Gaile's answer concerning the Ursan and 7 heroes imba issue:

Keyword is Perhaps
Gaile is a rep. so gives people the answer they want to hear.

a person that hates ursan will read
perhaps as = it will in the future

a person that doesn't want to to change will read
perhaps as = we'll think about it but mainly leading to a no.

when both sides hear what they want it ends the convo and it moves from ursan and 7 parties to another subject.

it can be interperated imo

It'd be nice to have a 7 hero party would allow high end content to be still pursued by those classes maligned in high end if ursan was nerfed.

Who knows.

Ursan is stupid and insulting, and I would like to see it gone, but it's really no skin off my back as I no longer PUG and would rather give up the game completely than do so.

However, I would really love to see 7 heroes. It'd be great to finally be able to fully explore the elite areas, to date I've only been able to see about half of them.

So... it would be nice if ANet would castrate the Bear, but getting The Magnificent Seven would be GREAT.

You made me smile, Loviatar.

The sum total is truly:

• First, I feel these are two entirely different topics; Ursan builds and 7-hero parties are very different game components.
• The devs are aware of the players' collective opinions, as many track the discussions on a daily basis.
• We'll share information as and when it becomes available based on the decisions made by the design team.

I am very sorry that I don't have more to share on these two subjects. Oh, and I am about the least political person you'll meet, so I'm not trying to hint, or suggest, or pretend there is anything other than what there is. Which is, right now, nada. Sorry. Thanks a lot for understanding.

I hope it'll get done before I turn 37.
Btw, 7 heroes issue was first!

Nerfing Ursan still won't make 7 heroes overpowered. They'd need to nerf guild teams as well

Hopefully Gaile's response is an indicator that we may have 7 heroes on the way. I do hope so; it would open up so many possibilities.

Ursan doesn't concern me as I've always been a spell caster. If a random group can't appreciate that, then I'm not going to be joining them. (Not that I would join a random group, EVER!)

I would love seven heroes. Three heroes are, in some cases, just not enough. You rack up a good offensive build, you end up having to deal with hench monks. You get a good defensive build, you end up with flare spamming elementalist hench. A balanced build, you're relying, yet again, on hench for the damage and healing.

It's not as if the game is impossible with just three heroes, but for those playing since the very beginning of Guild Wars, we all know how bad hench are. Just to remind you all, Alesia.

Bolded parts removed due to annoyance.

That said, we're very well aware of what she said, Loviatar, but we've had next to zero feed back on either case. Any comments at all is good news.

*crosses fingers * plz dont nerf ursan A-net! But on another note...what if A-net were to buff Ursan. For example, allow 7 heroes, and allow them to use UB. That way Tahlkora and Dunk will do all the healing, while you and your 5 ursan heroes annihilate the place. Isn't that a "balance" we can all get used to?

Player + 7 heroes is the same as saying:

Henchmen do not need to exist anymore. Take them out.

I guess I'm the only person who thinks Player + 7 heroes is a stupid idea.

That's why I added your 2nd line to the screenshot so people see the complete answer. It was however and still is an important question many players would like(d) to get answered, including myself.

Last week, many asked you about it but we got no response. So I know it's a vage answer we got today and I understand, thanks anyway. I hope you understand and don't blame me for bringing this in the spotlight as I, just like many others, just want to have more fun with 7 heroes. If the answer from Anet is a 'no', because the devs think it would be imba at this point in the game, it's only natural people will compare the situation with Ursan way, even though they're 2 different aspects of the game. The endgoal is the same, we all wanne shoot the bull, have fun in the game. One setup shoots with a much bigger rifle than the other though, sorta speak.

At this point I played 'everything' this game has to offer since proph release, have actually no real need for 7 heroes (except to have more fun like many others) and I don't mind Ursan. I do care about the fun aspect of this game though and what else is there for me to do now as advocate for more fun

She is clearly saying that there is no info on either subjects. So although having seven heroes might be a nice option for some high end PvE areas, I still don't see the link to ursan.

Sure, but it leads the game further down the road of crappiness.
Now this is how I consider Ursan and heroes to share common ground: convenience.

With heroes you don't have to put up with having to organize the builds of random people, nor do you have to worry about many other annoying factors such as disconnects or AFK's. Because of this, having "pocket players" and not having to converse or discuss strategy, heroes become very convenient because you have very little set-up time.

Now with Ursan you don't have to worry about people's skills since Ursan takes care of that for you. You also don't have to look for anything specific: UB is indifferent to professions. This makes set-up time for Ursanway very short - just find 6 bears and two monks, you're good to go. Ursanway also bears an efficency in terms of power that few Hero builds are able to match.

I can somewhat understand people when they say that heroes are overpowered. I mean it's one person doing the work of 8 people and not having to put up with the risks that go with a full person group. But this was balanced because you had a 3 limit hero cap and they couldn't use PvE skills. Nowadays, things are a bit different now that UB's around.

Actually, I've found exactly the opposite through experience. My brother and I roll pretty much every zone in HM, no problem. PUG-Ursan requires people I don't know. I've been in an Ursan PUG outside Olafstead in HM which got wiped at the dervish bull boss. First time I ever used that rez shrine, and I two-man Heroway that zone for norn points with my bro quite often.

Still, most stuff can be done with H/H even in HM, so allowing 7 heroes wouldn't really make a difference, except making it a bit more fun.

ANet would have to be mad to allow 7 hero parties.

I though that they'd have to be mad to introduce single "I win pve" skill.
And yet here it is.

Oh, and everyone that says that 7 heroes would be overpowered- don't fail anymore, pl0x.
If 7 heroes limited by their ai (lol prot spirit on minions, SS suckage) is overpowered then what about 8 people, each with 3 pve skills? Wow, wouldn't THAT be overpowered?

How could it possibly harm anything? (Granted, I don't doubt we'd find great, powerful builds, but that can happen JUST AS EASILY WITH A GUILD TEAM). It harms absolutely nothing to allow 7 heroes (hence my avatar, so the stubborn, ignorant people who claim it will somehow ruin the game can see the message nice and clearly). It will not destroy PUGs anymore than PUGs have already destroyed themselves. It will not make the game somehow crash. It will not cause any imbalance that guild teams, Ursan, or both could cause on their own.

It shows how desperate the comunity is for something new when they turn this into a newsflash..

Are you saying we should consider the feelings of the henchmen?

Also, the henchmen would still have use for those who've not got Nightfall or Eye of the North.

@netniwk: If you check some of Gailes logs here in the dev track forum you'll find that noncommittal and vagueness is pretty much par for the course. This is still somewhat noteworthy as it's the first sign ever that ANet at all is aware that there is controversy over Ursan.

PuGs are already destroyed so who gives a RED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GORED ENGINE GO let's destroy them more?

Nice mentality. Stfu.

True, but something as blatant as this...