Curse

Kali Ma · Aug 04, 2005, 10:33 PM // 22:33

Will Guild Capes be made toggleable?

Does Anet/NCSoft perceive GW to be mainly a PvP based game?

What role does PvE play in GW's future?

Ander Deathblade · Aug 04, 2005, 10:50 PM // 22:50

What are your plans to solve the extreme dependance on monks in the game, and the overpowered current state of enchantments which allow monks to solo some of the hardest pvE area and thus wreck the entire drop system.

d3fcon · Aug 05, 2005, 12:03 AM // 00:03

the effects of spell casting were incredible at first, but then it just got to be repetitive, do you guys plan on adding newer effects later?

Iceciro · Aug 05, 2005, 12:08 AM // 00:08

Do you have plans to introduce skills linked to Soul Reaping in the next update? Because there is a collector's focus item that recharges skills linked to Soul Reaping and Fastcasts them, but currently there are no such skills.

Theus · Aug 05, 2005, 12:18 AM // 00:18

Do you plan on fixing many beastmastery related queries such as the inability to use your pet agaisnt the dopple?

Will we be able to see how much damage our pets/minions will do?

Weezer_Blue · Aug 05, 2005, 12:34 AM // 00:34

James,

1) What fixes do you plan for the decaying PvP?

2) What is wrong with a modifyed form of UAS meant to be fair to PvE characters (eg: UAS while in competitive area)

3) Do you have any plans for fixing the maps in both the Tombs and in GvG to be more... fair? Currently, maps are either defensive or gank fests. In the Tombs, you can gank people at Burial Mounds, or camp on the Hill (all KotH maps should be removed, IMO) at the Hall of Heroes with a defensive spirit spamming build. In GvG, you can gank the Guild Lord, or camp by the 10 NPC's surrounding him even with huge death penalties.

4) Did you guys flat out stop balancing skills? We don't mind the entire balance of the game being thrown completely out of whack, just as long as you are moving ever closer to balance. If failure to balance is part of the equasion, then I welcome it.

5) I've invested a _lot_ of time in this game, and still don't have all that I, personally need. But that isn't my biggest concern. During the beta, I could go to the Tombs, grab a PUG, assign a couple builds, and in 5 minutes, we had a team build and were well on our ways to the Hall of Heroes......... this no longer exists. The culprit is harder skill aquisition. It used to be fun winning the Hall of Heroes with people I'd never seen before, and made quite a few friends that way.

-Thanks

Banebow · Aug 05, 2005, 01:00 AM // 01:00

I have seen this question a few times, and would like to know this myself.

Are there any plans to add more classes with chapter two? Not another six perhaps, but maybe an additional one or two? In relation to this, if you add more classes will there be additional character spaces?

Aracos79 · Aug 05, 2005, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Dear Sir,

What is the focus of efforts at Arena.net to improve Guild Wars? Many in the PvP community feel as if you have not stuck to the vision of a PvP focused product that you talked about prior to release. Has Arena.net's view of the game changed? Do you view it more as a mixed (ie. PvE and PvP) product rather than a PvP focused experience? Do you feel like there has been a change in your focus since the release of the game to retail?

Thanks in advance.

Kazumi7677 · Aug 05, 2005, 01:10 AM // 01:10

1) Could more be done to retain the interest of strictly PvE players? Not just in Europe, but also in America there are those of us who don't engage in PvP much if at all. But once you've done one Escourt/Kill the Creature/Retrieve the Item Mission, you've prettymuch done them all.

2) I too would like to know if there will be an option to toggle capes on and off. Guild capes are nifty, but sometimes I like looking at the back of my armor/equipment.

3) Will the level cap rise as expansion packs are released? I'm sure this has been asked before, but right about now being level 20 has gotten old really fast. As has only earning skill points, which I don't use at all because I'm satisfied with the skills I have.

4) Will something ever be done about mobs going immediately for the healer? I expect that sort of thing from "sentient" creatures, like the Dwarves, Charr and Tengu, but the regular, feral animals shouldn't be that specifically strategic.

