User talk:Linsey Murdock/Temp

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Posting rules Be curteous to other posters here, including myself. If you can't, your questions or comments will be immediately archived. At least check my FAQ if not my archives before posting a question to make sure I have not already answered it. Please post bug reports on one of the following pages, not here: AI bugs Art bugs Quest bugs Skill bugs Text bugs Miscellaneous bugs Discussions regarding skill changes should go on Skill feedback pages. Lore questions pertaining to Guild Wars are welcome, but not pertaining to Guild Wars 2. Support issues such as players behaving badly or problems with your account should be directed to Gaile's talk. Questions about Guild Wars 2, upcoming projects or ArenaNet's official stance on any subject should be directed to Regina's talk. Questions pertaining to anything code related including AI Issues should be directed to either Joe's or Regina's talk pages.

Fort Aspenwood headache

Hello there Linsey. Don't know if this has been notice already. It's about Fort Aspenwood format. The turtles are suppose to help the Luxons with the gates but looks like we, as in all players, have found a way to successfully stop the turtle, if playing as a Kurzick, from a safe haven almost indefinitely. Since it has pass a few months and it can still be exploitable, been concerned, I had to at least leave you a note. Thanks for your attention.--ShadowFog 19:42, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

So apparently removing enchantments isn't enough? What is the trick that you discovered? 145.94.74.23 21:27, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

You can aggro the turtles in such a way that you can't be attacked, which causes the turtles to fire at you for the duration of the match instead of pushing the gates as intended. At least, I think that's what he's referring to. Raine - talk 21:33, 10 May 2009 (UTC)

didn't play FA lately, but is this related? — Poki#3 (talk) 00:29, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

well what you want, we have 2 turtles with aoe disenchant doing 250 each missile, we have Ion cannons and nukers burning through the gates (the former doesn't cause scatter), and we have kurzick griefers spawning minions and dieing in green to kill gatekeepers, so yeah there a lot of problems with this area, i can also tell you that i can keep turtle from advancing simply by bring a self heal and standing next to the portals going outside, they just shoot at me, i heal my self and they never move. --70.48.54.78 01:11, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Eh no, im not talking about Build Wars. If you are kurzick, after getting the first portal, it leads you to the rising stairs where the path branches to two portals. Imagine you are running to the right portal but instead going in it try to stay in a nearby range. What happens is, their left turtle(looking at it from luxon's view) will get stuck on the small bridge trying to attack that player but it's projectile will always get blocked due to trajectory and height on top of that, the player exploiting this can't be attacked from below.--ShadowFog 03:48, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Ah, I see. Tough issue, the easiest fix I can think of is making that area unaccesible to Kurzick players...145.94.74.23 06:06, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

How is this an issue? There's nothing that can't be killed, just nuke the hell out of the gates and kill any people keeping your turtles busy... — Why 08:58, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

Before I forget, theres a leecher problem but I think you guys know that already. The fact is that you can not kill that player unless you pass through the gates. They are being held by happy go lucky mass enchants monks or dementia party healers Ritualists which the turtle could have helped but he's being held hostage by the strangler, you cant kill him/her because he/she its too far away from the players. It's like not having the turtle update at all. Its good if that player was in range of it's foes but that doesnt happen.--ShadowFog 15:20, 11 May 2009 (UTC)

I know it's not a sloution, but you could try Scourge Healing for a change...that would give those healers something to think about...especially if you can cover it well. 145.94.74.23 06:09, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Deviating the issue still stucks the turtle in its place. You can stop the turtle without having any drawback. Here's more problems: players getting banned from PvP for reporting leechers, if we can see the results of winning and loses from FA we can determine if a side has an advantage and traitors working on both sides.--ShadowFog 13:32, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

This is actually a "new problem". By new I mean It didn't exhist about two years ago. Some time ago the turtle had an AI update which increased it's range (I don't understand why - it made the arena SOOOOOO much harder as a Luxon). Basically the turtle used to nuke until the npcs in front of it were dead and then moved on, often moving so close the warriors would kill the NPCs or players infront. The turtle AI was changed so that if ANYTHING were to stand in it's range, it will just sit there and attack whatever is in it's range and keep doing so until that thing dies, or indefinitely attack without ever moving forward. This change made the arena much harder to play in as a Luxon because the turtles became incredibly easy to stall. All a kurzick needs to do now is run into aggro range and the turtle will stop moving. This becomes even more difficult when a Kurzick stands at the edge of the top area near between the two teleporters. If they stand there the turtle will shoot at them, won't hit them and any Luxons which require line of sight or melee will need to break through two gates and run past a bunch of NPCs just to fight them. If you have spell casters to nuke them then that becomes a little more viable, although this is rare in practice and also easy to counter with minimal healing. To solve this problem the range of the turtle could be reduced. The turtle will ignore people between the teleporters and also move through the gates faster. Since the last rebalance of the arena the favour has shifted to kurzicks. The duration of matches was reduced from 15 to 10 mins which is a MASSIVE advantage in their favour. Stripping enchantments is annoying but hardly compares to the time decrease considering turtles are so easy to make unviable simply by standing still in front of them where you are hard to hit. 122.104.166.208 14:08, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

I know this is somewhat unrelated, but in Fort Aspenwood, Kurzick NPCs use PvE versions of skills, while Luxon NPCs use PvP versions of skills, which is contributing to the bad balance of Fort Aspenwood (superpowered Sundering Shot, Ward Against Melee, etc.). 18:57, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't have time right now to give a proper answer to this, but wanted to quickly note that the above comment about Kurzick NPCs using PvE versions of skills while Luxon NPCs use PvP version, is not accurate at all (unless the source code is lying to me). Currently there is only one PvP skill version being used in all of Fort Aspendwood and it's "Watch Yourself!" on Master Architect Gunther. All other skills are the PvE versions. - Linsey talk 02:18, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

That reminds me, I have some gripes about Gunther's skill-set. His Endure Pain means that he can randomly just lose 300 HP out of nowhere which can end up getting him killed before you can heal him, it's even worse when he gets a deep wound since half of his HP can just disapear without warning.(marsc 22:48, 27 May 2009 (UTC))

Yeah... tell her about the Bugs that plague that place too->http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Fort_aspenwood, located in the NOTE section. If as a Luxon I could kill the warriors myself, I would have just to have the shrine respawn a turtle.--ShadowFog 05:30, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

After the recent change to the dishonorable system, the amount of people that leaves have increased. Normally you can have 4-5 people leaving the game each time anyone enters. I had in 3 consecutive games 4 leavers and on third game the fifth one was me, got tired of the leavers.--ShadowFog 04:01, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

