Curse

BrettM · Nov 23, 2011, 10:30 AM // 10:30

Let's look at the evidence.

In the last few updates ANet has fixed a whole ton of minor issues, some of which have been affecting the game for many years. E.g., Light of Deldrimor bug, Carlotta bug, bonus description for Ruins of Surmia, ettin locations in Deldrimor Bowl. Art issues with a pet tamer that 99% of players never interact with, fercryinoutloud!

On top of this they have addressed a big issue that the community has been requesting for years to no avail: restoration of hacked accounts.

All this for a game near the end of its life cycle? It seems odd.

So, where am I going with this? Do I have to look a gift horse in the mouth? Can't I just accept that Santa has come early with a sleigh full of goodies?

In a word, no. I think this calls for some major theorycrafting, and we're just the people who can do it! Where is ANet suddenly getting the resources to do all this and what does it mean?

Did they hook Joe Kimmies, Live Team programmer, up to a caffeine drip and stuff him full of uppers? Did ANet recently hire about 50 Live Team interns to assist with art, writing, and programming? Did half of the GW2 team suddenly find themselves with lots of time on their hands to help with GW1?

Let's hear some ideas!

drkn · Nov 23, 2011, 11:09 AM // 11:09

Those are minor issues, most of them are quite easily fixable, i assume. ANet became aware of many such problems, but also can manage those issues better, with the dawning of their official support forum.

Star_Jewel · Nov 23, 2011, 11:23 AM // 11:23

As the release of GW2 looms nearer, I'd imagine paying attention to GW1 with a little extra love establishes some form of goodwill towards the existing customers, bettering the chances that those customers will buy GW2.

I know a lot of people said, "If GW2 suffers the same hacking vulnerabilities that GW1 does, I don't think I'll buy it." That's not something they'd take lightly.

Bristlebane · Nov 23, 2011, 11:50 AM // 11:50

I think their new bug feedback system is paying off, and the team who handles it mostly take on the quick fixes first that doesn't require too much manpower. The GW2 team also helps as some new technologies developed for GW2 can sometimes be made backwards compatible (fully or partially) with GW1 like the restoration of hacked accounts.

Riot Narita · Nov 23, 2011, 12:44 PM // 12:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM

they have addressed a big issue that the community has been requesting for years to no avail: restoration of hacked accounts.

Whut?! They can restore hacked accounts now? Return stolen goods etc?

BrettM · Nov 23, 2011, 12:56 PM // 12:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by drkn

Those are minor issues, most of them are quite easily fixable, i assume. ANet became aware of many such problems, but also can manage those issues better, with the dawning of their official support forum.

Ah, but forums don't fix issues, people do. Managing issues better does not create the time for staff to work on a pet tamer with flaws noticeable only to the most anal-retentive of players, unless the previous management was horrid beyond belief and huge amounts of time were being wasted. (Has some perfectionist artist been losing sleep over the last five years because these flaws have gone uncorrected? Seems unlikely.)

They never had the manpower before to take care of these minor issues because there were always more important things to work on. So, either ANet added enough staff to allow minor issues to be given priority while still getting the more important things done OR currently there are not enough important things that need the attention of the existing staff and they are free to clear up outstanding tickets from years back.

If the first is true, then it sounds like ANet has gotten a cash infusion.

If the second is true, then it sounds like there is a lull in development somewhere. I can't see a lull for the Live Team with Wintersday and WoC Part 3 coming, so that would mean a lull in GW2 development. What would cause such a lull? Maybe ... GW2 being in CBT right now?

Let the rumor mongering begin!

Edit @Riot Narita: Yes, they can restore hacked accounts, with some restrictions, if the hack occurred after Oct 1, 2011. See this post by Gaile Gray in the support forums.

Lithril Ashwalker · Nov 23, 2011, 12:58 PM // 12:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by Star_Jewel

As the release of GW2 looms nearer, I'd imagine paying attention to GW1 with a little extra love establishes some form of goodwill towards the existing customers, bettering the chances that those customers will buy GW2.

I know a lot of people said, "If GW2 suffers the same hacking vulnerabilities that GW1 does, I don't think I'll buy it." That's not something they'd take lightly.

considering that the events are endless of what could happen randomly while out in the world, i dont think its fairly easy to bot in gw2 at all, that would mean having every scenario in the programming and even then players could come help u out/gank u ....pvp however i worry for for botters.

Shayne Hawke · Nov 23, 2011, 01:19 PM // 13:19

The Live team isn't putting out new things at any kind of blazing pace, so it seems like programmers may have a lot of spare time to fix things that have been broken. It would see that ANet has found the support forum as being a good method of getting the right information relayed from the players to support to the programmers that fix errors.

The ability to restore accounts is something that doesn't sound like it was worked on with the intention of adding something to GW, but more that it was an easy byproduct of them working on the same system for the future release of GW2.

ruk1a · Nov 23, 2011, 01:30 PM // 13:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lithril Ashwalker

considering that the events are endless of what could happen randomly while out in the world, i dont think its fairly easy to bot in gw2 at all, that would mean having every scenario in the programming and even then players could come help u out/gank u ....pvp however i worry for for botters.

Well since there is no world pvp.. aside from the battlegrounds I don't see botters being effected by pvp however I do find it hard to believe any half decent bots would see the light of day in GW2 considering the dynamic events.

But then again we haven't seen end game and such, and I'm sure there are area's that aren't so dynamic that could be botted.

Riot Narita · Nov 23, 2011, 01:43 PM // 13:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by BrettM

Edit @Riot Narita: Yes, they can restore hacked accounts, with some restrictions, if the hack occurred after Oct 1, 2011. See this post by Gaile Gray in the support forums.

