Curse

tre_peter · Nov 24, 2009, 07:59 PM // 19:59

Skimming through the other threads, I haven't seen this directly addressed. Please close if this already exists.

The recent update # and Regina's related comments # have given rise to debate on the future of farming/speed clears. In these discussions, it appears that forum users are addressing the resulting issues that affect themselves (as players) and the state of the game. The point of this thread is to speculate on ArenaNet's point-of-view, something I believe some forum users are overlooking.

To quote Regina,

Quote:

Originally Posted by Regina Buenaobra

This was not an attempt to address all of the concerns about Shadow Form Assassins. That will happen in the next major skill update, which will include big changes to Shadow Form and may also include changes to other prominent farming skills.

Based on this, I have made the following assumption - changes will involve 'nerfing' in order to render them ineffective for farming. The nerf will be significant to hit nearly all of farming at its heart. Many are open about how farming is their main source of satisfaction from playing Guild Wars. If their available farming options are removed, it is reasonable to assume that there may be a mass departure (depending on the distribution of current play-styles) from the game.

In my opinion, it makes sense for ArenaNet's to remove the incentive of a large group of players to log on. As a result, there will be;

Reduced server running costs,
Reduced pressure on resources (such as staff),
And a remaining dedicated player base, which plays the game in its 'true spirit' (or as ArenaNet intends).

All of which I see as benefits to ArenaNet. I've assumed that running costs haven't reduced at the same rate as income has. Thus it is a good business decision to lose some players.

Of course people will adapt - perhaps farm on at a reduced rate or try to discover the next effective farm. In dispute to my 'good business' remark, I imagine some will claim that such an action will deter them from buying future ArenaNet products. Only time will tell if there is enough true 'abstainers' to hurt ArenaNet's pockets.

TL/DR version - ArenaNet nerf farming to purposely reduce player numbers to benefit from reduced server costs etc. Good business on their side.

I'd like to note that I currently farm (for HoM) while playing Guild Wars and would significantly reduce my activity in the case of such a 'nerf'.

Reformed · Nov 24, 2009, 08:27 PM // 20:27

Bit premature, wait and see what they do before you panic. Going from "...changes...farming skills." to "...ineffective for farming." is an awful big leap and some of those skills see heavy use in normal gameplay. Besides, they did split Mantra of Resolve...that should give you an idea of how serious they really are.

athariel · Nov 24, 2009, 08:28 PM // 20:28

I can assure you at most 10% who say they will leave the game are going to do it. After SF is nerfed, they will flock to the next farm, at worst case to raptors/vaettirs or something. They won't abandon the game and characters they put so much time into. You'll see

imnotyourmother · Nov 24, 2009, 08:30 PM // 20:30

ok my two sense.

Its money related.

Add the Huntsman in pre. 5 gifts for 25 things per account

People buy up accounts. I got 4 more accounts for this very purpose

BUFF SF and get more people to buy the game cause more people will want it.

Kill SF and kill game and loose revenue or save as the ^^^^^^ pointed out cause of the cost savings to it.

So here is my 2 cents. they need server room to build GW2 SO, squash gw1 with new game.. say.. AION. but lets think that they remember the GW players so they give us say..wings.. yes wings in gw.

so now people in gw want the wings and buy the aion and play aion until gw2 comes out. but wait a sec. um we do not like pay and play so we stick around and get ectos on our buffed ass's (assassins)

So now what? no one is playing aion as there is still like 8-10 districts in spamadam and even 4-5 districts in PRESEARING Ascalon.

so they nerf everyting and get us off the servers and onto aion. but then again.. we just stand around in our armor looking stupid on their servers doing well nothing for free basically.

WE WIN!! Woot

Bring on gw2

The Drunkard · Nov 24, 2009, 08:44 PM // 20:44

So as a solution to nerfing SCs how about anet brings back some of the skills that were used in farming but nerfed due to guild battles? That way people have incentives to farm but with other professions.

Jensy · Nov 24, 2009, 08:49 PM // 20:49

Halp, halp, my broken farming skills are nerfed, and now I'm forced to be creative in the ways I farm like the way it was before SF became popular? Cry me a river.

You actually get enjoyment out of rolling your face over the keyboard to win? Really?

