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[LiveSpartan235]

I made this summary of the Q3 2013 Earnings report on reddit
https://pay.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/1qo4gc/ncsoft_q3_2013_earnings_report_summary/
NCsoft sales down in Q3 down by 12% Quarter on Quarter 7% Year on Year to mark 169.7 Billion Won affected by partially deferred sales recognition of Lineage into the 4th Quarter.

NCsoft operating income posting 30.7 Billion Won decreasing 51% Quarter on Quarter and 16% Year on Year due to reduction of Lineage sales and one off moving expenses to move the head office.

• Net Income declined 23% to 26.3 Billion Won(24.64 Million USD)
  
• Total top line revenue marked 169.7 Billion Won(159 Million USD)
  
• Korea- 116.6 Billion(24.63 Million USD)
  
• America- 16.7 Billion(15.64 Million USD)
  
• Europe- 11.4 Billion(10.67 Million USD)
  
• Japan- 12.4 Billion(11.61 Million USD)
  
• Taiwan-2.9 Billion(2.715 Million USD)
  
• Royalties- 9.9 Billion(9.27 Million USD)

GAMES

• Lineage-62 Billion(58.06 Million USD)
  
• Lineage2-13.1 Billion(12.27 Million USD)
  
• Aion-22.6 Billion(21.16 Million USD)
  
• Blade and Soul-20.3 Billion(19.01 Million USD)
  
• Guild Wars 2-24.5 Billion(22.94 Million USD)
  
• Other/Casual games-17.1 Billion(16.01 Million USD)

Lineage Down 27% Quarter on Quarter and Up 63% Year on Year the quarterly in game item sales promotion that began at the end of September was implemented throughout October which lead to a temporary Quarter on Quarter decrease however the expanded user base following a new update remains solid.

Lineage 2 Maintained previous quarters results while edging down in Japan while it inched up in Korea remaining on par with last quarter.

Aion Remained flat quarter on quarter as with Lineage 2 the domestic sales for Aion expanded Quarter on Quarter while the Japan revenue came down and are similar to the results of the previous quarter.

Blade and Soul Content update completed in June bolstered the sales by 43% Quarter on Quarter and peak concurrent users improved and continuing to improve.

Guild Wars 2 In spite of the solid item sales in Q3 reduced 15% Quarter on Quarter due to the natural decline in the box sales with extended time since initial launch and since they are planning continuous updates and new item introductions they expect the sales of Guild Wars 2 sustain to sustain going forward.

Operating expenses rose 7% Quarter on Quarter to 139 Billion Won because the moving of the head office.

Blade and Soul and Guild Wars 2 entry into Chinese Market

Blade and Soul

Blade and Soul successfully completed numerous tests conducted last year and this year and is currently implementing the limited CBT.

The limited CBT which began since October 29th is based on the final version further refined by the feedback of the previous tests although the target user group is limited in number they are providing sevices on par with the commercialized services, various in game items are being sold and generating revenue.

Blade and Soul is in the Pre launching phase as of October 29th and is surpassing their expectations on almost all fronts.

Despite such encouraging indicators and positive feedback he believes there still exists on going concerns of insufficient content however the chinese version differs quite a bit from the korean version in many ways they are showcasing more refined version which addresses the content concerns in addition the culminating content in the initial Korean launch is quite ample and more content is already being planned.

Guild Wars 2

As for Guild Wars 2 the CBT was successfully completed in both May and September and gearing up for another round of testing.

According to the collected data from the 2 previous tests they do not see the need for too many additional tests for Guild Wars 2.

When it comes to the launch timing however they are planning on making final decision after fully considering the market conditions and external environments together with the local partners. They will communicate the decision at the appropriate time in the future.

Umadbrah also got these points:

• GW2 launch in China is delayed. It isn't happening during 4Q '13 as promised.
  
• B&S is doing extremely well during beta in China and they are adding tons of new servers due to queues.
  
• Wildstar is on schedule for Spring '14 release.

More points

• Analyst points out he believes Korean WoW players have growing interest for GW2 to be released in Korea.
  