5) Could you by chance make it so the healer henchmen don't have the will to attack? Or at least so often? Maybe it's just me, but my healer henchies get stuck in attack mode and end up dying or getting me killed because they won't use their healing abilities. If it's because they run out of EP really fast, then perhaps their max energy needs to be increased, or their energy regen.

6) Will there eventually be NPC traders for all varieties of items, such as weapons? It would really help create some sort of balance in the global player trading system. Having their buy/sell price to go off of keeps buyers from being cheated by sellers trying to sell something for more than it's worth, and vice versa. And it also gives sellers something to work with when they don't know what a good price would be for their items.

7) Will the price for black dye ever be lowered? Or is there a way to manufacture one's own black dye through mixing? If not, will there be one in the future?

8) Would you consider two things for guilds: 1) A storage system that all guild members can dip into, and 2) a way to ally one guild to another? With #2, guilds that don't have so many members, or don't have enough members on at a given time, could do PvP or GvG with members from their allied guild and it would benefit them both in ratings and rewards.

9) What good will money be in the future? As it stands, once a player has purchased "the ultimate weapon/armor", there's no point in earning money anymore.

10) In the future, will we find skills exclusive to certain primary/secondary combinations? For example, a Warrior/Monk would be able to learn a Paladin-like skill that a normal Warrior, or Warrior/some-other-class wouldn't be able to.

11) Will there ever be any mounts to this game? There could be mount-specific classes, and it would add another interesting aspect to PvP, as well as make traveling quick and more enjoyable for PvE.

12) Could something be done about some very insane and annoying invisible walls? Like standing on a ledge that's only two inches from the next part of the ground, and still having to walk AROUND to get down. Or the most glaring example: In Beacon's Perch, coming down from the beacon there is an invisible wall that takes up half the road above the last flight of stairs. Also, the water is so beautiful in this game, we could use some more interaction with it. It doesn't have to be swimming persay, but at least being able to travel further through it, or maybe a skill to walk over it in certain areas. That would definitely be a plus in areas with poisonous water.

13) I heard elsewhere of the potential of adding outfits that show up on characters only when they're in towns. I'd like to know why something like this takes precedence over greater issues, like dealing with people who abuse the party system.

14) When new races are implemented, will there be more than one (or rather two, since it'll be human and whatever else) to choose from? I for one would be highly disappointed if the next expansion pack only yielded the very limiting option of choosing between the Human and Dwarf race.

Artikon · Aug 05, 2005, 01:21 AM // 01:21

Guild Hall Upgrades
-------------------

Hi,

I was wondering whether or not you had thought about introducing extras to the guild hall to make it someting that guilds can really work towards.

ie. Introducing guild hall furniture or other such items, which members can interact with. these items could be brought through some sort of merchant in the game.

This would provide something for guilds to work towards on an ongoing basis. We could constantly upgrade our furniture, wall emblems or other items (such as a bar that sells ale for example) and change the layout of the hall as well.

i was so excited when i heard that this game would allow you to own a guild hall. but it does'nt really do anything, other than provide a gateway to PvP.

Give it some thought and get back to me. thanx guys

arredondo · Aug 05, 2005, 01:26 AM // 01:26

Skill icon and equipment "unlocking" is an adventure mode play-mechanic, no matter how you try to dress it, and it doesn't fit well with a competitive activity of any kind that is supposed to be based on pure skillful play. All of the recent updates and the recent hints of planned changes for the future spotlight this fundamental point: the only area that continues to get heavy tweaking every single time is how easily PvP players who DON'T WANT PvE play mechanics in vs. battles can get into pure, competitive matches that is equally accessed by all sides according to the rules.

Every fair competitive activity known to man is built on the concept of both sides being equally recognized by the rules. Only player/team abilities and preparations with equal access to everything should matter; not hours grinded to please the rule structure.

We've now gone from "impossible" as it relates to having all options open to a PvP player as you make your builds, to it now only takes you 800 hours or so in faction earning (and you STILL must get to all the areas in PvE for the priests). PvE players do NOT have to go through 800 hours of forced PvP madness to get access to all the quests and missions in that mode - 5 minutes is the most PvP action required of them.