Highlander Of Alba · Nov 24, 2009, 09:02 PM // 21:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by imnotyourmother

ok my two sense.

Its money related

so they nerf everyting and get us off the servers and onto aion. but then again.. we just stand around in our armor looking stupid on their servers doing well nothing for free basically.

WE WIN!! Woot

Bring on gw2

Well Aion is falling in subs re a wide opinion its total Grindfest(easy to verify)

GW2 money worries a quote from anet....

November this year statement below

NCsoft has indicated that it doesn't expect to release its MMO sequel Guild Wars 2 until 2011, although it might get as far as closed beta testing in 2010.

Jaeho Lee - the company's chief financial officer, as well as chief executive of its Western arm - told investors during a recent conference call that NCsoft didn't expect to make any major launches in 2010. Guild Wars 2 from ArenaNet, and Blade & Soul from the Lineage 2 team in Korea, would follow in 2011, he said.

Last but not least taken from the advert re development jobs for GW2

# Complete creative autonomy; we make games we want to play.
# Sustained, long-term financial backing; no “funding milestones”.

Mindjack · Nov 24, 2009, 09:04 PM // 21:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jensy

You actually get enjoyment out of rolling your face over the keyboard to win? Really?

Yes. People get enjoyment from rewards, i.e. farming. Is it really that hard to understand?

JR · Nov 24, 2009, 09:05 PM // 21:05

Do you really think enough people would leave the game based on a farming nerf to merit ArenaNet cutting back on server/maintenance enough to save a significant amount of money? That's pretty ridiculous.

What about all the people who came back to try the new UW content? What about the increased activity in UW because of the update? Do you honestly think activity will actually decrease because of the update?

Perhaps ArenaNet "nerfed solo farming" because most people prefer actually being able to find PuGs? Perhaps they simply want people to play the game as it was intended, and enjoy the new content rather than mindlessly farming it. Perhaps they did it to benefit the economy? I could think of a dozen more good reasons for ArenaNet to take this course, though sadly you are probably unwilling to accept any that aren't deeply negative, thus giving you cause to step up on your podium.

Ninja Ninja · Nov 24, 2009, 09:09 PM // 21:09

One profession (assassin) having an unfair advantage over all professions in farming and SC this long then you shouldn't be surprised about a nerf.
If you can't adapt to what real farming is instead of an over powered skill then to the large group of players leaving I say good riddance.

FoxBat · Nov 24, 2009, 09:15 PM // 21:15

What on earth makes you think they could remove farming from the game. So what if you and most people don't have the creativity to adapt to skill changes, you can always copy off of those that do.

Jenn · Nov 24, 2009, 09:24 PM // 21:24

First of all, I think the conspiracy theory proposed here is beyond ridiculous... I mean, really? As JR had said, it's doubtful that a skill change will make the players fall away in droves that would make a big enough impact. Population decline in this game is gradual.

Call me the conspiracy theorist, but I actually think they might do skill rebalances in order to present us new challenges and spark some interest in forgotten methods/zones.

I can understand the frustration. I mean, with all that's left in this game, sometimes the quick n' dirty way is the only appealing way to do it. But I do genuinely believe that anet actually cares about how much we enjoy this game.

Tramp · Nov 24, 2009, 09:25 PM // 21:25

At some point I agree it makes perfect business sense to screw the existing players as bad as they can to force them out of gw1 and into a more profitable gw2. I think it is still too early for that though. They will do that shortly after the launch of gw2 in order to shove the die hards in gw1 out, so 2011.

I take the exact opposite theory on SF. I feel they have let the buff last so long because it has kept players happy and still playing. Any in many cases, buying Factions or other expansions to get into the farming juicy spots. Buffing SF probably caused a nice sales pop for them. I am sure their marketing or finance people have the data and I would be very interested to see how buffing skills in a stepchild expansion (Factions) has caused an increase in sales of Factions.