• It's too early to talk about any expansion plans for GW2 expansions in 2014.
  
• More detailed plans for expansion and future stuff for GW2 will probably be communicated after China launch.
  
• They plan to add additional business models on top of the Sub and Box price to WildStar.

 

[Ashodin]

F2P Wildstar model inc? holy shit if true.

 

[markot]

Wow probably makes as much in a month then GW2 does in a year >.<

Why are they taking so long to launch in China and Korea?

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Wow probably makes as much in a month then GW2 does in a year >.<

Why are they taking so long to launch in China and Korea?

China: The Chinese market is infamously hard to navigate because everything is controlled by the government. This is a population 1,3 billion people. Besides that there is a heavy bias towards supporting Chinese developed game. Succesful chinese games = more money for China. They have been slow out of the gate and Korean games like Ragnarok Online and such have traditionally dominated the online market in the region.

It took Blizzard years, and many alterations and censorship's of WoW to reach the market. The expansions were even more difficult. They had to remove all skeletons in the game (don't ask..) and replace it with something less offensive to the Chinese people.


Korea: Lots of games hit the wall running. Like Tera and Guild Wars 1. They have a very marticilous style of playing games which lends itself to the fact that the majority play video games at computer cafes as a recreational activities with friends. It's not done mainly in solitude as in the west. South Koreans in the big city live in tight locations, so people live at home with their parents until they get married. This makes spending a lot of hours at a computer cafee much more attractive. This is where you see the more willingness to accept grinding. Grinding becomes much more fun when your sitting next to tons of RL friends, eating and drinking and hanging out. It's more of a pass time, and monotone grinding makes it easy to socialize in RL while playing.
So I imagine GW2 requires some changes to it's progression.

Blade and Soul

Blade and Soul successfully completed numerous tests conducted last year and this year and is currently implementing the limited CBT.

The limited CBT which began since October 29th is based on the final version further refined by the feedback of the previous tests although the target user group is limited in number they are providing sevices on par with the commercialized services, various in game items are being sold and generating revenue.

Blade and Soul is in the Pre launching phase as of October 29th and is surpassing their expectations on almost all fronts.

Despite such encouraging indicators and positive feedback he believes there still exists on going concerns of insufficient content however the chinese version differs quite a bit from the korean version in many ways they are showcasing more refined version which addresses the content concerns in addition the culminating content in the initial Korean launch is quite ample and more content is already being planned.

I've played in the Korean Beta too, and it's certainly true it lacks content. We're talking no-brains Warhammer online subtier quality quests. Even the hailed mini dungeons are beyond dumb. It's really disappointing.
Game visually looks godly, plays godly and is fun. But like Aion, TERA and others, what we're dealing with here is a game that is visual eyecandy. It hurts extra bad because Blade and Soul, is Manga/Anime in steroids. The concept artist lead in Korea is legendary and the characters and races have a flair of their own not seen before. CB3 had crazy improvements to the character creation. It's the best I have seen in a game. But it also has it's fair share of over sexualization and questionable loli:/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5x6ixCW09gY

 

[swnny]

I'm not indifferent to your concerns in any sense and while abandoning hope may indeed be the best course for you, it is extremely regrettable that sPvP has not been given enough attention to even allow for cautious ambivalence about the future. It is also a net positive that you've got this thread as an avenue to vent your frustrations, especially if it makes you feel better to any degree.

I will proffer only that it is unwise, not just with regard to this situation but life in general, to take any aspect of the experience while playing a game or decision by its dev team personally. Unless someone tagged you on Twitter and said "hey @swnny, I don't give a shit about you or what you think is important" then you're ultimately raising your blood pressure over colored bubbles; corporate and ultimately financial decisions that aren't made by the people who would fix the problems you have with the game in the first place.

It's beyond remarkable to me that you can still even bring yourself to play the game, even in a different mode, after that much aggravation. All the power in the world to you for continuing to enjoy it, absolutely, but don't rule out taking a hard break if you feel that frustration creeping in again.