Yes the recent ANet letter says they will make faction work faster, but it's still a poor concept: 800 hours, 400, 100... any amount of forced hours of being gimped of options, gear and equipment by the rules, putting me at a planning disadvantage that my grinding-happy opponent may not have to no longer worry about, is anti-competition pure and simple.

I should win or lose every single second of combat based soley on my build planning, developed abilities, creative strategy, co-operative teamwork and on-field tactics only. Time spent getting to a priest of Balthazaar (or battling golems, etc.) in order unlock Mesmer's Diversion that my team an I need for the next match has NOTHING to do with competition! Forcing me to go without it until I've slaved for hours earning faction has NOTHING to do with competition! These play mechanics are awesome in any PvE type game - but they are awful in a skillful PvP environment.

Some people may like being gimped in order to preserve their adventure fantasies of 'unlocking' time grinded, not soley abilities developed seen in every other competitive activity, as being an influential measure of how well one should do on the battlefield. However anyone who takes competition seriously knows that it is wrong for PvP not to have some sort of UAX option.
-----------------------------------------------------

My submitted question to ANet formally is....

"Players won't care about a form of PvP UAX if their PvE efforts are rewarded with plenty of purely PvE items (i.e. completely unnecessary for PvP). Will you begin working on a way to ween current PvE rewards, found at the end of successful adventuring, away from being the gear and equipment that's needed in order to be equally competitive at the start of a PvP match?"

Rioter · Aug 05, 2005, 01:44 AM // 01:44

I realize that this question will probably not be answered, but I really want an answer. Before the game was released i was led to believe that it would be a very open ended experience. In reality i get just about no choice on how i progress through the game (just the way that i do it). The paths are too linier, and in certain missions you bypass massive parts of the landscape. I want wide fields to explore! more like pre-ascalon, which does offer a few wide areas with no restricting walls to explore. I just want some less linier gameplay.

I think the heavily scripted gameplay just takes away from the fun of the game

.

I agree that hair on female characters should show under the helm

capes should be allowed to toggle on off (with exception of GVG battles)

I happened to notice that once your out of pre-ascalon, all the worlds seem to be very bland (with the exception of those towards the end of the game) I think their should be a place that is like pre-ascalon in looks, because the lush green fields are just so inviting!

Will it ever be possible, in expansion or update, to implement a new server which will allow for the true mmorpg experience? this meaning not having to team up with people in towns and being able to hook up in the wilds?

and also i think that their should be some choice preferably before you reach yaks bend which will allow you to choose an allignment of your charactar (evil or good). I think that even if the only thing gained by this would be a different look for evil and for good, it would still be an awsome idea.

one more thing -
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD ADD MORE CHARACTER SLOTS! its cant be that hard!! its not like it affects anything ingame! its just a character slot for christs sake!!! theirs no reason whatsoever that any of you should be able to deny us one of each class without having to delete a character slaved over for over 200 hours of gameplay! PLEASE I BEG OF YOU! ALL I ASK FOR IS MAYBE 2 MORE CHARACTER SLOTS.

Ecclesia Angelfire · Aug 05, 2005, 03:11 AM // 03:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aniewiel

Was the open passage from Beacon's Perch to Droknar's Forge supposed to allow a pathway for people to 'hurry up' and get to Droknar's? Is it going to remain "open"?

******

Has any thought been given to making a "level playing field" in the lower level arenas (specifically thinking here of low-level characters with 'basic' equipment/skills vs. low-level characters with high level armor/skills)?

I was wondering about the Lormar's Passage myself, seems strange when you think about how you cannot get to the crystal desert without completing sactum cay, and you cannot reach the ring of fire islands without completing thunderhead keep.

I have also been wondering if Guild Halls will ever be good for anything but GvG, such as adding extra storage space for the guild, perhaps the size of which being based on guild rank? Perhaps this storage could only be acessed by officers to prevent "guild-robbers" from running amok? Maybe a merchant would be nice? The guild banner hanging from the flagpoles? (I was very, very dissapointed that this wasn't already implemented.)

I saw elsewhere that someone wanted a "true" MMORPG experience, where characters met in non-instanced zones, and I really dont know about that, as the instanced zones are one of the many things that make this game different than the "true" MMORPG's that I am sick of, yay to no more camp fights and such.

