Curse

Regina Buenaobra · Oct 07, 2009, 04:35 PM // 16:35

Hey, all:

I've put a new post up on my wiki page:

Quote:

As a follow-up to my previous update-y post here, Linsey has outlined more details about what the Live Team is currently working on:

* The Henchmen project: Robert has done a major pass on all the PvE Henchmen, changing many of their builds and polishing their stats to a glossy shine. Only some minor AI tweaks remain. Live Team collectively managed to get through the 30k+ PvP Henchmen submissions and picked 40 builds to be used on release. Robert is working with Joe now to make sure the AI knows how to handle the builds. Linsey and Robert are working with me to get in touch with all the winners, nail down (appropriate, in-character) names for the Henchmen. The last bit of fun is going to be digging up cool models to use for them all once we have the names.

* PvP Skins: The work on this is done. Joe miraculously resolved the two "show-stopping" graphics bugs with the EotN skins, implemented the price reductions and added support for ZCoins.

* Sync-ing Random Arena: The GW2 Programming Team had been playing a bunch of GW PvP lately during their lunch breaks and on the weekend. During one play session, the room got into a lively discussion about Sync'ing Random Arena. Next thing Linsey knows, one of the members of the GW2 Programming Team was telling her that he'd found a way to put everyone into the same bucket so that Sync'ing won't be so easy. We decided to push it live as soon as possible and we put it up on September 1st.

* (TA + HB)^Sealed = WIN!: This project has taken a little bit longer than we had expected. Joe needed to pretty much start from scratch in order for Sealed to be robust enough to handle Live conditions as a full format. That's bumped a couple things from this build back on the waiting list. At this point, Joe is working with QA to get the last remains of TA and HB removed and QA has begun their first test pass on the new Sealed format. Sealed has all its basic functionality there now, it just needs to get through the testing/bug fixing phase and on to the final polish.

* GvG Tiebreaker: We've read through lots of feedback, distilling it down to key points and proposals, but other than that, the project has been mostly put on hold. There are so many different opinions about how we should deal with this that it would be best to wait until the Test Krewe is in place anyway so that we have a way to test each approach. Linsey prefers this one to be really solid before we put it out. That means iteration and a lot of testing, which takes a lot of time and people.

* Bug Fixes for Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry: These have mostly been put on hold for now since they're primarily code issues.

* New HoH map: As we said before, "we’ll probably wait until the Test Krewe is in place" and that's what's happening.

* New Schedule for Automated Tournaments: The last status update from QA was that they were doing their test pass and this was pretty much just a matter of Izzy pulling the trigger.

* The Next Skill Balance: We have not started production on this yet. Linsey won't be free to think about it until Halloween is set, but James and Robert have been brewing some ideas already. We'll let you know when this project gets further underway.

* Halloween: As I mentioned a couple posts ago on this page, Linsey has been itching do something new for Halloween. She didn't want to just put in a few more terrible jokes. It’s been on her mind a lot and ideas have been percolating and for months on sleepless nights and in daydreams abound. The last couple weeks, in between scrambling around working on PvP stuff, she's been developing something fairly ambitious. She isn't sure yet if we’ll be able to pull it all off, but regardless, we'll probably manage to get at least a little shiny and new in for this year’s celebration.

zelgadissan · Oct 07, 2009, 04:39 PM // 16:39

Thanks for the update, Regina. I, for one, appreciate information being passed along, even if it's not necessarily what people are wanting to hear - for example, things like the HoH map being put on hold.

In before flames for delays/henchmen/godknowswhatelse.

Black Metal · Oct 07, 2009, 04:40 PM // 16:40

"* New Schedule for Automated Tournaments: The last status update from QA was that they were doing their test pass and this was pretty much just a matter of Izzy pulling the trigger."

PLEASE tell me this means the XTH is going up. If not, that's a very glaring ommission.

No news of a second quarterly content update? If so it would seem that the 3 quarterly content updates for 2009 fell well short with 1.

Zahr Dalsk · Oct 07, 2009, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* The Henchmen project: Robert has done a major pass on all the PvE Henchmen, changing many of their builds and polishing their stats to a glossy shine.

Awesome, if the new builds are actually good. Of course, considering how worthless they currently are, odds are this is an improvement.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* PvP Skins: The work on this is done. Joe miraculously resolved the two "show-stopping" graphics bugs with the EotN skins, implemented the price reductions and added support for ZCoins.

We can get PvP skins for zaishen coins? That's great, as long as it's not unreasonably costly.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

Bug Fixes for Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry: These have mostly been put on hold for now since they're primarily code issues.

It'd be nice to see shrine NPC's move quickly out of AoE.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

The Next Skill Balance: We have not started production on this yet. Linsey won't be free to think about it until Halloween is set, but James and Robert have been brewing some ideas already. We'll let you know when this project gets further underway.

I hope we see some interesting changes, such as large buffs/reworks to much of the Ritualist and Mesmer skills. (And attribute lines. I'd like to see Spawning's current effects dropped and replaced with something useful, such as energy regen / energy gain on summoning a creature / spell cost reduction / something like that.)