There now seems to be a problem that the Kurzick Mine Cleanser are using the PvE versions of Bloodsong, Displacement and Pain rather than the PvP versions that they should be. Since it allows them to summon all 3 spirits much faster than a player using a ritualist they are a lot more difficult to deal with(either of them at each mine can get a defensive spirit and 2 offensive spirits up in about 3 seconds).(marsc 18:35, 25 June 2009 (UTC))

Bears in pre-searing question

The Brutal Mauling question above got me thinking about bears in pre-searing again. Is there any particular reason the bears have the Breaking Charm skill? Bears aren't any more powerful than other pets, and a Melandru's Stalker starts at level five (compared to the bears' level three). The skill has been there forever, but I'm just curious about the possible reasons. --Nkuvu 19:54, 12 May 2009 (UTC)

Either to make it a little more rare, or maybe just because the Bear used to be stronger than other pets? 145.94.74.23 06:45, 13 May 2009 (UTC)

To my knowledge, the Brutal Mauling skill has never done anything in game -- no additional damage. I don't think the bear's health or armor were ever any different from other pets, so I do not think the bears in pre-searing have ever been stronger than other pets. With Brutal Mauling's long activation time, they're actually weaker (lower DPS). It may be an intention to introduce rarity, but... that's why I asked. I'm not sure. --Nkuvu 20:18, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

My guess would be, as this is a training area, to introduce the idea to new rangers that things could interrupt their charming... as interrupting is a trait that rangers would learn, brutal mauling I thought used to cause bleeding back in the day which is pretty strong in pre... MrPaladin talk 20:21, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

It's because the ones in Pre have delicious Porridge which they refuse to share with Goldie Gwen --ilr 02:18, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Old discontinued projects and time of Live Team

Hi Linsey, first of all: Gz to this great April update, you're the best that ever happend to GW :) I found some information about a "Xunlai Market" in older fansite threads and finally made this into a GWW article here. Here's my question: I believe there are many, many projects like the market that were discontinued during development of GW. Does the live team has enough time and ressources to look into the secrets of former development (4 years are a loooooong time) or already put it on the agenda? Thanks! :) BigBluetalk 13:33, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

That would have been great. I don't see why they'd discontinue it without a serious reason after investing so much effort. This may shed some light. Rose Of Kali 19:40, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

It's possible that the project was discontinued for a good reason - for example, the team deciding it just wasn't going to work and that they should stop throwing good development time after bad. I'd love to see some improved trading interfaces (at the moment, my trading is limited to scanning the trade menu to see if anyone's buying anything I have or selling anything I want when I'm in a trading city... occasionally) but if Xunlai Market wasn't going to work, that's probably a good reason not to keep putting resources into it. (EDIT: Oops, forgot to sign.) Draxynnic 04:25, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Thank you!!!

Thanks sooo much for adding a merchant to gotb soooo useful <3 <3 <3 and makeing the moss spider grow, now if you could just add tolkano to all the pvp outposts i would be sooooooo happy but i am already happy with the changes you made.-- Zesbeer 23:42, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

...Is this where we talk about the Misc Changes? If so, what does the Dishonor system change mean? I looked at the talk page but no one's spelled it out in plain English yet... Thanks. --ilr 23:48, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

The dev updates page should explain it... once it's written. 99.142.23.15 23:50, 14 May 2009 (UTC)

May 14th Skills update

Seriously? You go, what, 6 months without a skill update and THIS is what you come up with? Granted, mesmers got a little more loving, as they were steadily gettin before skill updates stopped, Elemental Lord was brought back into the light of actually usable skills, but overall? A big impressive ball of nothing. Seems anyone who wishes to play high-end pve can either make a sin or a monk and play perma/600 smite, or just crawl into a corner, ball up and die for all you care. Wow. Ok then. So much for the 'I'm too busy to look at skills'. You looked, and this is the result. Ouch. :( Do me a favor Linsey. Get a warrior, rit or one of the other "useless" classes, head to Temple of the Ages, and tell me how easy it is to find a group that won't laugh at you and kick you out for being a noob. Then, when you finally DO find a grp that accepts you, tell me how many minutes it took to wipe and fail. 201.6.66.4 02:24, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Regarding PvP concerns, I think there are some things to be complained about in this update. Regarding PvE, though, you're wrong. Any good group of players who don't make any obvious mistake (like triggering UW quests at the wrong time) can survive in the Temple of Ages areas. The UW and FoW were designed all the way back in Prophecies, before the power creep and added versatility given in the newer games. Groups made entirely of ritualists have successfuly completed both those areas, and that's only expected.

The problems you are pointing out are thanks to the community, not thanks to Arena Net. FoW and UW are not areas in which people go to play, they are areas in which people go to farm. It's only expected that said people will seek the most efficient way of farming, nothing else. If Arena Net buffed warriors or ritualists so they could farm better than SF assassins or 600 smite monks, then warriors or ritualists would simply replace assassins and monks, leaving us still with plenty of players complaining about how they cannot get groups. In the areas in which people are actually playing, it's easy to find a group; thanks to the Zaishen quests, I was able to find a group rather easily with my Warrior for one of the Luxon missions, and again with my Dervish for a Prophecies mission. Erasculio 02:45, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, well, SOME missions are not yet farmed with permas (some simply can't, like any with mursaat towers, one of the rare effects that actually kills a perma sin). That doesn't mean it's not BROKEN AND UNBALANCED. Look, I don't need to do any more pve, i got ALL titles and rare minis i wanted from that (what's left is pvp which i dont believe is affected by the perma disease). At any rate i play less and less gw, but it still irks me to see incompetence about a game i DID care about, and will care again when 2.0 comes out.

But anytime i see ANY group in my alliance forming for almost anyth, it involves perma or 600 smite. Not just uw/fow. ANYTHING. Vanquishes, dungeons, yes, some missions, urgoz, deep, doa, etc. THAT IS NOT BALANCE. THAT IS NOT EVEN FRIGGIN CLOSE TO BALANCE, BECAUSE TWO KINDS OF BUILDS SHOULD NOT BE SO OVERPOWERED THAT THEY SHADOW EVERY OTHER ALTERNATIVE. WHATS THE FRIGGIN POINT OF HAVING A CLASS SUCH AS WARRIORS, FOR INSTANCE, WHEN U CAN BE PERMANENTLY INVULNUERABLE HUH? WHATS THE POINT!?!? 201.6.66.4 04:42, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

I IZ USING RAGE-CAPS REGARDLESS OF WHETHER IT HELPS MAH CASE! HURF DURF RARRR! --ilr 05:39, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Everyone, please calm down. >.>" Alright, there are some people who think that only the "best" builds can be used for certain things. I, however, choose to not hang around them as they automaticly hate me. I say, if what you play works, play it. If you have to play with heroes and henchmen, make it work. I know I do, a lot of my best stuff I did mostly by myself. I am okay with that, sure it's an MMO but that doesn't mean you HAVE to work with people. It's a matter of choice, and if the people as a collection are being weird, heroes and henchmen never complain about your build and never go AFK. ^^" Katherinezoltin 05:42, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