As to the people asking for more character slots, I say YES we need more slots, however I do understand that this is a free to play game and server space is undoubtedly limited, but even so I see no reason that extra slots could not be available, even if there was a one-time fee per slot added to an account, to offset the extra space on the server that account uses. I dunno, I guess I think that the no monthly fee thing is the greatest, and wouldn't want to see arenanet screwing itself out of money that could be gained for things like extra slots for the people like myself that have 4 slots full of lvl 20 goodness. Anything to avoid a monthly fee being implemented.

And my final thought, will the level limit ever be raised, now don't get me wrong, I don't want it to go up. As I see it, GW is a strategy game as opposed to an "uber-power" game, and raising the level limit would just require arenanet to make even stronger monsters, which they already are going to have to do, lvl 31 monsters don't stop the really good players, and if any further character development is added, I would hope it would be no more than perhaps a new 15 attribute quest that was extremely hard, or some other quest to add SLIGHTLY more character ability, without throwing off the balance. I would not want to see "real" godly items implemented, in my opinion that is what destroyed EQ1, once the "uber" items started flowing, they never stopped until it was too sick to stomach anymore. Same thing with the level limit raises. The way I see it, in GW it is relatively easy to max your character out, when compared to other games, but it's hard to max out your skill playing that character, and it should stay that way. Just my 3 or 4 cents.

lynxxClan · Aug 05, 2005, 04:28 AM // 04:28

PVP Questions

1.) IN king of the hill matches teams are pretty much still faced against one other team at a time, the only differance is the chance to get ganked, so is there a new king of the hill map in the works that will literally force all teams onto the battlefield and in the same area at one single time?

2.) Will there be new skills for players to choose from before the next expansion comes out? If so how many?

3.) Is there any possible way of creating an in game system that will allow players to ditch vent or teamspeak and speak directly through guild wars?

4.) Is there any skills or gear that the dev team is planning on nerfing in the near future?

5.) Currently there is nothing in the game that no one single person cant have access to, will there ever be undocumented quests or collectors that will reward players for there ability to find such things?

6.) Will there be new arenas? 3v3? 2v2? 500 person free for all?

7.) Will there ever be a personal ranking for pvp? and if so will there be rewards for achieving high ranks? (I do not personal find faction a good reward system as everything you buy with faction can be gotten from PVE much quicker)

8.) Will there ever be tournaments held by the guildwars team? and if so will there be gear or skills that winners could recieve that noone else gets?

9.) Will players ever get to have an active role in what skills or gear or proffessions are available to our players? (currently the only thing players have had a chance to effect in the game is the name of a single boss)

10.) Currently everything that can be upgraded has the same feel to it as the rest, +5 armor here, or +1 regen here, its all pretty much a recycle of the same concept. Will there ever be gear upgrades that are completely unique to the type of gear used?

PVE Questions

1.) Currently there is no reason to roleplay in the game, many reasons why, but in general will there be any implementations on having a warrior be.. say heroic for a change? or having a monk truly want to play as if they are a monk? (currently people play characters based on what is best to beat the game, and then they choose a harder character to play, this is not an effective way to make people want to roleplay.)

2.) every few missions theres new gear that has slightly better stats, it doesnt seem logical that a huge kingdom (ascalon) has worse gear then some random shabby place in the jungle, so will there be a rebalance of where gear can be purchased based on the economic and technological potential of any given place? A hut in the middle of a dessert should have gear that shows that this place is in fact just a hut in the dessert.

All other questions i had where already asked, so thats it! hope some of these get answered if not its understandable because there are so many people asking questions! Goodluck with your interview!

