Curse

Loviatar · Feb 13, 2007, 04:23 PM // 16:23

just to add to the debate as to their definition of *MAJOR UPDATE TO THE FRANCHISE* as meaning *A NEW CHAPTER* i went back to the quarterly finincial statement where Nightfall was mentioned.

the link does not work right now but it is press releases page 2 number 70
http://www.ncsoft.com/eng/ncpress/list.asp

Quote:

NCsoft is preparing a simultaneous global launch of the third campaign in the Guild Wars franchise, Guild Wars Nightfall™, during the latter half of this year. Closed beta testing for the hugely anticipated MMORPG project Aion™ is also expected within the year.

note carefully that it as listed in the finincial report as a *campaign not as a *major UPDATE to the franchise*

Ninna · Feb 13, 2007, 04:50 PM // 16:50

stated by Alex Weekes earlier this year
http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...php?t=10102743

Quote:

Campaign 4 exists, and it's under development. Work started over six months ago, actually.

And that's .... pretty much everything I can tell you for now.
__________________
Alex 'GhostRaptor' Weekes
Guild Wars Community Relations Team
NCsoft (Europe)

no info about release date tho

Rakeman · Feb 13, 2007, 05:08 PM // 17:08

Arguing "Campaign" versus "Update" is just foolish. It could be either way. You don't know. And neither does anybody who is at liberty to post it on a forum.

DreamCatcher · Feb 13, 2007, 05:14 PM // 17:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowman Artemis

"major update to the Guild Wars franchise in the latter half of 2007" could mean anything, from immense DirectX 10 graphics overhaul, auction houses, player-owned shops, ability to use interface mods, new chat system, new PvP options, mulit-user instances (where individual people can just stroll into and beat stuff up with others).....

.....to monthly payments? I would surely hope not!

Gaile Gray · Feb 13, 2007, 07:17 PM // 19:17

Note: You cannot "delay" something that has not been announced. You cannot push back a date that has never been discussed officially via any means. I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed with what they're reading, but until they read it from us -- any part of any announcement of anything to do with what ArenaNet creates -- well, they're taking a risk that they're putting stock in a handful of air.

And no, we are not moving to a monthly fee for Guild Wars! (That's about 5,439.3 times I've said that.

)

VitisVinifera · Feb 13, 2007, 07:31 PM // 19:31

i'd say that means it's delayed

otherwise a statement would be the logical response

ps, for giggles, im sure someone could find one of those 'every 6 months' statements

edit: for the record I'm all for a delay. Considering the unbalanced and broken nature between pve vs pvp, unimplemented features and promises, how little playtesting has happened for the release of ch 2& 3 in order to get them out, and how ch 4 needs a completely new rethinking (as in not more of the same), plus how now most of us want to take our characters across campaigns, yeah.....take your time and start off right

Loviatar · Feb 13, 2007, 07:43 PM // 19:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by VitisVinifera

i'd say that means it's delayed

otherwise a statement would be the logical response

ps, for giggles, im sure someone could find one of those 'every 6 months' statements

she did make a statement.

since she has to be polite what she said was stop being a silly little twit who locks onto rumors and wait for an official announcement.

logical reason for not saying a thing yet is that people are still buying Nightfall.

make a big anouncement about chapter 4 now and someone who sees it might decide to wait a few months til the end of April (my guess) instead of getting Nightfall now

thelegendozelda · Feb 13, 2007, 08:09 PM // 20:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gaile Gray

Note: You cannot "delay" something that has not been announced. You cannot push back a date that has never been discussed officially via any means. I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed with what they're reading, but until they read it from us -- any part of any announcement of anything to do with what ArenaNet creates -- well, they're taking a risk that they're putting stock in a handful of air.

And no, we are not moving to a monthly fee for Guild Wars! (That's about 5,439.3 times I've said that.