But in the hard way he is right, Perma since can farm really fast, make money and if they dont farm they run people bosses from the zquests for 2/4k each. And same goes for the 600hp monk. 145.53.242.142 16:16, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Here it comes (take a deep breath before reading) Boro 15:28, 15 May 2009

(UTC)

I understand that you are working hard to make GW fun to play, and to balance the skills. But hard working will not have effect without deep knowledge of the game. I suggest you to read shard's articles about game balance, his nerf list for example, and think about skill balance only after that. Boro 06:08, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

I suggest not to balance after any one single balance article or balancer's suggestions on the internet. 145.94.74.23 07:45, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

So do I. They've been letting a single person do it for 4 years and look how terrible it's turned out. ~Shard 09:00, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

The biggest complainers about SF sin and 600 smite builds are farmers that use other classes and builds. They don't like the competition because it brings the prices down. But I would much rather see people exploit skill builds than exploit other players. The only decent complaint was posted by IP 201 above. If I want to do a mission with my sin I am asked 100% of the time if I'm running a perma build. Of course not! And this almost always leads to me being kicked from the group. The same problem happens with other classes. It's harder to get into a group because players are more unwilling to accept other classes. However, rather than seeing them nerf these builds, I would rather see them buff our heroes. --MushaTalk 17:48, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

600/smite the farm I usually do. I want it gone because it's probably the most broken thing in guildwars. I also regularly perma (though never for farming), and I also want that nerfed into the ground. I've done raptorfarm on my derv and ele, but I don't see that being as big of an issue - that farm gives specific drops, and the prices of them have really gone down. On top of that, it's relatively difficult to do that farm on derv or ele (if you dodge badly as a dervish or if you get interrupted too many times on a long cast as an ele, you die). On the contrary, 600/smite farms don't have to worry about things like that; it's far more forgiving. If your Spell Breaker drops (which it shouldn't; it's maintainable with Arcane Echo), you can spam SB and hold aggro without getting interrupted or shattered. You can even tank damage without Protective Spirit up if you're late into a SoA. And if you somehow manage to die, you don't lose anything but a couple of seconds (while if you die raptorfarming as a dervish, everything degens to death without any aggro and you get no drops). Then there's Shadow Form, which requires a minimal amount of skill (press three buttons in order? Good joke) and still has huge payoffs. I don't want either of them removed because they're better than my farm (they *are* my farm), but because they're completely and utterly broken. Raine - talk 18:55, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

recent change to the two shadow step

With the change of Heart of Shadow and Viper's Defense the target can be either foe or ally, and they seem to step you straight back away from where ever your target is, meaning i position my self where my ally and i are in direct line to my real target, i hit either of these skill and it send me to that target, Is this intentional or not? cause as cool as this is,i don't want to make a build and find out it wasn't.--64.231.1.241 02:47, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Make a build and find out. It doesn't cost anything. Would seem kind of strange if the "target" can be both ally and foe, though, I don't like the wording of the new functionalities. Rose Of Kali 03:31, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, it's intentional. It says directly away from your target, your target can be anything. Even yourself! (which sends you backwards about 2/3rds the aggro bubble). DarkNecrid 03:38, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Interesting... O_o A new mechanic... Who'da thunk... Rose Of Kali 04:08, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually, they already had a "certain direction" mechanic for skills. I'm almost positive bull's strike or bull's charge used to work that way. ~Shard 06:42, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

You used to have to hit them in the back for Bull's. It was fleeing targets, not moving targets. Misery 11:11, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

That would be a Physics mechanic then since it would require "hit boxes" or atleast a bounding cube and constant tracking of the entity's Pitch/Yaw. Though it's possible they're using a much simpler coordinates formula that just subtracts one origin from-the-other to mimic physics. ...Gosh, I sure hope they don't try to fake it like that in GW2, that'd be a bit of a let down :\ --ilr 18:54, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Dishonorable System

I don't understand how I could have got dishonorable after 4 games after I was actually running around contributing to the team. Does reporting now NOT tell the alleged leecher that he got reported? Because I didn't see anyone reporting me, nor did I leave any matches. Please look into the source code asap, it's very vexing to get dishonorable status when people don't know why. Pika Fan 10:16, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

Obvious question, but had to be asked: did YOU report other leechers? If so, how many? This will help figure out what exactly happened (or didn't happen). If you report too much, you will get dishonorable as well, but if you didn't do that, then there's indeed a problem. Rose Of Kali 17:51, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

No. Well, yes, but it was only once, and all 7 of us reported him. This isn't just happening to me; there were 2-3 people complaining about the same problem they had.Pika Fan 19:39, 15 May 2009 (UTC)

So it appears that their little update to "the way Dishonor Points were distributed" or whatever actually broke things even more, instead of fixing them... yay... Rose Of Kali 05:10, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

would also like to know, I've got dishonorable twice without being reported/reporting others.... I did go afk a bit if that's what triggers dishonorable? --Cursed Angel 16:16, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Whatever the system does, it sure made a change and it's working. In every game I've been on there's 0 leechers. The only leechers are the "leavers" but that seems to be minimal for now. Check well, sometimes some people tend to report others just for hate, you might not notice since the message gets pushed up by constant activities and/or maybe the system is "awarding" more points than usual. Going AFK does trigger the status, that explains the lack of leechers(everyone on the team moves!).--ShadowFog 17:10, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually FA and JQ should be 2x2x4 Boro 17:19, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Two vs Two by Four? O_o. Two vs Clue by Four? o_O. --Star Weaver 17:34, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

2 sides, each has 2 groups of 4 people. Boro 18:07, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

TBH Isnt it clear that the dishonorable thing was a bad idea from the start ? Its just how they try to fix things.The real problem is the dependance on monks because of a) power creep and b) less support/selfheals being carried together with titles.As It took to much time to fix the first and they can't possibly fix the second they introduced dishonorable.Just like it takes to much time to fix hexgay so they introduce PnH Lilondra *panda* 19:08, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

If they really wan't to keep FA + JQ more random they would be better off forcing teams into 4 groups of two then joining the 4 groups into 1 party when they all zone. If instead they went with 2x4 players would be bias towards running balanced teams more and it result in players neglecting certain professions etc. That has good and bad to it, but since FA + JQ aren't high level pvp it's better to keep it in a format where it can be more laid back.~>Sins WDB 19:14, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

TBH Lilondra, there's a lot of ppl saying that leeching has dropped a lot since dishonorable was first implemented. Wouldn't that make it a good thing? -- Alaris 19:17, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