Lynxx Clan

Enix · Aug 05, 2005, 04:28 AM // 04:28

Might we see a change to Major/Sup Runes so that certain lines would become more useful (such as an Elemental using Earth magic as Primary)? It seems odd that a Sup rune in any class is worth less than a Minor Vigor.

bor3d · Aug 05, 2005, 05:16 AM // 05:16

1. Will you add a rune to add +Energy?

2. Will you be adding more traps for the rangers such as a poison trap?

and now a deeper question:

3. This game claims to be the RPG that doesnt kill your social life. How do you explain the very high prices and extremely rare items needed to craft the 15k armor? Surely you know how long it takes to gather this capital?

kg_lildude1 · Aug 05, 2005, 07:14 AM // 07:14

for gods sake put down the nerf bat of farming, and pick up that old dusty nerf bat of skill,

1. skills NEED to be balanced, i was doing hoh with my guild and maybe 2 pick ups, we had pretty much 1 of every class and 2 monks, we flawlessed first 3 battles in a row, but then we get beaten by a spirit spammer team, this is getting rediculus, when a REAL team gets stopped because of a bunch of exploiters, i have a ranger, and the only time i use NR is PvE in kryta b/c of all the mesmers, the whole "spirit spamming" is ruining the game for players who come up with real strategies, and actually work to go places. PLEASE FIX THIS, I AM TIRED OF SEEING SPIRIT SPAMMERS, AND NO REAL TEAMS TO FACE

2. add more guild stuff, like practice arena, storage, yada yada yada, i think you have enough suggestions for that anyway

3. fix lonars pass so that you cant go there unless ascended or, if your not ascended you get hit in 1 hit

4. stop nerfing drops and your complaints will probably drop 25-30%, the more you nerf drops, the harder it gets to get neccesities, such as drok armor, which makes people turn to ebayers and such, so they do not have to spend 100's of hours to get a decent amount of gold

5. more character slots, 4 just isn't enough, deleting a character that you spent 100's of hours on, just to unlock another chars skills isn't right, and if you have to do this, you should get all of the money that you spent on that character back

6. read #1 again

Legendary Battousai · Aug 05, 2005, 07:20 AM // 07:20

Well I think that should be the end of the questions, its Friday now

unless the staff is generous or anet is slow

Rieselle · Aug 05, 2005, 07:21 AM // 07:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ecclesia Angelfire

I would not want to see "real" godly items implemented, in my opinion that is what destroyed EQ1, once the "uber" items started flowing, they never stopped until it was too sick to stomach anymore. Same thing with the level limit raises. The way I see it, in GW it is relatively easy to max your character out, when compared to other games, but it's hard to max out your skill playing that character, and it should stay that way. Just my 3 or 4 cents.

I miss games where you can find set-piece "Uber" items THAT ACTUALLY MEAN SOMETHING.

(noone will remember this, but I fondly recall an old game called "Dungeon Master", where you could find the only set of magical plate armor in the entire game behind some deadly monsters, a puzzle, and a secret door. Or a fireball throwing sword in a special altar for it.)

How to do this in a game like Guild Wars? Well, why not a series of missions with its own items?

You start the missions with your normal gear, but the missions get harder and harder, so part of the trick to survival is to acquire the various uber-gear and spells available as optional parts of the story.

You'd need to defeat tough monsters, solve tricky puzzles, do nice deeds, make the right choices, and maybe give up a chance to get other stuff (for tradeoffs and replayability), to get special armor, equipment, spells, etc, that can ONLY be used during those missions.

As you complete each mission in the series, it gets closed off (to prevent going back and farming.) and when you finish the entire mini-storyline, your special gear gets its powers taken away (or maybe they let you keep some proof you found it, so you can hang it on your guildhall proudly or something), and the first mission in the series becomes open again, so you can play it through, maybe doing things differently.

In this way, they can implement branching storylines (by opening different missions in the series, in different orders), stories where your actions have a REAL affect on how you play the game (due to certain items/abilities being available or not available), and also add real, non-fluff rewards for exploration and tackling difficult optional objectives. (because getting those special objects will open up different paths in the story, or make certain difficult parts doable, etc.)

Edit: Uh. I realise this digressed from a question into an idea. Sorry.

Xellos · Aug 05, 2005, 08:19 AM // 08:19

Actually here's a "insensitive" question, according to what we've heard, Streaming Technology allows for many things, can you please re-explain the advantages of this new Streaming Technology, what the current state of the game is as far as using the Streaming Technology, and how much more potential can this Streaming Technology be used in? Is this the maximum level this new Streaming Technology we are seeing right now in the current game of Guild Wars? Or is there something that you haven't finished and your waiting to show it off?

I've always been curious about this one.