Are Community Relations Dead in GW1?

[Darcy]

Originally Posted by Silverblad3

.....

1. HA new map status? Not ready yet
2. Timeline for GWB content (general ideas or something is coming) Not ready yet
3. Messages on what the live team are working on currently X, Y and Z. We were told previously
4. Updates on updates........ on schedule, delayed and the like. Not ready yet
5. Interview with Anet staff (like Regina did with the fashion developer for GW2) but with the live team... Would rather they kept working.

Basically, we are not getting announcements or news because there is nothing new to say. If they posted just to say "nothing's ready yet", or "we're on vacation" or "we don't know what the schedule is right now", everyone would be screaming about the posts with no definite info. The CR dept is always in a "can't win" situation as far as the fans are concerned.

[JR]

Originally Posted by Silverblad3

What would be useful is regular updates. Examples include (and are certainly not limited to):

I agree there are definitely things that ArenaNet could be doing to keep this community better informed and happier (talking in generalities here), but that is almost always the case, you can always do more. Where you draw the line relies on your resources and priorities.

The thrust of my argument (which probably got buried amidst the wall of text) was basically that majority of ArenaNet's community team manpower is now required to deal with the ramp up and release of Guild Wars 2. For them to be able to give any significant attention to the Guild Wars audience it would require a further expansion of their team, at more cost and more time to the studio. It is quite possible that the higher-ups simply don't think that is worth it.

Basically: The reduced engagement with this community is almost certainly not the choice of Regina, Martin, Stephane or Emily.

[own age myname]

Originally Posted by Missing HB

Thing is they say they're working on GW2 since end of 2008, and there was almost no serious update in pvp since that time. The same excuse came everytime. To crown it all , they even deleted some formats to bring some completly useless one.

So well , we can't know if it's made on purpose ( no update because they plan to delete arenas in future , for servor space maybe ..), but i highly doubt GW2 will be released soon ( maybe end of 2011 if lucky), and those formats( except GvG) will just get totally empty before that time..

I get what you mean. I miss HB..a lot. I never thought I'd miss it, but I do. ArenaNet didn't delete TA/HB to save server space, they were just dead (yes, they were, even though CA is even more dead).They thought CA would peak the interest, and it didn't. They probably don't want to admit their mistakes, so they'll let CA rot.

That doesn't matter anyway, I want them to work on HA/GvG rather then CA. Because HA and GvG, even with this poor meta, are still fun. Guild War's PvP is still, imo, the best out there.

And, GW2 will probably be released in mid 2011.

[Silverblad3]

Originally Posted by Darcy

1. HA new map status? Not ready yet
2. Timeline for GWB content (general ideas or something is coming) Not ready yet
3. Messages on what the live team are working on currently X, Y and Z. We were told previously
4. Updates on updates........ on schedule, delayed and the like. Not ready yet
5. Interview with Anet staff (like Regina did with the fashion developer for GW2) but with the live team... Would rather they kept working.

Basically, we are not getting announcements or news because there is nothing new to say. If they posted just to say "nothing's ready yet", or "we're on vacation" or "we don't know what the schedule is right now", everyone would be screaming about the posts with no definite info. The CR dept is always in a "can't win" situation as far as the fans are concerned.

Okay I see where your coming from, or they could say the following:

1. HA Map - we (live krew) have been working on this and we have had to make changes to this to balance this map, more so then we intended. We expect there to be further testing so it could be 3 months before you get an update on this. Yes we know it could be nearly a year, but in the competive PvP arena we need to make sure maps are balanced. OR sorry we scraped the idea.
2. With the new guy taking over Lindsay we are going to let him settle in and as he has alluded to he has got ideas of his own that he will want to ensure. If all goes well (that is never) then you could be looking at the new year for the next exciting series of GWB. OR Sorry we cant ruin the surprises as yet...
3. We were told but it was a while ago. Update: So it has been two months or more since we were talking about X update (so long I forgot), we are still working through a hoste of changes and should have something more, we expect to have this update available in October (get your Derv/Paragns ready for that!).
4. Working on what? CR? Yes please.......