People leeched before and still do. Boro 19:24, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

No system is fool-proof. There will always been leeching, and there is nothing Arena Net can do to eliminate 100% of it. — Jon Lupen 19:27, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

"The real problem is the dependance on monks because of a) power creep and b) less support/selfheals being carried together with titles." I'm trying hard to understand what that means, but I'm just lost. I'm getting from this that you believe monks are relied on because of other offensive builds being too powerful? And the other part has something to do with titles causing players to not bring self heals? If that is the argument you are making it's wrong. The system isn't broken because players build like they are going to find a monk. It's also not broken because players don't take self heals, which has nothing to do with it and is not true. The system doesn't work because players are penalized for attempting to report someone when other people either don't know how to report or don't want to take the time to during a match.~>Sins WDB 19:30, 20 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually I was saying that people no carry support skills like draw,SoR,... in general.All they carry is offensive support.Monks have become healbots most of the time and people don't run selfheal.Check the amount of warriors with heal sig that actually are good warriors.The dishonorable thing only fixed people from leaving the moment they saw they didn't have a monk.Wich was rly getting bad after a while.Lilondra *panda* 05:55, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

It didn't change that. People just resign early or leave when a match is over and reenter until they get a monk. You make it sound like playing a healer is something terrible to do.~>Sins WDB 06:45, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Your missing the whole point tbh.My point is that dishonorable never fixed anything because it was just a quick update that was supposed to fix a result not a problem.They don't have the time to fix the real problem.The real problem is a) titles and b) people can't possible stay alive longer then X seconds without a monk because nobody carries support or selfheals anymore.I think my point is that unless you all use imba skills and have a zillion damage the odds of you getting 5 wins without a monk are 0 Lilondra *panda* 06:49, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

I can agree with most of that. I would imagine people don't normally bring much self support such as healing/condition/hex removal because it's not worth the time it take to use them when you can dish out offense or shut opposition down so easily.~>Sins WDB 07:04, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

There's no point in bringing a self heal because, assuming the knockdown chain doesn't prevent you from getting it off, it just means it takes the palm strike sin an extra half of a second to dismantle you, and that energy/attribute points could be better used offensively. ¬ Wizårdbõÿ777(talk) 08:40, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

Wich is my point ? If PS,VoR and stuff like that got nuked/reworked and people took some selfheal/support monks would have a much easier time and you wouldnt instalose if you didnt have a monk or a zillion damage Lilondra *panda* 12:28, 21 May 2009 (UTC)

The problem is that leeching is an accepted playing style in the eyes of arenanet. Boro 16:50, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

~Eh... You should take a look at the EULA and other legal documents of the game. The problem is that people don't read that, and so keep leeching thinking they are easily going to get away with it. Then they get reported, banned after multiple infractions, and they may or not repeat again, to be punished again. So, why do we keep seeing leechers? Because new players enter PvP once in a while, end they didn't know about the rules either, and so the thing go on. Even if you add an 'accept box' to be able to enter PvP, they would just click accept without reading it. The only way I can think right now is a 20 question surprise test about the rules. You fail it, game gets locked in a page showing the rules for 10 minutes. Eh, it's silly, but I bet it would work a bit. MithTalk 19:20, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

The problem is that the game punishes players for reporting leechers. There is no report button to quicken things up (this is for those who think the problem is that people don't have time to report). And arenanet didn't do anything to fix this problem, despite of it persisting for more than a year. Boro 06:40, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Guild Wars and Steam

I had recently seen an update (ad) on Steam saying that NCsoft titles are now on Steam. Is there any way we can update our Steam/NCsoft accounts to reflect when we're playing something like Guild Wars? --Antioch 22:08, 16 May 2009 (UTC)

Take a look here for official answer. I remember reading elsewhere that the 2 systems are not compatible for this. If you are looking for a service to track your playtime, look at XFire or Raptr. XFire is a great messenger and more widly used, but Raptr does have more game tracking options.

I just added GW as a Non-steam Product then went to my GuildWars Shortcut and changed it from C:\<directory>\GW.exe to "C:\WINDOWS\explorer.exe steam://open/games" so that I always remember to start it through steam instead. ...Atleast then ppl on my friends/group list know when I'm playing it.
It's probably too early to even ask about it, but here's hoping they fully integrate GW2 into Steam or atleast give it an Official "Steam APP ID" so that Steam tracks it properly. --ilr 19:08, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Quick question

Would you be the right person to ask a question concerning Final Rest? I came across the link while perusing The ranger skill name translations. Thanks in advance. --Riddle 05:33, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Would that be Frozen Soil, by chance? Rose Of Kali 18:30, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't think so, because Frozen Soil is a prophecies skill while Final Rest is under Factions. --Riddle 19:16, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

It is just one of the many unimplemented or removed skills.
Description - Create a level %str1% spirit. Spells that exploit corpses take at least %str2% second[s] to cast. This spirit dies after %str3% second[s]. --Zora 00:13, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) While I'm at it, what does Sheldon the Verminator reference, if he does reference anything? --Riddle 22:00, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

What does it take for a skill balance?

You mentioned here what it takes to create a new area/region/quest/etc, but is changing a skill really as simple as going into a mahoosive list of skills and changing the numbers? The only other thing I can think of is that you need the time to check that monsters don't get omgoverpowered (Afflicted Monks...). I'm not asking for a skill balance (though did take the opportunity to snipe at RoJ), but I'm just wondering what it takes to do one. Hope you've understood my question, --Alex Eternal 09:50, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

I think balancing like smaller recharge time etc. is just as simple as that. but stuff like this new aegis takes a whole redesign of any classes, functions, etc. the skill uses, which is a lot more work. that's just my guess from what i imagine guild wars to be programmed like ;) - Y0_ich_halt 11:37, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

