Originally Posted by Paradoxex

What Gaile can't tell you plainly, but what is true and stated by Trance several times, is that this is at the end of the day a business. It is not only a business, but it must be first and foremost. Servers take money to run, and developers need a steady stream of income to feed their families.

This thread is a microcosm of how insurgencies start. A sizable number of people have a minor or moderate problem with a change in the game. No one is compelled to affect change in their own right, however, because the change is not so damaging as to rob the experience of its enjoyment. However, a single instance of extraordinary circumstance occurs, and the formerly listless group of people springs into action. In reality only a few people have legitimately dire issues, or even issues that seriously threaten their enjoyment. Still, we all want to "sign" because we care. That's fine. I don't want anyone to leave the game. The problem is the momentum of emotions causes us to overreact. People end up encouraging lawsuits and calling ArenaNet heartless, even accusing the company of wanting players to stop playing, against all logic.

Look, AreneNet cares, and without making assumptions as to the programming limitations of the code itself, they want to help. If they could accommodate the OP easily, they would I believe. Fact is, someone at the company thinks there's greater appeal with the new GUI, and abandoning it because a few people have a major problem is not just inconvenient, it's bad policy. I started playing the game with Factions, and I enjoyed it so much I went back and bought Prophecies. I would have never bought Prophecies otherwise. Maybe the updated look will attract players that otherwise would not have given the game a look...who knows. ArenaNet is looking to grow membership to support the other types of enhancements and expansions its greater player base wants.

Any company that assuages the outlying few at the expense of the masses is a company that does not stick around. That's how it should be, as well. As a matter of policy, businesses must listen to the majority, or the majority goes elsewhere. There's no lack of MMORPGs out there. Another way to view this is that if ArenaNet decided to start making exceptions to the vast minority as many of you are suggesting here, who is to say when they should do so? Why make an exception on the GUI, but not on some other subject? Unfortunately, you can't please everyone, but it's much more manageable as a business to alienate the few as opposed to the many.

What irks me is the implicit declaration that ANet doesn't care. They are a business. They are here to make money. More than that though, I'm sure they have respect for their fan base. It is for that reason partially that they want to follow a path of decision-making that will garner more subscribers and please the masses. By doing this they are helping the community out directly, and indirectly, as only financial success ensure further support for the GW community down the road.

Again, I like the GUI, and I think that as time passes the community will further embrace the change. Sorry to inject some pragmatism into the thread, but though we all play in a fantastical world...we live in a real one.