It really does not take long to update folks, they appreciate it and yes not everyone likes that but at least it informs the community rather then lead them to rumor mongering and crying out they dont care, I need hugs etc.


Silver

Originally Posted by JR

Basically: The reduced engagement with this community is almost certainly not the choice of Regina, Martin, Stephane or Emily.

JR, you have more information than many of us and what you have said here I have assumed for a while to be the case. Amazing that marketing departments/heads have such a narrow view on social MMOs/gamers in this competitive arena, customer loyalty, retention and viral marketing (negative or positive).

Silver

[snaek]

@1st point... makes me think about what exactly what the tk is doing and how effectively anet is puttin em to use? why can't there be some kind of test krewe blog? i know some people are like shhhhh gotta keep everything secret...but really? why? remember when anet said they were going to be more open with the skills balance process revealing previews way ahead of time so they can get community feedback. yea, we're not getting that--heck, we're not getting skill balances period. are the test krewe even doing anything productive right now?

cr is dead because nothin is happenin in gw; nothin is happenin in gw because gw is dead.

[R_Frost]

Originally Posted by snaek

@1st point... makes me think about what exactly what the tk is doing and how effectively anet is puttin em to use? why can't there be some kind of test krewe blog? i know some people are like shhhhh gotta keep everything secret...but really? why? remember when anet said they were going to be more open with the skills balance process revealing previews way ahead of time so they can get community feedback. yea, we're not getting that--heck, we're not getting skill balances period. are the test krewe even doing anything productive right now?

cr is dead because nothin is happenin in gw; nothin is happenin in gw because gw is dead.

ive wondered the same thing about the TK over the last few months. things like how many total people are on it, how many hours a week do they still play GW and of that time how much is testing possible changes compared to just playing the game. i never applied when Anet did the TK because of the PvP requirement, my PvP consisted at the time of just alliance battles and ft aspenwood. when the release went out it was released as a PvP testing with future possibilites of doing PvE, seems based on the changes in the game its been more PvE with very little PvP. how many on the TK can say they have one of each profession and have taken each them through tyria,cantha and elona? how can you truely test balance changes if you never played or barely played a profession?

[Skyy High]

This forum is full of people who whine about literally every update made to the game. PvP update? Either it wasn't enough, or it missed the "real issue", or they're ignoring PvE. PvE update? It was lame, boring, too easy, too hard, or PvP is dead why doesn't it get any attention?

What is a CR rep supposed to say around here? They can't tell us when the next GW:Beyond stuff is going to come out since that would put them on a definite schedule, same for the upcoming Dervish and Paragon changes; they've basically told us everything they can, or are willing to, on the subject. Again, what else is there to talk about? GW2Guru, on the other hand, actually has people excited about the game. It has frickin' news. Why shouldn't that be the primary focus of the CR team?

[Karate Jesus]

Originally Posted by Skyy High

GW2Guru, on the other hand, actually has people excited about the game.

Because it's a new game and the community is being tended to. There are tons of older games with amazing communities, because the communities were tended to.

The community of a game is what you make it. We have been starved and otherwise untended for a long time, and what happens when you leave things untended? They go wild. GW2 will have a great community for as long as they tend to it. So did GW1 at one time, but over time when you get less and less (updates, content, information, etc.), the community begins to resent the small amounts of information and content that we get, because we remember the way we used to be treated.

To be fair, our reaction to the lack of Community Relations only proves how good the game is/was. Many of us loved the game or still do, in my case. But, having the rug pulled out from under you is hard. Or, a more apt metaphor may be having to watch our favorite rug wither while we're repeatedly told that a new one is on the way is hard.