or anyway i'd have tried to program gw so that number changes like recharge time are as simple as that xD - Y0_ich_halt 11:37, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't think that's what he was asking. And more details than that would be necessary. IE: Is it just a database/XLS change? Does every functionality change require Coding changes? Does every single Skill have it's own function call? And how do they link to their animations; spreadsheet or is it hardcoded? (always affects activation times??). But I guess an answer somewhere between "a lot of work" and "no more than most RPG's" or "datamining/design process takes much longer" would suffice.
IMHO, The answer's obvious: Joe the Code Ninja could knock out every change in a matter or minutes. The REAL bottleneck here is the people telling him what to change :p --ilr 18:59, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Well what I meant was, whenever someone asks for a skill rebalance, with a fantastic list of options all balanced and the like, we're often told "We'd like to but lack resources" or "I'm sorry we don't have the time" or in Izzy's case, "I'm busy working on GW2". What I'd like to know is how long it takes to do a Skill Rebalance and what goes into each skill's redesign. For instance, let's take... RoJ (... can you tell how much I hate that skill? xD), at present, my understanding of a skill rebalance is that ANet staff go into a program, find the list of skills, change a number and then test to see if any foes don't have a working chain or are overpowered. If that's the case, surely the Wiki could help ANet. Let's say I make a suggestion (once all the legalities of accepting suggestions are sorted), everyone agrees it's balanced, then anyone who wants to could save ANet time and go out to foes with RoJ (Afflicted Monks, etc) and check their skill bars and theorize how it would work out, making additional suggestions if necessary. Then they sign (~~~~) a list on the talk page of the redesign to say "This has been checked by me and there are no obvious problems." or whatever. If enough people sign it, it'd cut out a heck of a lot of QA time (... at least, I think that's what QA does). Of course there's the issue of trust, but if the Sysops and B'crats and other people (who've got a NPC named after them... I mean really, if ANet doesn't trust them...) they trust all sign it, QA wouldn't need to be so vigorous. Hope I've clarified myself (and revealed my ulterior motive of getting ANet to hire Wiki'ers), --Alex Eternal 20:14, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

Little changes like energy cost, recharge, number scaling, etc, are done by izzy in wordpad or something (based on what he's told us, each skill has its own text file with the stats in it). New skill functions obviously require new code. The original programmers made the skill system flexible, knowing that it would have to be changed often. Skill balances shouldn't take up that much time beyond deciding what's going to be changed. ~Shard 20:48, 17 May 2009 (UTC)

The problem with your example, Alex, is that it hinges on these people being able to instantly recognize balanced suggestions. Meanwhile they can claim research as their defense, by which case I mean datamining and QA testing. Like I said above, changing the stats takes minutes. Justifying and Testing multiple changes at once is the real bitch apparently. And sure you can ask here and get them to admit that fact, but it serves no purpose since they'll never reveal the actual details of the Datamining & QA process --ilr 19:54, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

A miracle, that's what it takes. Whatever deity you believe on must step down from the heavens and intervene directly. If not, all you're getting, every 6 months or so, is the crappy small skill update you just did. So start praying! 187.37.57.215 20:56, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Let's face it. If izzy winged skill updates only half the time, we would be lucky. ~Shard 02:44, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Being unhappy with the current state of affairs doesn't mean that you have a better solution. Skills affect PvE, PvP, monsters, farms, normal play, bosses. Tweaking numbers is not to be taken lightly. -- Alaris 13:35, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Oh! I thought of something else! Translating the new description into the languages GW supports! Though that can't take long if it's just a numeric fix. --Alex Eternal 15:50, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

Skills affect PvE, PvP, monsters, farms, normal play, bosses. Tweaking numbers is not to be taken lightly.

Yet, Anet still manages to do it without putting any thought into it. ~Shard 01:30, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Whilst taking potshots at ANet is very fun, you've got a userspace to debate whether or not they can/'t skill balance. Let's keep on topic shall we :p --Alex Eternal 09:12, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

It's a fact that the last skill updates were mostly inappropriate number/functionality changes. The only thing to be debated is the reason: I have three ideas: (they means the balance department)

• idea a: They are afk (see shard's dictionary) and just randomly changing skill and functionality numbers. (as long as there is no explanation from the balance department, this will be a possibility)
• Idea B: They like the game but they don't have a damn clue. (see shadow form 'nerf' in july)
• Idea C: Their higher ups are morons and don't let them to fix the game's serious problems. (Idunno. this is the land of conspiracy theories)

Boro 12:32, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Most that are addicted to GW would love to add some meaningfull help to create an even more awesome game. ;-). Beta Testing be the most favoured one I guess. Designing ..dont make me start on that. Right..on topic.

If you would change a skill it would affect the following;

Several different level player-characters using it.

Several different level Monsters Using it.

So..I use a skill as lvl18 and they nerf/boosted that for one reason or another. I encounter different levels of problems or benefits in PvE that make me;

Unable to make good use of that skill.

Overpowered in Use of that skill.

Let me rule a specific farm for an High End item and give me a HUGE advantage over other players till the word gets around.

In PvP certain skill adjustments make fo'r;

Overpowered Team builds

Overpowered Solo Builds.

With the hundreds of skills countering eachother one adjustment is most likely resulting in adjusting another.

The key word is Balance. It would be soooo easy to adjust just 1 skill and how it behaves in a certain area if there where no dependency's to other skills.

Without proper research on the depenency's it is doomed to fail leading to more complaints from the community of players. I don't support that. It needs time to "calculate" the effects and how to get the best results. And depending on what skill, used by what profession/boss in a specific area & how the other professions can balance that out..I assume the time it takes to readjust a skill is "variable". --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 13:05, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for posting these factors. Let's hope the designers will take them into calculations. Boro 13:12, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

I assume they allready do so Boro :). It is for them to confirm it in answer to Alex's question. --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 13:17, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Think of the player population as a massive computer looking for min/max solutions. Minimum effort, maximum payoff. Some will settle on less payoff for less effort, some just want to maximize payoff, and others still want to find something fun at the same time. Tweak one skill that nerfs an OP'ed build, and all you've done is create a new min/max space. Players who were nerfed will quickly look for something else to abuse, find it, and abuse it. We've seen it happen every nerf. The only way to really fix it is to create the space in such a way that those min/max solutions are also those that players value to be valid play styles. And that's beyond art, it's also PR. -- Alaris 13:56, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

And 52 open job functons (limited resources). --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 14:14, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

They just need to listen to experts. Boro 17:55, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I am very confident they are the experts :D. --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 18:18, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I have high confidence in ANet too. To say it bluntly, GW balance is well above the competition... Take a tour in WoW forums for example... where they complain that *an entire class* is OP'ed or Underpowered. Not that Fury or WHO or Diablo 2 managed to beat GW balance-wise. Frankly, most *RPG* games I've played that had *some amount of choice* in playstyle had balance flaws. GW is not perfect either, but it's well above the competition.

GW balance is also well above the vast majority of suggestions I see one the forums/wiki, IMO. The only time I see suggestions that *might* work better than ANet's is when the vast majority of forum/wiki users agree on a topic... and even then there's no guarantee. Remember Ursan? Some wanted it killed, others nerfed, and others yet wanted it buffed! Same with SF etc. But that gets even worse with PvP, where every person and his dog has his own idea of what PvP should be like. 95% of suggestions (my guesstimate) is either "pls nerf other playstyles I don't like" or "pls buff playstyles I like" with little to no regards given to balance. That includes people putting pressure so that the game is more tactical, more newb-friendly, more skill-based, or more team-based... note that some of those pressures are in opposite directions.

