What's this about?

From the main page here at GWG.

Yes, I've heard people question the way GW is developed but for the most part, people agree that GW is a resounding success (as he states). So why does Mr Garriott feel the need to make a statement like this? Who or what has said something that he feels needs a response. I read most GW news all the time and I've got to say I've heard nothing. Can anyone shed any light?

To me he sounds angry and yet worried at the same time.

I think he felt the need to make a statement because something was being attributied to him that was not said by him. That kind of thing can cause trouble if not cleared up right away. Especially since the supposed quote has one NCSoft employee critisising another NCSoft company.

Who knows, the higher-ups at NCSoft might have even told him to make a statement to clear it up.

And where such "failed statement" is? I don't think I've read one either.

I heard this rumour, and I did question it.

Guild Wars is very popular so it made little sense.

I can understand him wanting to set the record straight if the comments were attributed to him. Weird how nobody seems to know where or when the accusation was made though. Chillax Richard, we love ya (anyone know who he is btw)?

You're kidding, right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Garriott

That's Lord British. You know, guy who made what's considered the very first MMO, Ultima Online--as well as the rest of the Ultima series?

Edit: and according to that Wiki entry, he evidently had hands in Lineage 1/2, CoH/V, and Tabula Rasa. I didn't know all that.

Wiki is correct about that, since 2001 Garriott has been at NCsoft. EA took control of his former company and that did not settle well.

I haven't seen it yet, but most likely, it is in reference to a recent interview or article that either has, or will be released in the near future, and can not be directly edited.
With so many magazines around the world featuring articles on Guild Wars shortly, the odds are weighted in favour of one of them being the cause of this. Unless every article is an exact carbon copy of the last, barring different languages, it's wholly possible that somewhere along the lines, information was garbled, misunderstood, or mistranslated.

Considering the sheer amount of speculation and unofficial information circulating as it is, I'd imagine it's a smart/necessary move to quash a statement as bold as that.

First we had the off-handed release of news in early February that there wouldn't be a new release of significant GW content until the second half of 2007 via the NCSoft earnings announcement.

Second we had the questionable "Inquirer" article.

Third we had the Asura mini-pet image release, which was controversial at best.

Fourth, we today's odd disavowal from Mr. Garriott.

The boards here reflect growing confusion and alienation among the player community as a result. All of it could have been foreseen and all of it is unnecessary. Please, Arenanet, in hope of your continued success, please take whatever steps are necessary to address this.

The Inquirer article was not released by ANet. Either there was a leak in info somewhere, or they're just pulling it out of their rear.

The Asura mini doesn't have anything to do with new info, other than Asuras being mentioned in the Inquirer. Some people like it and others don't, but that's true of any addition to the game, and I don't see how that's marketing's fault.

The statement made by Garriott had nothing to do with ANet's marketing, either. From what I can tell, someone claimed he said that ANet's business model was a failure, and he went on record saying otherwise. Nothing at all said by ANet itself.

I don't see how any of the things you've mentioned are ANet's fault.

As Froid said: Every action a human does happens for a reason, consciously or subconsciously.

So obviously there is some worry, if he didn't worry he wouldn't care about just another man's opinion, unless he knows that opinion is more widespread than people think.

We could argue about about the leak that resulted in the Inquirer article, but that's beside the point. If information about the next release of GW and the franchise's future had been released more sensibly, recognizing the strong interest on the part of the player community, the Inquirer article, had it happened would have been small news. In addition, do you really think that the Asura minipet was the first image you'd want to release of GW's future? Finally, Mr. Garriot's disavowal is yet another indication of information being created to fill a void. Arenanet's Marketing, could have avoided this by providing other information to fuel and feed the message boards, which is an aspect of Marketing.

And that is why the current situation is both unnecessary and could have been prevented by Arenanet. BTW, there are plenty of successful models in Hi-Tech, to look at. This is not rocket science.

Removed reference to deleted spam.
IF people realized this there would be much less panic and anger, your absolutely right Scutilla.

[QUOTE]anybody who can pull all that information from the words *MAJOR UPDATE TO THE GUILD WARS FRANCHISE* is either a mind reader or delusional

I personally dont see anything wrong with the way anet handles things. If they don't release any info then they get flamed almost non stop about it. If they release info or screenshots then they get flamed almost non stop about it. Take the assura mini for example. Check the thread about Gaile showing it off for us, it is nothing but a flame fest about how "ugly and useless" it is.
If they are gonna get nothing but treated like crap by the community then why go to the trouble of releasing any info at all? Saves time and work since they are gonna get the same response anyways.
I feel that this is the communities fault for being so rude all the time.

They've done nothing wrong.

Statements like the OP's are a classic political maneuver, even though I'm sure he did it in ignorance.

I can take a perfectly happy group of people and write an article that states, "The entire group is terrified of what is to come in the murky future!" Suddenly, the whole group really is terrified, wondering what they don't know about the future.

CUT IT OUT!

The total silence before the PC Gamer exclusive is really annoying, but it's standard business practice. The only thing that casts it in a bad light is the (probably 98% fictitious and definitely unofficial) Inquirer article, which said a lot of scary things, leaving people to fret and wonder until PCG comes out.

I don't understand why everyone's so creeped-out by Mr. Garriott's statement. Someone obviously lied and quoted him saying something he didn't. Just because we aren't familiar with what he's referring to doesn't make it weird. Frankly, with all the stupid theorizing on this forum, lately, about GWII being pay-per-month, etc., I found his words comforting!

Did I mention.... CUT IT OUT!

EDIT: This thread seems to have been merged with another. All references above to the "OP" should be to HalPlantagenet, not Vandal2k6.

This is not due to their profit margin of money, but how fast it accumulates. It’s somewhat of a slow crawl in sales number for GW (though it’s starting to change now). Especially since NCsoft has literally become dependent on GW, then most of its other game titles that are on the market. Auto Assault was a total hit to the side of NCsofts net profits. The problem is not so much to the community; it’s to the shareholders that have stocks.

Guild Wars fiscal earnings.

NCsoft stock via yahoo.

A Blog on NCsofts earnings.

Ahh he's a busy lad. Also explains why I don't know him. GW is my first ever online RPG I've played so all the other games mentioned there are just names. I was more of a CS man before this.

Profit margarine! It's like moneybutter, but with half the fat! ^_^

I'm sorry, I just couldn't stop myself...

Actually Ultima Online is not the first MMO, nor anywhere near it.

The first graphical MMO was Airwarrior.

The first graphical MMORPG was Neverwinter Nights.

This does not take away from who Lord British is -- he is an icon and living legend in the RPG genre.

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