Zodiac Meteor · Oct 07, 2009, 04:43 PM // 16:43

Thy thanks the Regina.

Beware Linsey, Halloween does not like poor work.

slowerpoke · Oct 07, 2009, 04:50 PM // 16:50

PvE henchmen are being updated?

the XTH, which is missing from the summary, what's the reason the last set of undistributed points not being given out yet? xth front end doesn't need to be working for that.

Xenex Xclame · Oct 07, 2009, 04:58 PM // 16:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* The Next Skill Balance: We have not started production on this yet. Linsey won't be free to think about it until Halloween is set, but James and Robert have been brewing some ideas already. We'll let you know when this project gets further underway.

So we didnt get any skill updates this (passed) month,the one we got was from the month before,it was late because they were sick,we got no 1 month ahead of time preview.You guys didnt start on the skill updates, and our next update will be 4 months after the last one?Seeing as you will need 2 months to make it.

If this is the way its gonna be I rather have the old way of getting updates,broken and stupid,but still update.

Eragon Zarroc · Oct 07, 2009, 05:00 PM // 17:00

soooo, since a few of these depend on the test krewe being put into place, any updates on how that is going with the review of submissions and what not? ;-)

Regina Buenaobra · Oct 07, 2009, 05:11 PM // 17:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eragon Zarroc

soooo, since a few of these depend on the test krewe being put into place, any updates on how that is going with the review of submissions and what not? ;-)

We've narrowed the list from a few thousand applicants to a size that is more manageable. The shortlist has been circulated, and we are waiting for internal feedback on that list. Each applicant had to submit a short statement about why they wanted to volunteer for this, and I believe several folks are taking another look, a closer look, at those statements.

Chthon · Oct 07, 2009, 05:18 PM // 17:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* Sync-ing Random Arena: The GW2 Programming Team had been playing a bunch of GW PvP lately during their lunch breaks and on the weekend. During one play session, the room got into a lively discussion about Sync'ing Random Arena. Next thing Linsey knows, one of the members of the GW2 Programming Team was telling her that he'd found a way to put everyone into the same bucket so that Sync'ing won't be so easy. We decided to push it live as soon as possible and we put it up on September 1st.

In case you managed to miss it, the so-called fix made synching marginally harder, but failed to fix the problem.

For Linsey's benefit, a better solution, in addition to throwing everyone in the same bucket, is to implement a short random waiting period between when the player presses "enter" and when they are thrown into the queue. (From the player's side, it looks like a 30 to 30+X sec timer instead of the current 30 sec timer.)

Fril Estelin · Oct 07, 2009, 05:24 PM // 17:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xenex Xclame

So we didnt get any skill updates this (passed) month,the one we got was from the month before,it was late because they were sick,we got no 1 month ahead of time preview.You guys didnt start on the skill updates, and our next update will be 4 months after the last one?Seeing as you will need 2 months to make it.

If this is the way its gonna be I rather have the old way of getting updates,broken and stupid,but still update.

When Linsey published her mammoth devnote on August 28, announcing these big projects (all worked on in parallel), she also asked for the community's support and understanding:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Linsey

A New Approach

I know this is a lot of information to take in, and it comes in a package that is sort of unusual in the game industry. At the beginning of the year, we spoke about wanting to be more open about what we’re working on and set this as a high priority in the months that followed. We had a lot of plans for how to accomplish this, but as they say, "The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray.”

We’ve decided to try a slightly different approach, starting with this post. As you can see, we are relaxing our stance on talking about projects that are in progress and projects that are just getting going. We’ve launched Facebook and Twitter pages to give you quick updates on what we are up to. Taking a less formal approach like this will work easier with our fast-paced schedule and will hopefully increase the flow of information to you.

This degree of transparency is unusual for large game companies, being more common to smaller studios and indie projects. We’ll be sharing information and offering insights into the development process that the public normally doesn’t have access to for AAA games. This kind of stuff goes on behind the scenes anyway; we’re just pulling the curtain back to show you the process. To make this new approach successful, our community needs to meet us halfway. We all have to be on the same side here.

So, in return for this openness, we expect you, our community, to be understanding when projects that we have discussed may be canceled or changed, or a project or build is delayed. We want you to have ambitious expectations for us, but to understand that there are always limitations. Everyone has to deal with finite resources, competing priorities, and unexpected complications, and we’re no different. By embracing this reality, we can work together to bridge the gap between development and community for the betterment of the game.

I’m looking forward to chatting about my work openly, but as always please keep in mind that there will be lulls in activity from time to time.

I guess integrating Robert into the Live Team also takes some time and the H1N1 virus outbreak took its tall.

]HM[ Sabre Wolf · Oct 07, 2009, 05:43 PM // 17:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

We've narrowed the list from a few thousand applicants to a size that is more manageable. The shortlist has been circulated, and we are waiting for internal feedback on that list. Each applicant had to submit a short statement about why they wanted to volunteer for this, and I believe several folks are taking another look, a closer look, at those statements.