If I was in charge of hiring, I'd keep the current team as is. -- Alaris 18:59, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

"where they complain that *an entire class* is OP'ed or Underpowered."

ups, ups. Less visible examples abound as well. Vili 点 19:12, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree with Alaris. Couldn't have summed up the state of GW better than he did. The playable PvP teams may not be of the player-preferred 2-frontline-4-midline-2-monks variety, but they are evenly matched most of the time and skill and experience determine which of the (wrongly named) 'gimmicks' win. That is also balance. 87.210.150.58 15:15, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

That is 110% bullshit. Go play some GvG and come back when you can support your argument with empirical evidence. The great players beat the bad players running gimmicks, but the bad players running gimmicks beat the bad players running balanced every time (while expending little to no effort, showing very little teamwork, not being on vent, etc). Is that balanced? Obviously not. -Auron 15:27, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

Yes, the rit primary is not great. But rits are good in PvE, I rarely hear that they are underpowered as a profession. The warrior primary is also not that great, and the paragon primary is not useful in many places... but those professions are also not underpowered. -- Alaris 04:20, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

The truth is that not many of the best builds use Spawning power at all, and when there are no spirits and weapon spells involved, other professions are better ritualists even not being able to hit 14 in an attribute. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:MithranArkanere (talk).

@ Silverleaf: To say it bluntly, GW balance is well above the competition GW has been out for 4 years. It was balanced for 1 year, then after all the updates and expansions they slowly broke it. Now, 4 years later, it's a mess. Lets take starcraft. It just passed its 11th year now and is still the most balanced game.. ever imo. True, it's a different genre, and 150mineral spawning pool was OP, later fixed, the fact that they had qualified people doing the balancing is what makes all the difference. Forethought is put in, which is alot less than I can say about anet's balancer.--adrin 06:02, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Improvement is alway's possible. The many possibility's and variations in GW make it a " time consuming job" with aftereffects. I do not compair to other game because to me each game is a different ballpark. GW can easily use some improvements in skill balancing...My faith is in the fact that Izzy & the live team are allready aware on what might be improved. The have post-it's, notes and an endlest list of need-to's, want-to's and must-do's wich need to be figured out in the priority the Anet teams gave it.

Core business is priorities and the time needed to get-it-ingame. All of us can think of "easy-do-it-now" solutions. I hope we can all be smart enough to understand that simplicity is not the answer here. And to know that not every "Player-wish" is best for the game or the community. --Silverleaf Don't assume, Know! 12:37, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Just so we're clear... (1) Starcraft has received balance changes since it was made, see patch notes for 1.03-1.05, 1.08. (2) Starcraft has far fewer "professions" or "skills" than GW. (3) In Starcraft, positioning and reaction speed and strategy play a big role, so it's harder to notice small imbalances in "skills". Don't expect games to ship out perfectly balanced. -- Alaris 15:52, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Hang in There

Hi Linsey, Thought I would send you message letting you know that I genuinely appreciate all the work you do in the Guild Wars Universe. The last couple of posts haven't been the easiest as I can tell, but you can't please everyone, even if the last content update or skill update was perfect in every way there would be someone who would personally feel like Arenanet screwed the game up for them. Keep your spirits up and thanks for keeping Guild Wars a game that is still enjoyable to play. Dero Ahmonati 17:08, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

Seconded. I still can't break my addiction... Rose Of Kali 18:12, 22 May 2009 (UTC)

I agree, the stuff you have been doing is awesome and personally, I don't know WHAT could possibly be added in the next giant content update. There are ideas that have floated around but next to a whole new explorable area, I have no clue. 0.o Good luck trying to think of something! I'm sure you guys have better ideas of what needs fixing than me because the only thing I can think of is actually adding Teller of Tales for Halloween, but that's not for about 5 months so you have plenty of time. ^^" Katherinezoltin 00:28, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

i could think of over 90000 things that they could improve that would make the game 9000 times better for one they could buff pets so people had a use for the new zoo. but yes good work thus far. -- Zesbeer 00:34, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Pets are useful, especially Rainbow Phoenixes. Have you ever tried to prot through four elephantine psychedelic birds with warriors spamming interrupts and disable on you? Thank God for the Zaishen Menagerie! :D Raine - talk 00:58, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

Though, in fairness, I do appreciate most everything else. It'd be awesome if every update didn't come with a new way to abuse something, though. Raine - talk 01:01, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

People still use prot?--118.90.54.65 19:14, 23 May 2009 (UTC)

The current playerbase is very good at finding and abusing exploits. There was a time when Ursanway was the only abuse, but nowadays, I see people Cryway/IanInverter/Sabway/RoJway-speedclearing through the gaem. And don't forget the fastfactionfarmvanquish either...*sigh*145.94.74.23 08:11, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Just giving credit where credit is due. All and all it was a good update. A few bugs here and there. It happens, nothing ever comes out bug free. Dero Ahmonati 18:49, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

This skill balance update was well... far from perfect. They just shown that the balance department doesn't play the game. LC nerf? lol the problem was that it was (cheap AND long lasting AND short recharge AND fast casting time). None of these problems were addressed. And the PnH nerf: That was required, however, it wasn't followed by the nerfs of many hexes (Parasitic Bond, Defile Defenses, Suffering), so there is nothing that is even remotely close to surviving a good hexway. Illusionary Weaponry: Just WTF?!? The problem is that you have a slightly less dps than a warrior, your enchantment is easily removable and you are screwed for 25 seconds. The real issues, recharge and weak effect weren't addressed. Foul Feast: The problem was that it broke inter-profession dynamics, not the recharge. Necros should have never got a draw. I don't think that I have to list the long list of fatal design issues waiting to be fixed for more than a year or got introduced right in this update (and the linked ones are just a few). Boro 19:11, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Maybe they will look into next month. Dero Ahmonati 22:17, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

They might. I reckon they might listen to balance suggestions once people stop telling them they suck at their jobs (amongst other things). 145.94.74.23 14:29, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Would you mind not spouting off in abbreviations and acronyms, Boro? Not all of us know what the shorthand you're talking about (LC? PnH? hexway? etc.) stands for, since, believe it or not, not every player currently playing is a 4 year vet. --Axwind 16:07, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Those who are not playing for a year rarely come to complain about skill balance. Also I'm sorry if using abbreviations offends anyone of you, but if you think you need some knowledge, use the search function. (LC was lingering curse, not lion's comfort) Boro 16:30, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

At least they have monthly skill balances. I'm just happy that somebody is looking at the skills on a regular basis. File:Dero's Sig.pngDero Ahmonati 18:18, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Not offensive, Boro, just confusing. Not everyone who views this page is an old vet, and you never know what topic may catch someone's interest. Links to said skills/builds if you use shorthand would be helpful for those who aren't familiar with the lingo. --Axwind 18:36, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

