below. ANet is now reluctant to answer fan questions for two reasons:
1- because they won't answer many popular questions (toggle capes/chapter 2/observer mode: when?), either because they cannot give the answer yet (too soon, other priorities) or because they don't want to (keeping cool stuff for pre-release, linked with other secret evolutions, still being designed...)
2- because of the amount of negativity generated by the lack of answer, or by the vagueness of their reply (first half of 2006), or by the audience target (most of the time not veteran PvP players / farmers)

However, ANet proved to do a great job in terms of player communication on most occasions, much more than all game developers. That deserves a decent and helpful contribution from the GWG community. The purpose of this thread is precisely to provide Gaile and her team with helpful questions to ANet. Let's be realistic and constructive, it doesn't hurt.

RELEVANT QUESTIONS

The most useful questions to ANet would be:
1- related to the present or to the past of GW, not to its future
2- whys concerning future features which have been announced
3- neutral toned (no aggressivity, no praise)
4- simple, beginner-friendly (no weird reference to obscure and obsolete combinations)
5- short (2/3 sentences max, the answer must be longer than the question)
6- well written, in proper English

UNWELCOME QUESTIONS

This thread will hopefully be clean and constructive without moderation. However some questions may be deleted in an effort to keep things tidy and useful. Posts may be subject to deletion if they are:
1- questions related to future releases/patches (when? will you fix this? I have a cool suggestion, do you mind?)
2- aggressive questions (disguised rants & whines)
3- fanboyish questions (disguised 'we love you' / 'the latest patch rocks')
4- gibberish, too obscure, impossible to understand
5- a three page question that can be answered by yes/no
6- using AOL/l33t language (you is not U, and you don't look cooler with the latter)
7- off-topic

The thread is not free bandwidth & audience for praises from fanboys, nor for bashing comments from trolls. Expect harsh deletion (and even bad moderator notes) against spams/trolls and against those who didn't bother reading this original post or the forum guidelines.

GAILE'S ORIGINAL POST

Quoted from TGH forums:
http://www.guild-hall.net/forum/show...4&postcount=32

(second half of the post with spare room for...)

THE LIST

1. How do ArenaNet and in particular James Phinney, feel how the "state of the game" has changed since the introduction of Sorrows Furnace, the balance adjustments and the economical changes... particularly the chests/keys system? (Tactical-Dillusions)
   
   
2. Most people are of the impression that, when it comes to axe mastery, hammer mastery, and swordsmanship, swordsmanship falls short in competitive PVP. Do you (Anet) believe this is true, and what role did/do you envision swordsmanship as having? (AeroLion)
   
   
3. A mechanism has been implemented in game to allow characters to select a new secondary profession. It isn't very feasible however to unlock the new secondary class because it is quite laboursome to unlock skills PvE wise on the same character. Why did you choose to put the secondary changing mechanism so far in the game? Does Anet recognise the problem that it is very hard for PvE players to change secondaries and make them playable? (Makkert)
   
   
4. How were the Charr created? Where did you get the idea from? (Makkert)
   
   
5. How does ANet feel about the current Worlds at War system, while latest posted information on forums show that America holds the favor for the large part? Does Anet expect that Europe and Korea will catch up with America, and if so, why? (Makkert)
   
   
6. ANet sold a million copies of GuildWars. There is however doubt on how active this million of players are. How much active (let's say last logged in within time period of the last two weeks) players are there? (Makkert)
   
   
7. Relic Runs: why is the wincondition as it is? At it's current state, the team that captures a relic as first loses at a tie (each team captured an equal amount of relics). What is the thought behind this current mechanic, since it doesn’t encourage capping a relic first? (Makkert)
   
   
8. Does ANet have information on how many players use Droknar Armor / Elite skills in Ascalon Arena? I know the XP will eventually will kick a twinker out of the beginner arena, but does ANet monitor this dubious activity closely? You made running more difficult as stated in Fansite Friday #59. Did this result in a decrease of the players that use Droknar Armor or Elite skills in beginner arena’s? (Makkert)
   
