Curse

Count to Potato · Jan 29, 2007, 12:50 AM // 00:50

Its year of the pig, so i want to see Oink everywhere in keaining center you cach em and get 100k !!!

Billiard · Jan 29, 2007, 12:54 AM // 00:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cube B.

I'm curious as to see what this new "game" for the Canthan New Year will be like.

Winterfest had a snowball fight, but I'm curious to see what they have up there sleeves for this event.

I'm guessing fireworks will be involved. And lots of clothing and items of one color, probably red.

Also, perhaps special "luck" quests. If you perform a certain action you recive a blessing, but perform another one and you get hexed. You know, like if you eat candy while in a town that's celebrating, then you get increased drop rates for the next few minutes. But if you, say... kill a warthog, you get bad luck?

I think that would be interesting to see. So many possiblities for that.

The new game is like a road race or horse race. Not really an Asian theme I suppose. We ran it a couple of times and it was pretty cool. I'll give more details later, like the skills available and such.

Cube B. · Jan 29, 2007, 02:23 AM // 02:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiard

The new game is like a road race or horse race. Not really an Asian theme I suppose. We ran it a couple of times and it was pretty cool. I'll give more details later, like the skills available and such.

Ah, that seems fun. I hope I'll be able to access it. I was gleaning all my information from the real world Chinese new year. Random Luck bonuses and penalties for obscure actions would be interesting though... But this isn't the topic for my random ideas.

The Race seems interesting, I wonder if races will be a permanant additon, or just for the event? Well, I probably won't find out for a while.

As for testing weekend, that will be interesting. It does give me a chance to see places and try skills I couldn't normally see or use. And it's to help balance the game, so I'm not just mindlessly killing things for no reason.

Well, I'll just have to wait and see, I guess.

SodOffShotgun · Jan 29, 2007, 03:31 AM // 03:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiard

The new game is like a road race or horse race. Not really an Asian theme I suppose. We ran it a couple of times and it was pretty cool. I'll give more details later, like the skills available and such.

Didnt someone make this very detailed and very cool suggestion with Moa Bird races in the suggestion forum? I wonder if this road race was based on that. Sounds like a fun idea if it really was based on that person's idea. Sorry that I forgot who it was...

Jetdoc · Jan 29, 2007, 03:27 PM // 15:27

Love the upcoming update and event. Anyone else think that our "presents" for the event may come in little red envelopes? I look forward to the Dragonball Arena, if they decide to bring that back. Strafing FTW!

I am a bit puzzled as to the permanent skill change aspect of the testing event - I hope it's done a week or so after the test event ends, and not immediately after the event. That will give the developers enough time to read the messageboards to see the community's reaction to the changes.

noir0 · Jan 29, 2007, 03:37 PM // 15:37

I think it means the changes that are done on the weekend will stay, but be tweaked as nesesary after the event.

Billiard · Jan 29, 2007, 04:35 PM // 16:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by noir0

I think it means the changes that are done on the weekend will stay, but be tweaked as nesesary after the event.

What they told me is that they will tweak during the weekend as needed, based on the feedback people are giving and what they see themselves, and then the changes made will become permanent on Monday. I think they must feel they are pretty close to being done now after tweaking based on feedback from the last test and just want to double check things before keeping them.

sumasage · Jan 29, 2007, 04:50 PM // 16:50

Yay New Year in Canthan. Since Canthan is base on Asian (Chinese), it only right to have a new year since the Chinese new year is coming up.

Neriandal Freit · Jan 29, 2007, 05:00 PM // 17:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiard

What they told me is that they will tweak during the weekend as needed, based on the feedback people are giving and what they see themselves, and then the changes made will become permanent on Monday. I think they must feel they are pretty close to being done now after tweaking based on feedback from the last test and just want to double check things before keeping them.