The point of having shorthands is that you don't have to write down all the letters... Sigh for the first use of shorthands I will try to not forget a link. Boro 18:45, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Just type the abbreviation or the acronym you need in the search bar (e.g. type PnH and it will display Peace and Harmony which was the skill Boro was referring to) - Reanimated X 18:49, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, but that doesn't always work, or even if it does, it sometimes brings up something totally unrelated. I tried looking up DSC lately that way (having no idea what it was), and I ended up having to ask more info because there was no link from DSC to "Drazath Speed Clear". From the context, it wasn't even clear whether he was talking about a skill (which I assumed incorrectly) or what... Shorthands are only good if everyone knows the shorthands, otherwise they fail. -- Alaris 19:39, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

At least, though, if you say "What's XYZ, I wiki'd it and got nothing," someone will probably go make a redirect or something. I think DSC has one now? :) --Star Weaver 17:32, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

GW2 news

I got exclusive content that show how Cantha has evolved in GW2 ! ( and dont forget to put some attribute pts in your weapon, if you see what i mean after watching this ) Yseron - 90.9.255.209 21:59, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

And the reason you posted this on Linsey's page is? -- Wyn 22:06, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Because it's an Awesome yet Cheezy/OvertheTop movie and Linsey is the only dev with a sense of humor? --ilr 22:23, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

:D such a fun movie --Ellisia 22:58, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

/bows to the master. That cheered up my otherwise crappy morning ^_^ 000.00.00.00 23:03, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Although a bit of a trolling, it was funny to watch and like Mr. 0 above me, cheered me up well. ^_^ -- Azazel The Assassin\talk 23:14, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

That's not Trolling. Posting This Part and comparing the last minute of it to GW's Crippling knockdown Palm'Assins would be Trolling... though only slightly exaggerated --ilr 19:47, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Interesting none the less. Dero Ahmonati 18:46, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Looks more like the effect of Mesmer hexes than low weapon attributes to me. :P Draxynnic 02:57, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

NPC Skins

Hi Linsey Once devolpment to an expansion or campaign is done is there a number of unused npc models and skins? Do you happen to use these model in future content? File:Dero's Sig.pngDero Ahmonati 18:28, 26 May 2009 (UTC)

Had a couple lore questions as well that I thought I would slip in. (Spoilers alert)Who takes over the Shing Jea Monastery and is Gull Hookbeak found in Jaya Bluffs the same that we seen in the Tengu Accords or is it his son? Thanks! Dero Ahmonati 17:24, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I'm quite sure that there are things that get made and then get scraped before release. The model of Nicholas Sandford was a leftover from the Bonus Mission Pack. Also see Category:Historical content and Category:Unimplemented content. — Poki#3 (talk) 00:58, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Actually, Nicholas' skin was made when the BMP was being made. I had Linsey clarify that to me in game when Nicholas was new, as I couldn't think of which BMP he was from. -- Azazel The Assassin\talk 01:30, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

Alright that being said, can anyone answer my question on those two points of lore? Dero Ahmonati 16:44, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Nicholas was not "left over". We had the model made at the same time as the BMP models but it was made specifically for The Traveler project. Professor Yakkington was also made at that time, though he was in a lot rougher shape. Susan Jessup made a lot of changes to him just prior to release, giving him those cute blue eyes and an almost albino color compared to other Dolyaks. There are rarely "left over" models that we choose to not use, but sometimes a model can get buried in the file server and we forget about it only to find it later on. At this point, most of those have already been used. We are a resourceful bunch hehe.

I don't have answers to your lore questions right now, but they should probably be separated out into their own section. Hmm... I wonder if there is a better place for Lore Questions... - Linsey talk 18:37, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

Hrrrmn, the old Goblins got turned into Grentches with the addition of hat... Ratmen? Or are they just TOO old and embarassing? :P Draxynnic 03:33, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for answering my questions Linsey. I really appreciate it! Dero Ahmonati 17:55, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Hi Linsey, I can post these lore questions on your page correct or should I be posting on a different page? Dero Ahmonati 19:02, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Nundu Bay + Elder Jonah + MM = Bad

I just played Nundu Bay and had several issues finishing it due to AI of the NPCs. The shore watchers would often run out and aggro the stationary mobs outside the starting area during the seige part and pull several mobs inside.

A worse and more common threat in the mission for me was Elder Jonah would always follow me out and heal the minions. This often lead to me failing because with 250+ dmg AoE from Ele and Derv margonites he would often get killed. More frequently he would stop following and during the final part when you kill the last Harbinger and mobs run in to take you out he would be in the way of one of them and die. I won't suggest how to fix the problem for fear of overzealous rule mongers, but rather make you aware it is a problem for some people. 58.110.63.86 19:23, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I never had that problem. Instead ding it the fast way, I kill all margonites in the mission just because I like killing them. But it's true. Against margonites minions are of great help, yet that guy, since some update, like the Kurzick Priests in Echovald, follows the party healing minions. It won't harm to add an stronger limitation on the distance he can follow, so he stais inside the walls or nightfalled Ronjok Village. MithTalk 19:27, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I did that quest yesterday, and yes, Jonah is still a problem with MM. And it's otherwise a good mission to bring MMs so I don't want to do without one. Until they fix it, there are few work-arounds: (1) kill off your minions before leaving the base, and make new ones away from his healing range, (2) have Jonah follow you, but keep an eye on him, and when the spawns appear, intercept them before they get to Jonah, or (3) have Jonah follow you away from the path where the spawns go, by for example doing the bonus and then moving back to the main target. Personally, I think if they made it so Jonah never left the base, it would be a better fix. -- Alaris 19:33, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

I always find a way to get Jonah back into the little town if he follows me, which even though I use a MM all the time, only happens like 1/10th of the time. If Jobah was made stationary excluding when AoE hits him, then that would be good if possible. But I don't see it as a huge problem, to be honest. Besides, it's like the Factions missions, get an extra healer but can't let him die. :D -- Azazel The Assassin\talk 19:46, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

In a perfect world a necro could be able to have a UI checkbox that say "dont heal my minions, whoever you are, you AI pricks". But from what i've heard any feature, from the moment it could be usefull, need at least one year to be coded... unless it fixes an exploit or involve some cash, because suddenly, they become concerned. Yseron - 90.14.100.77 20:38, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

IMO, Identifying and using an AI's quirks to your advantage also demonstrates some degree of "skill", just like any other mechanic in the game involving eye-hand coordination or strategy. In some Cases like Dzagoner Bastion, it's a matter of expecting the "good guy's" AI to fail and simply "beating the Clock" before it inevitably happens. In other cases you may even have to bring a Bonder along just to keep the Stupidest of AI's alive. --ilr 23:25, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

All that needs to be done is set the AI to "do not move" or set Jonah as a turret or something. --8765 23:43, 27 May 2009 (UTC)

Or fix the AI so that NPC healers don't train MMs to heal minions? It gets annoying in AB, too.