Yea, I did overkilled with this few wall of text rants, but at this point I've said almost everything there is to be said on the matter. And up to this point everyone here seems to support and agree with me on this. And if Retro have the chance to link not my first post, but the whole page or two, to a dev, I do believe, there is bigger chance for Anet do notice/do something about it, when coming from such a remarkable and respectful community as GAF. As for their forums, every player can post there and rant about everything, and as pointed out, Anet just ignore the "uncomfortable" questions and discussions.
Oh, and that thought came after Retro's post about giving this link to a dev, so please, do not think of me as some evil mastermind, who's using GAF as a tool to achieve his goals.

Heh, i'm not only playing the game, but I do so enjoying my time in it. Just not the sPvP, not now at least... and from the looks of it, not until half an year from now.

Either way, saying GW1 was "shown off as a pvp game the pve was literally added for release", is either hyperbole or an outright lie, depending on how you want to take it. I know you only care about PvP, but let's not muddy the waters here, or try to pretend that GW1 only existed for PvP.

GW1 was shown off as a pvp game the pve was literally added for release as there's virtually no previews for it before released (you can check). Even prophecies campaign made this obvious by how it taught all the basic pvp mechanics and the hall of heroes etc being it's end game. A-Net marketed the game heavily as a pvp game hence the several thousand dollar championships, before e sports were quite a thing.

The bold here is true.
Yes, GW1 had playable PvE from the very first beta, shortly after E3 2004, and it was never an "afterthought". But the every gameplay mechanic you see in GW1 campaign (I'm mostly talking about shortly after the original launch, excluding Factions/Nightfall) is made with PvP focus. That is the reason, why immediately after you create your PvE character, the campaign's tutorials (in Pre-searing, Prophecies) make you battle NPCs in 4v4 deathmatch style, run flags and capture points.
And, as pointed out from Principate, the 25 missions in Prophecies (+ just a handful of side quests) lead the player to the Halls of Primeval Kings, where the game's PvP was taking place. It was not until 6-8 months later, when they released lot's of side quests, explorable areas and the first "dungeon" - Sorrow's Furnace.

Unfortunately, all that took place like 8 or so years, so a lot have changed and it's hard to find info about. There was a huge Bulgarian community back then, and if someone is interested, I can dig out tons of screens like this one:

(this one is taken from one of the last beta weekends, upload date says "29 march 2005, so I'd assume it's just a month before the game's release, the location - Halls of Primeval Kings, the group is getting ready to PvP)

On the other side - it's completely the opposite with GW2's PvP. They are trying (and that's a key word here) to use their PvE systems for sPvP. That's why you get the "New event nearby" notification when you are close to e capture point... technically that's just a dynamic event from the PvE. At first they even rewarded these "event participation medals". (you know, the bronze/silver/gold medal depending on your participation in an event)

 

[shysaursoft]

I won't deny that the Magic:TG nature of the combat system in GW1 lends itself naturally better to PvP than it does PvE, at least, in how ArenaNet implemented it. I know GW1 had a big PvP side, and many people played it exclusively for that, even though the PvE side did get the lion's share of attendance, assets, effort and etc.

I agree, that GW2's sPvP is coming off more as an afterthought than the proper MP client it should be, taking second fiddled to WvW, which in turn sits behind PvE. Perhaps the mechanics just don't lend themselves naturally to it, I dunno. I found the sPvP to be very engaging, as I've mentioned earlier in the thread, I see it like a DM/TDM client, like Quake or UT. I go in, play some rounds, bug out. I've never touched the tournaments - if they're broken, I can totally understand the issue.

But for me, GW1 will always be remembered as a cooperative experience, in which the colour-coded Mesmerangers fought off evil and saved the world, looking good while doing it.

Those were five damn good years for us.

Just not the Pokemon aspect. Hunting for and capturing Elite skills? Never again.

Wow probably makes as much in a month then GW2 does in a year >.<

WoW has a 9 year head start. But GW2 is making as much as most sub-only MMOS, without needing a sub. That's way more impressive, especially since GW2 doesn't hold you hostage like a sub MMO. It's crazy how successful GW2 is being.