If my theory is correct, that overbuffing skills causes an INCREASE in revenue for them, then Ursan was great and caused many more EOTN sales. Then SF caused a jump in Factions. So if I look into the crystal ball I will make this prediction: They will nerf SF and buff another skill on some other profession and make that the new overpowered farming meta. This will cause sales to pop again. I will go so far as to predict the new skill will be Prophecies only based and cause a nice pop to their oldest product. Timing... I would look for the nerf and my predicted buff to take place in January. Why? They are probably figuring Xmas sales are going fine, but will need a first quarter boost for their financial statements. January-February-March is usually a slow quarter in sales and a buff and subsequent pop in sales of expansions would be welcome to the finance boys. It is a business and it's all about money. If they were smart, a little nudge here, a little nudge there to skills can actually translate into increased sales. Just one idea I have on how they could be getting more dollars from their customer base, but I dont get paid enough to share my other money makers.

reaper with no name · Nov 24, 2009, 09:27 PM // 21:27

The problem is not farming, per se. The problem is that certain farming builds are too effective in general play. Farming is, by its very nature, supposed to be limited in scope. IE, you make a build that is custom-tailored to the monsters of an area to allow you to defeat them with little risk. But you are not supposed to be able to take that same overly-gimmicky build and make it through missions and vqs and whatever else you can think of.

55 is a good example of what farming should be. It is great for some areas, but if you try to use it as a general pve build something will inevitably hit you with degen or lifesteal or enchantment stripping and you'll fall flat on your face.

Shayne Hawke · Nov 24, 2009, 09:29 PM // 21:29

Or, maybe, just maybe, ANet doesn't like speed clears of elite areas anymore.

MithranArkanere · Nov 24, 2009, 09:37 PM // 21:37

Farmers are not playing the game as intended, and they get more cash, and they usually also trade more, and use external sites to trade and auction.

That makes farming the main source of a high-end microeconomy, that too often forces elevated prices for some items.
That frustrates average players, that see how will be impossible to get something from other players as fast as they do, and some even think that the only way to acquire such things is also doing what those farmers do.

But the thing is that excessive farming must be PREVENTED, not halted after having it working for years.
Otherwise many players will feel like that excessive farming is part of the game they paid for, even if it's not, and when you remove that, they'll feel as if they were cut from part of the game, even if that part was never meant to be.

If GW had a real ingame trade system and this kind of excessive farmings were cut as soon as possible, nothing of this would have happened.

What to do when things get to this? Explain the failure, apologize and bring the big skillchanger hammer, not the small one. And after that change, try to keep a good pace and not leave excessive farmings working for too long again.

And of course learn for future games.

Eragon Zarroc · Nov 24, 2009, 10:13 PM // 22:13

there is much more dramatic courses of action that could be taken to drive people away from the game than nerfing SF... if that was truly their course of thinking, they would have just nerfed it into the ground long ago instead of taking so long to think of a proper way to nerf it without estranging the entire farming population... fvcking hell man...

Age · Nov 24, 2009, 10:20 PM // 22:20

I don't buy at what this thread is getting at but at the same time it depends on what other farming builds.I will say this though that if it includes a lot of duel farming builds then yes a lot will just QQ like Warriors did when they did to absorption rune on running.It wasn't just the rune it was the run it self.

I doubt I would want to pug in the UW especially as a Monk missions are bad enough.I wouldn't want to go through the same experience in some place like the UW.

This is why I am playing another game right now as this game offers me nothing no rewards for beating it.The day the UW and FoW becomes like the Catacombs is the day I go get my FoW sets.

Painbringer · Nov 24, 2009, 10:32 PM // 22:32

Reduced server running costs, -

Upgrade upgradable servers for new GW2 while maintaining current load on older aging servers… may cause some lag but not intentional

Reduced pressure on resources (such as staff)-

This has already been done they have moved most to new projects for the development of GW2. Leaving a enough staff to keep it flowing and enable small changes at a time. Keep in mind the staff can switch back and forth if they need to. Example events or major programming changes

And a remaining dedicated player base, which plays the game in its 'true spirit' (or as ArenaNet intends). –

We are still playing any cookie is a good cookie at this point. Ring a bell and the spit starts flowing... Pavlov’s theory

Davros Uitar · Nov 24, 2009, 10:34 PM // 22:34

The thread is mainly just a "QQ, I shadow form and it looks like they are going to finally do their job and balance it. Think ima gonna leave GW if they won;t let me farm".

It really is quite amusing

. Personally I like evolution - the bear is dead, the clock is ticking on god mode - long live the next evolution. For those so attached to their sins - learn to use the daggers dudes.