)

OK now say......yes CH 4 maybe coming......and it will maybe be here in (insert month here)
that way you can say.........you only told us MAYBE

Frazzy · Feb 13, 2007, 08:12 PM // 20:12

I'm glad they are pulling it back. This gives them more time to take there heads out of there asses and make the game at least compete with prophecies. Factions was horrible and Nightfall was a little better but not nearly as good as prophecies. Think ANET will actually put more than one type of monster in chapter 4? lol @ factions

Loviatar · Feb 13, 2007, 08:57 PM // 20:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frazzy

I'm glad they are pulling it back. This gives them more time to take there heads out of there asses and make the game at least compete with prophecies.

would you please tell how you managed to twist what Gaile said into giving you the idea it was being pushed back?

i would really love to hear the rational on that

she said

Quote:

Note: You cannot "delay" something that has not been announced. You cannot push back a date that has never been discussed officially via any means. I'm sorry if anyone is disappointed with what they're reading, but until they read it from us -- any part of any announcement of anything to do with what ArenaNet creates -- well, they're taking a risk that they're putting stock in a handful of air.

HalPlantagenet · Feb 13, 2007, 09:24 PM // 21:24

It appears I am mistaken or confused. Like some others posting to this thread I was under the impression that Arenanet had committed itself to a six months release cycle. That impression came from a number of sources, such as a published interview with Jeff Strain in which he stated "last October (2005) we had staffed up to the point where we had parallel teams - overlapping, staggered development teams. So each of these new campaigns has an entire year of development, from a full development team, and they're released on staggered six month cycles." Nightfall was released in October 2006 and, based on Strain's statement, I presumed the subsequent chapter was scheduled for April 2007. Gaile Gray states, "you cannot push back a date that has never been discussed officially via any means." I can only deduce that Mr. Strain was not speaking officially.

With regards to her subsequent statement saying "until they read it from us..." I would like to note that Arenanet is, according to their web site, "a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft" and that it is not unreasonable to presume NCSoft is speaking officially for Arenanet in its earnings announcement.

My inferences in my initial post were made soley on the basis of public comments from representatives of Arenanet or their parent company. Again, I wish them the best of luck with chapter four and intend to purchase and play it whenever it's released.

Grimm · Feb 13, 2007, 09:50 PM // 21:50

I don't mind so much. Please make sure everything in the game now is balanced and such, then bring on new classes and skills.

jayce · Feb 13, 2007, 10:32 PM // 22:32

correct me if im wrong, but if history involving arenanet holds to form, then i believe that the proper steps will go as follows:

1. news on new product 1 - 2 months before pre-release
2. pre-release in stores about 1.5 - 2 months before launch
3. new product goes live.

with the exception of prophecies, thats normally how it goes. and if you want to get technical about the every six month window, then yes, they are probably behind. but is there really anyone here that cares if they are behind? i mean arenanet has given me no indication that there will not be a another chapter, so im not at all worried about it. if they were not actively trying to improve the game, then i might be concerned. but that is not the case here.

so if arenanet want to take a few more months preparing the next chapter in the guild wars saga, then its fine by me. hopefully, they will turn out a product thats on the same level, if not higher, than prophecies. while factions and nightfall are both good games, they both fell well short of prophecies in terms of replayability imo. 75% of my online time is spent in tyria. that is the one game arenanet got right the first time.

Jayce Of Underworld

------------------------------------------------

Animate Soul Lich
Energy: 25
Cast: 3
Recharge: 0

Elite Skill. Animate a level 1...14 Soul Lich
at your location and you lose all energy. You
suffer -1 energy regeneration for each Soul Lich
you control. Whenever a Soul Lich you control
deals damage, you gain 2 energy.(Soul Reaping)

lennymon · Feb 13, 2007, 10:51 PM // 22:51

My prediction: There will be no Chapter 4 as we imagine it... There will be a 'New Beginning', an entirely new paradigm. This trilogy has come full circle and a new day is just beyond the horizon. The business model was for a new release every 6 months, and business models do NOT equate to reality 2 years later. In game dev time 2 years is a near eternity. Chapter 4 may not have new professions, but my money is on all new and shiny.