 

[nataku]

Hunting elite skills in GW1 was great and something that they really should have put in GW2 as the primary method of acquiring skills.

Just buying your skills from a menu is so damn boring. You might as well just give them to players automatically.

 

[Proven]

A trailer for Blade and Soul: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XK1Ir66EqAw

Yeah, it looks like a lot of flash but it's very enticing flash. It looks like GW2 Chinese launch got delayed so they could pump more resources into Blade and Soul and release it first. After that, wait a couple months, then GW2 releases.

This would mean, "no expansion talks until after GW2 releases in China, and hey, we got that gem shop money." Cue people getting upset over lack of an expansion and not watching Diaper Money to calm down.

I also like how the Mesmer Ranger pictures got considerably more ridiculous in colors as time passed.

 

[FODEA]

I won't deny that the Magic:TG nature of the combat system in GW1 lends itself naturally better to PvP than it does PvE, at least, in how ArenaNet implemented it. I know GW1 had a big PvP side, and many people played it exclusively for that, even though the PvE side did get the lion's share of attendance, assets, effort and etc

GW1 was originally designed with PvP being the ultimate goal or end game.

The desert missions in prophecies are pretty clearly rough mockups of something you might have to do in Hall of Heroes or a GvG map.

They even hosted tournaments for money at game expos.

PvErs demanded PvE content and since they were the bigger group, everything after - Factions, Nightfall, Eye of the North was much more PvE oriented.

It's just the way things went, oh well (for someone like me who really enjoyed the way Prophecies was set up and who enjoys team pvp over dungeon type things).

As for GW2 itself - I kind of feel it's too fast paced with the content updating. It's great if it's the only game you play and you have a decent amount of free time, I don't really have either right now.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

As for GW2 itself - I kind of feel it's too fast paced with the content updating. It's great if it's the only game you play and you have a decent amount of free time, I don't really have either right now.

I feel differently. I think they should slow down content updates and give better updates. Instead of every second week, how about scoring it down to once a month? and combining the two of the content teams. Better stories, better content, more QA, more unique rewards.

 

[Arcteryx]

I feel differently. I think they should slow down content updates and give better updates. Instead of every second week, how about scoring it down to once a month? and combining the two of the content teams. Better stories, better content, more QA, more unique rewards.

Pretty much my feels.

I'd rather have well thought out, tested, and substantial content with unique rewards(not just mini pets or back items; I'm talking armor/weapon skins). It just feels too much like an achievement hunt lately, with the achievements basically being of the "do X thing Y times"(ANet has shown they can be creative with achievements, so why not do more of that?). If the content was more drawn out it would also allow more casual players to experience the full extent of it. Instead, I hear plenty of people who only catch the tail end of events and miss out on not only the event itself but also the rewards(which usually require a daily or two to get the meta).

If they adopted a one-month attitude to releases(basically 2 weeks of content but it sticks around for at least a month), that would free up time to focus on more (arguably) important things like the other aspects of the game that need support(WvW, PvP, entire aspects of certain classes that need re-works, etc). Instead it feels like a constant rush of bug fixes throughout the 2 weeks of content(usually we see 3-4 patches within the first week).

I can understand the hesitation to discuss an expansion with their Chinese launch and other endeavors, but damn, I'll be MEGA disappointed if year 2 rolls around and we still haven't heard/seen anything about it.

 

[Proven]

Don't forget that although they update every 2 weeks, each of their 4 Living Story teams is responsible for one month of content already.

 

[shysaursoft]

GW1 was originally designed with PvP being the ultimate goal or end game.

Though the same could be said for GW2. WvW is the end game, and the PvE has tons of content that teaches you the mechanics, class matchups, and etc.


Also, they update every two weeks because their stats show that's the ideal time to do it - but that only uses the four LS content teams. That does NOT includes the teams put on permanent/upcoming content, like sPvP, major system overhauls, etc.