   
9. Chapter 2 will contain new professions and new skills. Why is chosen for new proffesions instead of deepening the skill-lists of the existing professions? Is the danger of a particular profession unable to find groups for pve/pvp not greater by creating new professions? (After all, mesmers, rangers and necro’s already tend to have a hard time in pve finding a group for example.) Also, what does Anet expect what the impact the introduction of completely new professions will have regarding skill balance? (Makkert)
   
   
10. What are good places for the RPG- minded – social players in Tyria? How does Anet stand on the idea of creating specific places/districts for RPG players? (Makkert)
    
    
11. You've announced an observer mode for PvP. Have you also discussed an observer mode for PvE, and if so, what were your thoughts? It would be nice to observe PvE events like races for runners. (Chiao)
    
    
12. Why are all energycosts a multitude of 5? Why not energy costs of 7 or 3? The adrenaline costs are spread out, why not the energy costs? Why are most recharge times multiples of 5? Varied recharge times would require thought into which order to cast things in. (Makkert & Unienaule)
    
    
13. PvP is an important part of the game, but to many PvE players it is an unknown, and difficult to transition into. PvP is introduced in the game in the form of the academy quest, the Thirsty River mission, and the presence of arenas in major cities, and obviously the unlock system and the Worlds at War ideas are meant to encourage PvE and PvP being part of the same game. What steps do you envision ANet taking to try to encourage PvE players to try PvP, or to aid newer PvP players to make the transition? (Epinephrine)
    
    
14. The Competitive Arena seems to contain fast-paced, do or die type maps with the Crag (lava map) being the odd one out. What was Anet's intention in implementing it? (AeroLion)
    
    
15. Guilds are capped at 100 members; What was the reasoning behind having a cap, and at choosing this number (I know it seems like a lot of people, but an international guild with casual players may find that they don't have many on in a given period)? Some guilds are approaching this cap and are trying to decide in what direction they will evolve - we have heard mention of Guild Alliances; what can you tell us about alliances, their purpose and planned influence on the game, and will this be a way for a guild to expand further? (Epinephrine)
    
    
16. On the PVE side enemies sometimes fight each other. For instance, tengu in North Kryta Province seem to hate gypsie ettins, though not bog skales or fire imps. Salving cactii seem to be attacked by all creatures in the desert. How do you determine which enemies belong to which "sides" in this respect? (AeroLion)
    
    
17. When a skill is overpowered, bugged or otherwise, it gets a change. It is 'nerfed' or 'boosted'. On the other side, an item such as the Henge of Denravi longsword (the +5 energy sword) was taken away from the crafter, leaving the existing ones to gain great value. Why did you decide this plan of action? Why did you not 'nerf' the existing swords? More generic: "why is equipment treated different then skills in balancing the game?" (Makkert)
    
    
18. There are no collectors offering staves for some attribute lines (e.g: healing), could you explain why these staves were left out? Do you plan to make a Beastmastery weapon/iem ? (gou)
    
    
19. Why did ANet release GuildWars with items without a purpose (Rubies and Sapphires), or referring to items I haven't seen still after months of play (Brick of mud)?
    
    
20. In the update implemented on November 10th, the AI of enemies was altered to make them more intelligent towards the effects of various Area of Effect (AoE) attacks. However, enemies will still attack under the effects of spells like Empathy, and cast spells under the effects of Backfire. Why was the AI increased in certain areas and not in others? (Racthoh)
    
    
21. How/why do pets evolve? (unienaule)
    
    
22. What was the driving force behind the assassin class for chapter two? In other words, what made you decide on that particular class? (Banebow)
    
    
23. Why did we abandon Ascalon to the charr rule? The invasion of the charr was the main focus of the story. Why did the game begin that fight and never finish it? (Yellow_lid)

TO BE UPDATED: From time to time, I'll compile the most relevant questions in this first post and I'll purge this thread. If you think this list needs to be updated, feel free to PM me (or other moderators).

Updated: merged questions to the list (see above) and removed individual posts.
Good questions so far, thanks for your contribution. Please keep them coming.