Hey Billiard, when are we at Guru going to be able to see your write-up of the Q/A's and what they told you and the fellow Elite sites participants?

xxSilhouette · Jan 29, 2007, 05:00 PM // 17:00

Ohh finally something to happen in Cantha!!! =D That should be fun!!!

Mister_Smiley · Jan 29, 2007, 05:21 PM // 17:21

Well its good that their going to have another event it seams that are almost done with getting the skills fixed.

As for the New event, great idea and i can't wait to see what goes on.

Son of Urza · Jan 29, 2007, 05:24 PM // 17:24

Moa Bird Racing = CHOCOBOS!

Which is awesome even if it isn't actually Moa Birds.

I like the "Public test, tweak, public test, tweak, post" method of skill balance.

drekmonger · Jan 29, 2007, 05:31 PM // 17:31

It's not a Final Fantasy Chocobo style race, more of a Mario Kart type thing.

There's a write up over on Vault concerning "Roller Beetle Races". http://gwvault.ign.com/fullstory.php?id=25925

Billiard · Jan 29, 2007, 08:37 PM // 20:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neriandal Freit

Hey Billiard, when are we at Guru going to be able to see your write-up of the Q/A's and what they told you and the fellow Elite sites participants?

I just finished my trip report, but the host for the pictures was kind of questionable so I am sending them to Inde instead for hosting. That report is more of a descriptive account of the event. My next project is drafting up a report on the Dev Roundtable. That will take me a bit more time, but the most critical things to come out of it were the two I had posted about already. The rest is what I would consider nice to know stuff.

Anyway I am trying to get caught up on other things now, so I am shooting to get that report out by Friday or so. Sorry for the delay, but this trip put a bunch of other stuff behind and I need to catch up before I can move forward. The trip report was halfway done as I had worked on it there, while the Dev Roundtable report will have to be created from scratch now.

sindex · Jan 29, 2007, 09:11 PM // 21:11

Alright I need to be tough here. They honestly think that what they are doing (including the new event and way to improve the skill base via the fans) is really going to return people to GW? Are they going to try anything new and unique in getting the fans back into the game? They must be aware of the competition, especially you know who. You are the press; so press on and keep the information coming. Thank you for the info so far.

Pwny Ride · Jan 29, 2007, 09:18 PM // 21:18

Quote:

Originally Posted by sindex

Alright I need to be tough here. They honestly think that what they are doing (including the new event and way to improve the skill base via the fans) is really going to return people to GW? Are they going to try anything new and unique in getting the fans back into the game? They must be aware of the competition, especially you know who. You are the press; so press on and keep the information coming. Thank you for the info so far.

Dont be so harsh ffs. Theyre showing that they havent completely ignored and forgotten Cantha. You dont NEED to be tough, you WANT to be, and i can tell you this will get alot more people playing (during the event period at least).

The tengu festival was a huge hit with the fanbase, and i can see this being a huge hit too. And what 'unique' things can they do? If they TRY anything different, people will bash them with the whole 'OMGWTF WoW did this!!!1' (since WoW have done EVERYTHING).

sindex · Jan 29, 2007, 09:36 PM // 21:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pwny Ride

Dont be so harsh ffs. Theyre showing that they havent completely ignored and forgotten Cantha. You dont NEED to be tough, you WANT to be, and i can tell you this will get alot more people playing (during the event period at least).

The tengu festival was a huge hit with the fanbase, and i can see this being a huge hit too. And what 'unique' things can they do? If they TRY anything different, people will bash them with the whole 'OMGWTF WoW did this!!!1' (since WoW have done EVERYTHING).

(sarcasm) Aw, how nice of you (sarcasm) using those harsh acronyms to bash my deserving questions. I’m sorry but you don’t need to treat everything with kid gloves and bash the people who want the real answers. If I wanted to get that type of reaction I would go to gamespot, where they pound me for enjoying GW over that of, “you know who”.