VitisVinifera · Feb 14, 2007, 01:40 AM // 01:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalPlantagenet

It appears I am mistaken or confused. Like some others posting to this thread I was under the impression that Arenanet had committed itself to a six months release cycle. That impression came from a number of sources, such as a published interview with Jeff Strain in which he stated "last October (2005) we had staffed up to the point where we had parallel teams - overlapping, staggered development teams. So each of these new campaigns has an entire year of development, from a full development team, and they're released on staggered six month cycles." Nightfall was released in October 2006 and, based on Strain's statement, I presumed the subsequent chapter was scheduled for April 2007. Gaile Gray states, "you cannot push back a date that has never been discussed officially via any means." I can only deduce that Mr. Strain was not speaking officially.

With regards to her subsequent statement saying "until they read it from us..." I would like to note that Arenanet is, according to their web site, "a wholly owned subsidiary of NCSoft" and that it is not unreasonable to presume NCSoft is speaking officially for Arenanet in its earnings announcement.

My inferences in my initial post were made soley on the basis of public comments from representatives of Arenanet or their parent company. Again, I wish them the best of luck with chapter four and intend to purchase and play it whenever it's released.

qft. Thats the post I wanted to make but didn't have time to research what anet representatives have stated on the record (thanks Hal). So there we have it: April 07. Yes or no?

Vermilion Okeanos · Feb 14, 2007, 02:36 AM // 02:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by lennymon

My prediction: There will be no Chapter 4 as we imagine it... There will be a 'New Beginning', an entirely new paradigm. This trilogy has come full circle and a new day is just beyond the horizon. The business model was for a new release every 6 months, and business models do NOT equate to reality 2 years later. In game dev time 2 years is a near eternity. Chapter 4 may not have new professions, but my money is on all new and shiny.

My thought exactly.

They purposely tried binding all 3 chapters and finish with it, and that's a HUGE clue on them trying to do something new in ch4.

If I was a dev, I would defintely want to give a better preperation for this ch4.

As a gamer, I would wait.
----------
At 1st I saw this thread and thought "cool! new info about ch4!!" and then I find out it was just some same old speculation. I feel cheated. Next time please please please please put a big red [[[SPECULATION]]] sign on the thread title.

Zonzai · Feb 14, 2007, 06:28 AM // 06:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by HalPlantagenet

It appears I am mistaken or confused. Like some others posting to this thread I was under the impression that Arenanet had committed itself to a six months release cycle.

Yeah, that's what I thought...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff Strain

"last October (2005) we had staffed up to the point where we had parallel teams - overlapping, staggered development teams. So each of these new campaigns has an entire year of development, from a full development team, and they're released on staggered six month cycles."

That's hard to read wrong. It wasn't a blood-signed legally-binding contract or anything, but it was no doubt intended to mean that a new chapter would be coming out about every six months or so.

Notice that Gaile neither confirmed nor denyed the OP's statement. Based on my past experiences with similar business entities, product release dates and public representitives -- with much repetition of those experiences I might add -- a financial report and a subsequent lack of complete denial almost always indicates the validity of that financial report.

However, it is also possible that they fear the financial repercussions of plummeting stock or that they simply made the estimate as conservatively as possible in order to avoid other circumstances (e.g. taxes).

Redfeather1975 · Feb 14, 2007, 02:47 PM // 14:47

I think you are right on the money HalPlantagenet.
I think that Anet decided to spend more time and resources on the next chapter because they wanted it to be a truly next gen, GW game.
Each campaign is a stand alone title, and to envision each campaign as an opportunity to innovate is something that will hopefully bring great results.
Here's hoping that the next game being released later this year is all about trying to redefine and innovate the series to really set it above and beyond what we have already seen!

DeanBB · Feb 14, 2007, 03:25 PM // 15:25

Bleh...

- Still no official announcement on chapter 4/whatever is next.

- Still a bunch of speculation and trying to read into what little info is out there or perhaps what is NOT being said.

- Chapter 4 still is not late based on the 6 month cycle, it is only February.

Cassandra · Feb 14, 2007, 07:50 PM // 19:50

prepare for Guildwars 2.0, october 2007

/runs away in fear