A W E S O M E

Thanks.

HellScreamS · Nov 23, 2011, 01:52 PM // 13:52

Yea, they decided to fix graphics issues with pet tamers, when they promised the paragon update like what, 2 years ago? There's so much shit that would require immediate attention floating around in this game that isn't fixed and they have the time to fix clipping issues with pet tamers. Let's all be grateful to them.

wilebill · Nov 23, 2011, 02:19 PM // 14:19

The answer is John Stumme. Give him the resources and he will give us things beyond belief.

Theory Crafting: Well, mine is simply that GW 1 is a game that ANet intends to keep alive and well as a complementary game to GW 2. They will enhance the linkages between the two games after the release of GW 2. Selling two games is better than selling one.

Look at what Blizzard is doing with the Pandarin expansion. Lots of goodies including the (according to TotalHalibut) gay flying horse. No offense to gays intended, but I could not stand in Darnassus and watch one hovering overhead without thinking it looked the part. Then they are giving away Diablo III for free with the annual subscription package.

Blizzard does not have the option of allowing players to go back to the "old WoW" so they give away Diablo III for free. ANet need only keep GW 1 running and provide some cool freebies for doing cross game quests to keep power gamers happy and sales of GW 1 high also. Plus gamers like me who love their characters and heroes in GW 1 will remain happy too.

It may sound crazy, but I see more activity in GW 1 after the release of GW 2 than now. So the money invested in GW 1 right now more than makes sense.

Eronia · Nov 23, 2011, 02:21 PM // 14:21

If you're looking for theories here's one:
GW2 is near completion. As soon as it it released it will take almost all of ANet's resources to watch over it. Therefore, if they get rid of most of the GW1 bugs now, GW1 will optimally be self sufficient and not have people complaining about the random problems and diverting their resources.
Or, in actuality, they probably just wanted to get some of this stuff done.

zwei2stein · Nov 23, 2011, 02:31 PM // 14:31

Fixing small stuff that no-one really cares about being fixed is perfect task for new developer to get familiar with system.

It is also great for keeping experienced dev busy while he is waiting for designers to tell him what he needs to do.

Gladiator Steven · Nov 23, 2011, 02:37 PM // 14:37

They took something they were working on in guild wars 2, which in this case is the restoration of hacked accounts, and implemented it into Guild Wars 1. The rest of the other updates are nothing to mention and normal.

Swingline · Nov 23, 2011, 02:42 PM // 14:42

I think Anet is just becoming more efficient. With the team working on GW2 they are coming up with tools that GW1 should have had that they are implementing.

I wouldn't read to much into it for release date info. They most likely found some spare time in between new content for GW1 and finishing GW2 to fix the remaining problems GW1 has. This also coincides with the new bug report system.

tummlykins · Nov 23, 2011, 02:44 PM // 14:44

I have three theories:

1) A Live Team member or one of the QA workers has prioritised and implemented a list of real but easily fixable bugs and has brought them to the attention of the programmer who can fix these things in a few short minutes. Previously the communication process between the programmers and bug reports was a lot more convoluted, less efficient or just a lower priority.

2) Guild Wars 2 is nearing completion and ArenaNet is really stepping up their legacy investments hoping to drive home the impression they are actively servicing the game and will offer good customer service and quality assurance for the next one. It won't matter that the game went largely untouched between expansions (with the exception of slight bug fixes or skill balances) if they can really drive home in recent years they were doing upkeep on the game, people have short memories.

3) They are looking to streamline a process of bug fixes and minor changes to the game so that they have a more thorough and active upkeep on Guild Wars 2. By trialling and getting used to doing it for GW1, they will already have a system going for when GW2 launches.

Basically 2) and 3) are just conspiracy theories hoping for GW2 launching soon. I think ultimately the answer to your question is they've created the Guild Wars support forums.

https://forum.guildwars.com/forum

Ever since it was first implemented we started seeing more bug fixes at a greater frequency than before.

**cosyfiep** · Nov 23, 2011, 04:06 PM // 16:06

my take:
I have a list of stuff I would like to get done.
This list has a few parts:
stuff that I can do fairly quickly,
stuff that will take me some time,
and stuff that god will need to help me with.

I try to do the fairly quickly stuff as soon as it gets on my list, stuff that takes some time--I might get around to.....and occasionally god has helped me finish a few of my tasks.
ok.
I put things on my list, outside of the order mentioned above, there is none....so things get to the top----when they get to the top.

as I see it....anet probably has a similar list, and fairly quickly stuff is now getting looked at--quick bug fixes from 6 years ago et.al, while a few takes time are also being addressed--paragon attributes, and yes, even the god helping one--restoration of hacked accounts--probably more due to gw2 than anything else.

so I see nothing more than anet clearing up their 'to do' list before the wintersday holiday (and everyone taking time off---).

Kendil · Nov 23, 2011, 04:26 PM // 16:26

They know that the end of the world is comming and that they won't launch gw2 before then, so they are panicing and updates gw1 just to give us something?

On a more serious note I have been thinking for quite a while now that they use gw1 in order to test things for gw2, and I think the account restoration is a perfect example of that. They do still have a live team, and at least I don't get surprised that they do their work and fix some of the bugs that noone ever encounters but still have been there for ages. They do a great job, /go(live)team

Jenn · Nov 23, 2011, 05:57 PM // 17:57

Here's the craziness that I think is going on:

Anet *gasp* has EMPLOYEES that work on Guild Wars!~ And, like they have in the past, have fixed issues. Now that no new chapters are being developed, they can put time into these little, but pervasive bugs. Oh, and the account restoration was actually a tool that was mostly developed for GW2, but was able to be applied to GW.

Sorry to kill all the dreams and theorycrafting