 

[FODEA]

I feel differently. I think they should slow down content updates and give better updates. Instead of every second week, how about scoring it down to once a month? and combining the two of the content teams. Better stories, better content, more QA, more unique rewards.

I do agree with you about slowing down updates. Perhaps you misunderstood me and I worded poorly - when I said great I meant there's lots of new stuff. The quality might not be the best but the content updates are there.

I fell behind when I got a little tired of the game, I tried to get back in, fell behind again and now I'm busy enough that almost all my free time would have to go towards GW2 just to stay relevant with my friends who play it.

I just feel it's too fast paced for me. The titles, skins that I miss out on make it even more apparent. I like to collect in games I play and I have already missed so many titles, unique skins.

 

[swnny]

Though the same could be said for GW2. WvW is the end game, and the PvE has tons of content that teaches you the mechanics, class matchups, and etc.

I'm glad you had great time in GW1, but I think you are kinda missing the point here.
In GW1 (again, talking about the post release prophecies campaing) the PvP was the primary focus. Every core mechanics, gameplay and battle systems and the skill/proffesion balance, it all was build from the ground up with PvP in mind. Then, with all the core things in place, some good lore and story, we ended up with the Prophecies campaign.

That's why, as said above, the "PvE tutorial" had you "deathmatching" bots, run flags and capture points. And as FODEA reminded me - the ascension missions in the Crystal Desert represented another sort of tutorials for the Tombs of Primeval Kings (later moved to the Battle Isles under the name of Heroes Ascent) - defending your Ghostly Hero, while he is capping a shrine, run relics etc... all things your group had to do in Tombs/HA.

Within a year things for the PvE campaigns changed a lot. And in the end, both Eye of the North and Beyond were to set up the stage for GW2.

In GW2, we experience the exact opposite structure. Core mechanics, gameplay and balance were all designed around the PvE. And, unlike GW1's PvE, the GW's PvP really feels like an "afterthought". They just didn't put enough emphasis on it, tried to make PvE systems work in PvP and in the end failed miserably. Basically, after the introduction of Custom Arenas, they are working (painful slowly) on the sPvP starting from the scratch.
I hope, I don't have to remind about how they scraped the 3-match Free and Paid Tournaments, scraping any plans for Qualifying points and their use in bigger tournaments, reverted back to only a "free 2-team (1-match) tournament with a single map for a week"(!), etc, etc...

 

[Kos Luftar]

It seems like people who liked PvP more than PvE in GW1 think the game was primarily pvp , while people who liked PvE more than PvP think the opposite.

No point arguing you guys are never going to agree.

I don't think any ANET dev would take sides either and they would say that it was build with both in mind with each having thier own end-game.

 

[shysaursoft]

@swnny So it goes. Wouldn't be the first time a sequel doesn't manage to satisfy all the people that played its predecessor.

And as it stands, there are a great many "lapsed" GW1 players who are very upset that GW2 isn't "more like GW1", but by the same token, many of those players refuse to see the merits in what GW2 is.

@Kos I'm not trying to get anyone to agree with me - just offering up a dissenting view to the narrative that GW1 was for the PvPs and everything else was a second class citizen.

"In GW1 (again, talking about the post release prophecies campaing) the PvP was the primary focus"
"In GW2, we experience the exact opposite structure. Core mechanics, gameplay and balance were all designed around the PvE."

Until I talk to the staff at ArenaNet myself, and ask them about this, such statements to me remain conjecture. I can see the logic in them, but I don't necessarily agree with them. You can paint both games in either light, to have been PvP first, or PvE first, or that both were thought about at the same time (which is more likely).

The core mechanics in GW2, to me, ooze PvP design through and through. However, the structures to support that design, are falling flat, yes.

 

[FODEA]

It seems like people who liked PvP more than PvE in GW1 think the game was primarily pvp , while people who liked PvE more than PvP think the opposite.

No point arguing you guys are never going to agree.

I don't think any ANET dev would take sides either and they would say that it was build with both in mind with each having thier own end-game.

It's not a debate though....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74HhIS-TS10

43:00 minutes. Two Arena-Net founders, one of them says 'this is what we have all been working on' in reference to the competition they're holding at the games expo in Leipzig.