[Ka Tet]

I would be more impressed if they actually showed up and related information back to the dev's and were emphatic in doing so. The amount of times they did not listen to the community is more damaging than the lack of information provided to the community.
I remember a time when the forums were lit up with requests to remove heroes from HA. Weeks passed and complaints/requests piled up. Then one night, the community actually staged a sit in in HA ID1 and literally shut down HA for 2 hours. A considerable amount of time passes. Heroes instead of being removed are restricted to 2 per party.
I remember the preview weekend when they rolled out fetid river and cap points in HA. The forums went nuts, there was a very strong consensus that these changes would greatly hurt the game and that Anet should not implement these changes. Did they listen to the community? Nope, those maps are still there today.
The amount of times that the community has been ignored has kept a good game from becoming great.

[own age myname]

Sometimes the community doesn't know what's best for the game. Not saying the heroes were not a big deal, because they were and it did get fixed.

[Ka Tet]

The community pretty much did know. How many good players would still be in HA if they had listened to the community? Revisited HA a few times recently, and it's a sinkhole. From what I could see the best monks still playing HA seem to be the henchies.

[Mesmers Are Bad]

Originally Posted by tha walkin dude

The community pretty much did know. How many good players would still be in HA if they had listened to the community? Revisited HA a few times recently, and it's a sinkhole. From what I could see the best monks still playing HA seem to be the henchies.

Probably not many, Dhuum's a busy guy.

[own age myname]

Originally Posted by tha walkin dude

The community pretty much did know. How many good players would still be in HA if they had listened to the community? Revisited HA a few times recently, and it's a sinkhole. From what I could see the best monks still playing HA seem to be the henchies.

Those 2 maps didn't ruin HA. Ranks and discrimination ruined it. The community ruined it.

[Ka Tet]

Originally Posted by own age myname

Those 2 maps didn't ruin HA. Ranks and discrimination ruined it. The community ruined it.

Yes because high rank players quit HA because they were being discriminated against.
The vast majority of the quality HA players quit in several different rage cycles, because they grew frustrated with not being listened to.

[own age myname]

Originally Posted by tha walkin dude

Yes because high rank players quit HA because they were being discriminated against.
The vast majority of the quality HA players quit in several different rage cycles, because they grew frustrated with not being listened to.

Tbh, I don't really care about the high rankers. Because frankly, it gets boring playing with the same exact people. If there wasn't rank discrimination there would be a breath of new air in HA, but only we the community can fix it. Unless Anet got rid of rank, which I have a better chance of winning the lottery before that happens.

[Kook~NBK~]

Originally Posted by tha walkin dude

Yes because high rank players quit HA because they were being discriminated against.

[X] (bzzt!)* Many (not all) higher ranked HA players were the ones doing the discriminating. That choked off the influx of new HA players because they didn't (and still don't) think putting up with the elitism was(is) worth it.

The vast majority of the quality HA players quit in several different rage cycles, because they grew frustrated with not being listened to.

Long time players leave with no new guys to replace them = Dead game.


*think "Family Feud"

[Ka Tet]

Originally Posted by Kook~NBK~

I'm just gonna totally miss the point and say what I feel like saying.

I agree that is what you just did.

[Kook~NBK~]

Originally Posted by tha walkin dude

Hey! I can miss the point, too.

I got the point. You blame A-Net for killing off HA and won't accept the FACT that the elitism that runs rampant in HA (or did, at the height of HA) was(is) what turned a LOT of people away from there. I know this because I've experienced it first hand on a few occasions and have talked to alot of PvEer's who tried it and opted to skip the whole HA thing because they faced the same crap.

I can't comment on how they respond to the concerns of the PvP community, because I'm not involved in the PvP community and don't follow it.

[Lanier]

Originally Posted by Kook~NBK~

I got the point. You blame A-Net for killing off HA and won't accept the FACT that the elitism that runs rampant in HA (or did, at the height of HA) was(is) what turned a LOT of people away from there. I know this because I've experienced it first hand on a few occasions and have talked to alot of PvEer's who tried it and opted to skip the whole HA thing because they faced the same crap.

This is so true. I have tried to enter into the HA scene numerous times within the past three years and in every case, i have experienced the frustrations of elitism.

[Ka Tet]

This is going way off topic. Why is it if you so much as mention ha, out comes the rank discrimination qq.