As I said before there are some things that A-net is aware of when it comes to forms of competition. Especially since one of them is sucking in a good amount of air from what’s going on in GW. I am not asking for big miracles, but pondering the idea that there might be space for better improvements to come. Besides what has been laid before us in events and skill balances via community. I know A-net can really pull it off, I am just wondering if they will?

Billiard · Jan 29, 2007, 09:43 PM // 21:43

I talked to a bunch of people concerning GW and WoW. Although they don't like to talk specific numbers, several people did say that GW has been constantly growing, not losing players. After talking to the guys from France and Germany (the Spanish guys didn't chat as much since they don't feel as comfortable speaking English), I am pretty sure a lot of the GW growth is in Europe. Just look at the ladder and HA.

In addition, as a marketer I think the problem has less to do with their product and more to do with the promotion of their product. By many accounts GW is more responsive and has better mechanics than WoW, especially on the PvP side of things. WoW though has a much more mainstream following, so when someone is thinking about trying a new game, it's really common for them to know a bunch of people who play WoW. Personally I know of no one in RL that plays GW, other than the people I have met in game and then in real life. I think, and told them this, that NCSoft and ANet needs to really build up their brand and make people aware of how good GW is. I mean make some comparative ads for people, and new folks who don't have money to burn on subscriptions or time to burn on grind might decide to give GW a try first before they go for WoW. As it is now many of them don't even know that GW is an option.

Anyway all games lose players as they mature, and GW is no different. I see this all the time in XoO. But I also see a lot of new folks coming into the game as well. It's always hard to keep older players when the game no longer seems fresh and new, but ANet does try to do this with the balancing and events and tournaments. The thing is that they have a lot of irons in the fire and all of these things are complicated and take time. GW is just a couple years old and has already had two major expansions along with several minor ones. How many games have you played that have tried to do this while also constantly tweaking things to improve them, and while not changing any sort of monthly fee?

sindex · Jan 29, 2007, 10:23 PM // 22:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Billiard

I talked to a bunch of people concerning GW and WoW. --snip--

So your answer to that is sub-par marketing, I kind of agree with you there in sense. Considering all the publicity from “you know who,” gets in forms of TV commercial, and spoofs from television shows. However the point stays if you think about the difference between the two accounts GW, and the other pay as you play accounts? The difference again stands in the area in which of why the accounts stay less active compared to the other pay as you play accounts; people are forced into to playing something like WoW (shudder, “I said it”), to that of GW.

For instance there are players who buy GW, only one time and have only one account. They play it for a couple of days and then let it go. Those accounts that are inactive, are hopefully not being noted by A-net in being a part of the whole? If not, are they accounting for the hours played instead of how many people are purchasing?

Keeping players is to drive home the idea of diversity in every sense. What can elder people love to do compare to that of pre-teens? I know you can’t keep everyone happy but, it’s the idea of learning from your player base, and take surveys of your fans. As well as those outside to the GW community to interview; offering more in little ways can be a good thing, even if the critics don’t agree all the time.

Going back to marketing, it can be done all they need to do is find the right representative in sales? Find new ways in introducing ways to public, in the aspect of account merchandise. An example of this is the Disney Company (poor Walt); they get there money mainly from merchandise which tops that of their amusement parks all together. Also not just improve the mechanics, but the overall lacking mechanisms that don’t gain ground with public feedback. As they say “raise the bar.”

The answer to your last Question would be Valve software. They are constantly expanding on what they can accomplish and do with their games. Even though they some major flaws in their design (“cough Steam and their mandatory updates cough”). They don’t charge as a pay as you play, but they certainly “bank” in episodic content and third party content. To me it’s a trade off between Valve and A-net; Valve provides the quality in unique gameplay and story, while A-net has a great way in dealing with accounts, mandatory updates, and mechanics.

Thank you again for your feedback.

Inde · Jan 29, 2007, 10:53 PM // 22:53

Here we go: first report up with pics galore -

ArenaNet Community Day Trip Report, Jan 25-27