He follows up with 'we built GW1 from the ground up to be a competitive game and *this* is the ultimate expression of it'. By this he means the GvG competition at the Leipzig event.

Anyways that's enough GW1 nostalgia for me. I tried starting up GW2 again in late October but unfortunately WvW seems to be stuffed full of players - I was told by friends they were introducing a new season type of deal. I tried again a week later, still full. Queueing up to do something I want to do isn't very fun to say the least.

 

[Retro]

Queueing up to do something I want to do isn't very fun to say the least.

Edge of the Mists should start testing soon-ish, and will alleviate that specific complaint.

 

[markot]

Gw1 sure was ugly >.<

 

[shysaursoft]

It ran on low-spec systems, and worked over a 56k modem. It was beautiful where it counts.

 

[swnny]

I'm sure, that I can find that information for you, at least about GW1, that is. But this is from a time long past, so let's just agree that, what I've said is a possibility.
Not my intention to argue with anyone, or force my opinion. That's the way I've seen it for 10 years, and I think there were some interviews back then, confirming this.

 

[shysaursoft]

Am I the only one here that still plays GW1 regularly?

 

[swnny]

Am I the only one here that still plays GW1 regularly?

Hell no! Add me - Mighty Savov, I'm playing on weekly basis ^^

Oh, and thanks to FODEA for digging out that confirmation! Pretty much, what I talked about my last post.
You have it right there - "'we built GW1 from the ground up to be a competitive game and this is the ultimate expression of it", directly from the mouth of ArenaNet's co-founder - Mike O'Brien .

 

[shysaursoft]

Hell no! Add me - Mighty Savov, I'm playing on weekly basis ^^

Oh, and thanks to FODEA for digging out that confirmation! Pretty much, what I talked about my last post.

Ah, cool. I was just curious. I don't PvP though, so I don't think we'd really meet up much.

EDIT: I got curious and did an /age check. GW1 - 508 hours. GW2 - 1600 hours. I've already played GW2 over three times more than GW1, geeze.

 

[Mxrz]

Still weird to see terms like PvEer & PvPer tossed around. It never matched up with anything I saw in game.

GW pvp was amazing for a good while, but fame/tombs/ha eventually cannibalized it. A good chunk of people never progressed beyond fame-farming, while the idiotic rank epeening pretty much killed most of the new blood trying to come in, and GvG starved to death. I remember some GvG guilds trying really hard bring new players over directly, but going from RA/TA to GvG was just a huge leap. One that tombs was suppose to cover.

Ah well. First year or so was still golden.

 

[swnny]

Ah, cool. I was just curious. I don't PvP though, so I don't think we'd really meet up much.

Heh, I'm rarely PvPing these days... just joining in for some RA action, to complete my zaishen quests, then proceeding towards my HoM. (40/50 atm, even HoM acheievements ain't really rewarding for the PvPers... )

 

[shysaursoft]

while the idiotic rank epeening pretty much killed most of the new blood trying to come in

That's what happened to me. Every now and then I'd get curious and check out the PvP side, made a few characters and tried them out, but the community each time was so toxic, I couldn't stand more than a few matches. The abuse was incredible, I either didn't have the right skills, or didn't use them at the right time - it's equatable to the Dota 2 community today. No matter where I went, it was just a constant string of disgust from the people I was apparently letting down to such a degree, that even when I told them I was new to this side of the game and learning, they just told me to 'go back to PvE and never come back', type of thing. So that's what I did. Can't say I regret it.

In contrast, my time in sPvP and WvW in GW2 has been decent, hardly any flak.

 

[Proven]

Also, they update every two weeks because their stats show that's the ideal time to do it - but that only uses the four LS content teams. That does NOT includes the teams put on permanent/upcoming content, like sPvP, major system overhauls, etc.

So you want to pull people from the other teams that plan the content for either the more neglected parts of the game or for improving the game as a whole?