Well its very nice that everyone is still working on it

... and most of the player opinion changes for PvP will be on hold till a player controled tester crew is made. Looking forward to new maps and stuff. Repurposing HB maps for HA would be kinda sick/twisted!

Henchie PvE update is much needed and I will be glad to see it. And given your statement about Halloween and Lindsey's statement on her blog about work load... I am assumeing no Skill Update this month at all, and just AI skills updates? That too bad considering I know Lindsey address the Perma UWSC issue all the way back at PAX and still cant get the time to tackle it...

R_Frost · Oct 07, 2009, 06:01 PM // 18:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

The Henchmen project: Robert has done a major pass on all the PvE Henchmen, changing many of their builds and polishing their stats to a glossy shine. Only some minor AI tweaks remain.:

as much as it would probably cause a big uproar like the PvP henchman thread, it would be nice to get a heads up on the build changes planned before they put the updates in the game. just to get an idea what in the future.

Kook~NBK~ · Oct 07, 2009, 06:19 PM // 18:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zodiac Meteor

Thy thanks the Regina.

Beware Linsey, MAD KING THORN does not like poor work.

Fixed it for you.

Neo Nugget · Oct 07, 2009, 06:26 PM // 18:26

Quote:

* Halloween: As I mentioned a couple posts ago on this page, Linsey has been itching do something new for Halloween. She didn't want to just put in a few more terrible jokes. It’s been on her mind a lot and ideas have been percolating and for months on sleepless nights and in daydreams abound. The last couple weeks, in between scrambling around working on PvP stuff, she's been developing something fairly ambitious. She isn't sure yet if we’ll be able to pull it all off, but regardless, we'll probably manage to get at least a little shiny and new in for this year’s celebration.

The clock is ticking

I really hope they will be able to pull off some really cool new ideas for Halloween to make it feel at least somewhat new again.

dsielschott · Oct 07, 2009, 06:30 PM // 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Black Metal

"*

No news of a second quarterly content update? If so it would seem that the 3 quarterly content updates for 2009 fell well short with 1.

{rant....sorry}
In my field not hitting deadlines means people get fired...and people that will make a deadline get hired......telling the client (the players) that they will get "X" and "Y" and then not delivering makes them upset and makes them go to someone else(a different game) and that costs you a lot of money, your credibility and reputation.....sad to see that the live crew cant comprehend a deadline.... even if there are hiccups that make it more difficult to hit a deadline, figure out a way to do it, o lets say by making it mandatory 60 hour weeks(they are crap but gets the job done) or just say--- "you will not be getting "X" or "Y", we screwed up"---

now along with all of these updates I totally understand putting some of them on hold till you get the test crew going because that just makes sense then we(the players) cant complain about the way an update changes things because "we"(being the players) basically said what to do
{end rant}

I would just like to see a realistic time frame on updates, i think I read about most of them not coming in 2009, which I am ok with if this is the true time frame to expect new content.

I am looking forward to halloween, cant wait to see all of the new stuff... i take screenshots every year of the new layouts and decorations that are put up

Jensy · Oct 07, 2009, 06:36 PM // 18:36

Thanks for the update, Regina. I will be honest here and say that I appreciate *your* honesty in regards to what's being worked on, and what isn't. And hey, my henchman info was sent in and ready to go; everyone else needs to send theirs in. DO IT NOW!

Okay, okay, and the thought of anything new at Halloween is making me happy

Minami · Oct 07, 2009, 06:46 PM // 18:46

Thanks for the update Regina! ^_^

upier · Oct 07, 2009, 06:46 PM // 18:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* The Henchmen project: Robert has done a major pass on all the PvE Henchmen, changing many of their builds and polishing their stats to a glossy shine. Only some minor AI tweaks remain. Live Team collectively managed to get through the 30k+ PvP Henchmen submissions and picked 40 builds to be used on release. Robert is working with Joe now to make sure the AI knows how to handle the builds. Linsey and Robert are working with me to get in touch with all the winners, nail down (appropriate, in-character) names for the Henchmen. The last bit of fun is going to be digging up cool models to use for them all once we have the names.

First of all - WHAT PvE hench?!?!??!
And could you PLEASE look into full hero PvE parties rather than hench?

And why the heck are Linsey and Robert hunting down people?!?
Priorities please!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* Bug Fixes for Fort Aspenwood and Jade Quarry: These have mostly been put on hold for now since they're primarily code issues.

There is no "bug" in Kurzick monks being as insanely overpowered as they are. That's just bad design.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

* The Next Skill Balance: We have not started production on this yet. Linsey won't be free to think about it until Halloween is set, but James and Robert have been brewing some ideas already. We'll let you know when this project gets further underway.

Priorities once again.
In a game with NO new content, skill balances are one of those rare things that keep the game fresh.
More love for it please!

Zahr Dalsk · Oct 07, 2009, 06:54 PM // 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

And could you PLEASE look into full hero PvE parties rather than hench?

THIS.

Does ArenaNet not understand how many people want it? Roughly 80% of PvE players, if I remember the numbers correctly.