The Living Story teams are already a massive undertaking. They plan out a month of content and split it up for two updates so that everyone doesn't just burn through it the first week and complain about being bored, nor use month long grinds (Dragon Bash...). That's the direction they're moving towards at least.

They create new art assets and events, plan out dungeons or other instances, ask for help implementing new skills and placing stuff in zones all over Tyria. I'd be surprised if the Living Story teams are four of the biggest dedicated teams they have there because they cover so much.

So, I'm a bit confused at what you're asking for.

 

[shysaursoft]

So you want to pull people from the other teams that plan the content for either the more neglected parts of the game or for improving the game as a whole?

So, I'm a bit confused at what you're asking for.

Huh? I'm not asking for anything, actually. I'm 100% fine with how things are in Guild Wars 2 right now. o..o I think you're confusing me with someone else. I *really, really* like the Living Story, and the bi-weekly schedule, and how they've done things over the last year.

I was just saying that, people act like the teams working on Living Story, constitute 100% of ArenaNet's manpower - which isn't really true. There are additional teams working on moonshot and longterm features too. But people tend to want 100% of a company dedicated to the one thing they personally want to see improve - gamers can be a bit myopic that way.

 

[Jira]

The LS teams aren't as big as you guys may think and if I told you the size, you'd be more impressed with what they put out over the course of a month. By and large the majority of the company are continuously working on the larger features, systems, and background tech that we see. Any time you see something on the update page under Features, that's what the bigger teams are working on. The LS team just handles the story stuff and whatever comes along with it.

 

[Retro]

Apparently somebody at ArenaNet thinks the financial future of the company looks juuuuuust fine;

Hahaha, my twitter feed just exploded with a half dozen comments about this from ANet folks.

 

[Ashodin]

Apparently somebody at ArenaNet thinks the future of the game looks juuuuuust fine;

Hahaha, my twitter feed just exploded with a half dozen comments about this from ANet folks.

wat

 

[Retro]

wat

Yep, a lot of the comments are like "I just got back to my desk and this was waiting for me!" type stuff, so I hope what they did was call a big meeting and then have somebody slink through and drop them off.

I think last I heard they had almost 300 people? That's a lot of PS4s.

 

[hythloday]

So jelly.

 

[Retro]

Hahahaha...

 

[Jira]

They have over 300 employees...wonder if the janitor got one too?

 

[nataku]

GW2 coming to PS4 confirmed.

 

[LiveSpartan235]

Save your Dragonite Ore and New PvP rewards system will be previewed in December.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/wuv/wuv/dragonite-empyreal-star/first#post3210456

Without giving any specifics, I&#8217;d highly recommend you change that strategy. There are things coming soon that will give you lots to spend it on.

https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/for...ard-system-being-worked-on/page/2#post3211256

I hear your frustrations, Morf. In early December the PvP team will be able to preview what we&#8217;ve been working on and what we&#8217;ll continue to be working on in the new year. I think you guys will be happy with what we&#8217;ve come up with &#8211; I know I am.

Have a good weekend, all!

I wish I could get a PS4

 

[Ashodin]

ascended armoar

 

[lazorexplosion]

In about 2 days the level of teamwork in the nightmare tower went up about an order of magnitude, which is nice.

 

[hockeypuck]

I am really jealous about the optimization update that Planetside 2 got earlier this week. That's the best optimization patch I've ever read. If Anet would just periodically focus one team on that and we got only a fraction of what PS2 got, I would be happier with that than the last five Living Story updates combined.

 

[nataku]

I am really jealous about the optimization update that Planetside 2 got earlier this week. That's the best optimization patch I've ever read. If Anet would just periodically focus one team on that and we got only a fraction of what PS2 got, I would be happier with that than the last five Living Story updates combined.

Would be nice, but I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

[leng jai]

ArenaNet really need to focus on one aspect of the game at a time. Their jack of all trades policy just dilutes the quality across the board. So many aspects of the game are half baked - especially these LS updates.

 

[Proven]

Huh? I'm not asking for anything, actually. I'm 100% fine with how things are in Guild Wars 2 right now. o..o I think you're confusing me with someone else. I *really, really* like the Living Story, and the bi-weekly schedule, and how they've done things over the last year.

I was just saying that, people act like the teams working on Living Story, constitute 100% of ArenaNet's manpower - which isn't really true. There are additional teams working on moonshot and longterm features too. But people tend to want 100% of a company dedicated to the one thing they personally want to see improve - gamers can be a bit myopic that way.

You're right, it was a misquote. I was focused more on Vigilant Walrus and for some reason thought you were agreeing with him.

I am really jealous about the optimization update that Planetside 2 got earlier this week. That's the best optimization patch I've ever read. If Anet would just periodically focus one team on that and we got only a fraction of what PS2 got, I would be happier with that than the last five Living Story updates combined.

I heard that with the latest patch they either fixed or greatly reduced skill lag in WvW. Haven't been able to pop in and test it though.

 

[Arcteryx]

You're right, it was a misquote. I was focused more on Vigilant Walrus and for some reason thought you were agreeing with him.

I heard that with the latest patch they either fixed or greatly reduced skill lag in WvW. Haven't been able to pop in and test it though.

Nope.

Sadly still bad as ever.

 

[shysaursoft]

You're right, it was a misquote. I was focused more on Vigilant Walrus and for some reason thought you were agreeing with him.

I heard that with the latest patch they either fixed or greatly reduced skill lag in WvW. Haven't been able to pop in and test it though.

No worries, happens to the best of us

I've found skill lag to be somewhat better in medium clashes, but huge zerg head-ons are still like stepping into a time vortex.

In other news:

I can't get over how awesome the mansion guild puzzle is:

And while doing Nightmare Chambers today, I came across an old friend who was happy to see me:

 

[Virzeth]

You're right, it was a misquote. I was focused more on Vigilant Walrus and for some reason thought you were agreeing with him.

I heard that with the latest patch they either fixed or greatly reduced skill lag in WvW. Haven't been able to pop in and test it though.

10 minutes after reset, about 40 SBI v 30ish BP - my Mist Form took about 4 seconds to activate, during which time I got spiked for more than 19k damage (from my 21k HP pool). MF worked when I had 800~ HP left, with 10+ stacks of bleeding and 5+ of poison. It didn't last much.

On the way back to BP Garrison, since there was still fighting going, Windborne Speed, Static Field and Glyph of Elemental Harmony took 10+ seconds to work, when all I had around me was a single [DR] ele I started running with to share swiftness. Folks on TS noticed the same lag spikes, and assumed a DB force had entered the map - which was actually the case. On the next fight, everyone started running in place while I got downed and rally-bot'd at least 5 times, according to what I saw, before closing my eyes for good.

Only QQing about it because this was actually the first time I got hit so hard on a reset night, way bigger fights against SoR and SoS (those looked like QvQvQ) were pretty much smooth for me, except some delay in attunement switching.


On a different note, it was nice seeing Kos run with us [DR] [Beas[T]E], hope you had some fun later on, but at 3AM I couldn't bring myself to put up with the lagfest.

 

[jersoc]

Apparently somebody at ArenaNet thinks the financial future of the company looks juuuuuust fine;

Hahaha, my twitter feed just exploded with a half dozen comments about this from ANet folks.

well, i guess the decision to make unlimited use account wide paid off!

but seriously. give. me. the. god. damn. axe.

 

[Kos Luftar]

On a different note, it was nice seeing Kos run with us [DR] [Beas[T]E], hope you had some fun later on, but at 3AM I couldn't bring myself to put up with the lagfest.

Yeah after that initial fight where I died the lag was terrible but once I got back up to garrison I was in there for about an hour fighting and the lag was never an issue even when We were fighting both BP and DB. We finally took it after an hour and kept it for a few ticks and then went and took BAy.

There was also pretty big 3 way fights right info by of bay on the north side but I don't remember people complaining about lag.

Played till 10, lots of fun then I logged off. You commander, Star got pissed a lot if TE were stuck in queue so he told everyone he will not command at reset anymore because he can't do anything productive with 10-15 people.