Also, I'm not sure, but do heroes spend energy healing/protting minions? I could see that being a problem, as well. Raine - talk 00:20, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

This same problem was abused in the Aurios Mines challenge mission. They fixed it by putting a leash on the healers. Someone just needs to put a leash on Jonah and everything should be fine. At least for this instance.--Pyron Sy 02:18, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

They do - if you watch your monks while you have a minion swarm, whenever you're not moving they're probably trying to keep the swarm's health topped off, and this can drain their energy down to almost nothing. It's generally not that big of a problem, though, because while the minions are "alive" the AI is that much less likely to go for a target that actually matters, and the AI healers do try to keep the minions healed in combat as well as out of it, so they last longer without putting as much pressure on the MM. Like the AI minion bomber, there are advantages to the AI monk that can prot the minion that is being focussed on. :P Draxynnic 02:34, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

I don't know about prots, but as far as I've observed, heroes won't waste energy healing minions outside of combat unless they are already at full energy themselves (or have something like Signet of Rejuvenation which is free). Vili 点 07:49, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

I've seen heroes using Infuse Health on minions. Needless to say, I ripped that skill out of my monk's skillbars since then. But I'm otherwise happy that the AI pitches in to make my minions more durable. -- Alaris 14:02, 28 May 2009 (UTC)

Dishonorable system issues

Each time I play JQ or FA these days, I keep getting the dishonorable hex over and over again even though I never do anything that could make me trigger it. Namely:

- I never report anyone (precisely so I don't get hexed myself)

- I don't leave

- I play the game as usual

- I do not see any "X has been reported for leeching" in the chatlog

Not only do I get hexed, but the hex somehow lasts very long (20-30 minutes perhaps). When asking around in town, I have had other people telling me the same story.

I have seen on the wiki talk page that people have come to the conclusion that not moving might trigger it. I do not know if it is the case but let us assume it is. If it is, when you play monk, you are often standing near the area you are guarding (it is especially true in JQ when you are guarding a shrine) and on the wiki talk page, people talked about how they were just standing still and spamming spells on NPCs. There are many other examples of not moving while you are still playing the game as you should have the right to without being banned from PvP. And even if not moving does trigger the hex, which is already not an optimal decision, I randomly get hexed even when I do not stand still more than usual during the fight.

Once again, I do not know if it is true but in any case, something is wrong and you may want to take a look (perhaps it is, after all, simply bugged). Thanks in advance. Ni Di 17:18, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

Could you email me through the wiki with your character name, and we will look into it. You should not be getting a long lasting dishonorable hex just because you were standing still... - Linsey talk 22:02, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

You should not be getting a long lasting dishonorable hex just because you were standing still Does this mean we will still get a short-medium duration dishonourable hex for standing still and spamming prots on the NPCs? Well, no matter, I don't even bother to JQ or FA because I would get the hex randomly when I am not leeching. Pika Fan 22:23, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

It's the same issue as reported here : [1] Pika Fan 22:25, 31 May 2009 (UTC)

I found it odd that there was no discussion of this change in the Developer Update... and no I'm not judging it one way or another, I'd just like to point out that any kind of "gotcha" system that gets implemented, is always going to be "figured out" by the Exploiters first, and the Innocent last. It's probably the #1 curse of being a "game balancer"; and the longer it remains undocumented, the more "normal people" it will begin to piss-off *shrug*. --ilr 01:20, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

Let's not jump to any hasty conclusions about what Linsey meant with her wording. :) I'm sure she can clarify. (Aiiane - talk - contribs) 07:30, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

What conclusions? I just got done saying I'm not judging it, and the reason is that there's NO INFO to even go off of... I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that it's not working the way they expected it to either...(read: Voodoo coding bugs) --ilr 23:18, 1 June 2009 (UTC)

I've had this happen to me in JQ, I even made a screen shot of the expanded chat window. I never sent it in because I thought they had changed the system to not show "x is declared a leecher". I somehow thought I must have peeved somebody. I'll try to dig up the screen shot for potential submission. — Mar Master 05:59, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

They also punish people who report leechers. Boro 06:23, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Balance Update?

There hasn't been a serious balance update in many months...any chance this month will bring something different? 67.237.224.87 01:48, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Ask Izzy, not Linsey. -- Azazel The Assassin\talk 01:49, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know right now. I'm meeting with Izzy tomorrow (hopefully) to discuss possible balance issues I have observed and when or if we will address them. - Linsey talk 02:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Make sure to mention hexway + hex stacking.~>Sins WDB 03:38, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

And please keep any changes to hexes to PvP, as that's where they are seemingly causing grief... Rose Of Kali 04:58, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

When she says "I have observed" she is either lying or she knows that hexgay and stuff is a problem.So there is actually no reason to start mentioning every problem now.(For the ones that rly believe I'm evil,Yes I do believe linsey is doing a good job) Lilondra *panda* 05:15, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I've heard Izzy is fat. Have you considered offering him food to do GW1 work? 99.151.134.146 05:18, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Lol... That was so bad it was actually funny.

I don't know if I'd go as far as saying that Linsey is doing a good job as far as skill balancing goes (not yet at least, so far she hasn't done much with that, but I love the April update), but she hasn't created any new problems, which is awesome in my books. Rose Of Kali 05:34, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm talking about the big picture Lilondra *panda* 05:55, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

@Lilondra: She knows. She pvps too ya know. ~Shard 06:28, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I never said she didn't Also this has pretty much become a discussion about her being good or not.May I move all but question to my talk page ? Lilondra *panda* 10:31, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

The big picture is too big to be easily balanced in one shot. The possible combinations of skills an attributes is too big, even if you reduce them to just builds with 3 different attribute lines active. MithTalk 10:35, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

It is easier to see if something went imba if they balance bit by bit. And because of the amount of skills in the game it is impossible to know every combination and test them in a month. If they balance, let's say 100 skills for this example, then when the build goes live there is the possibility that something goes imba alot higher then when they balance 10 skills. I rather have the team making progress slowly then making no progress at all. Qaletaqa 12:54, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

RoJ was clearly bugged from the moment it re-entered the game after the December update. So even if stuff is balanced bit by bit, it will still be possible for a skill to be blatantly bugged for over 6 months. --Arduinna 13:27, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

The skill RoJ isn't bugged. The AI for monsters, henchman and heroes is, it does not recognize RoJ as an AoE attack wich prevents the monsters, henchman and heroes to scatter if that is what you are referring to. So RoJ isn't a balancing problem. Also adjusting the AI ,most likely, takes alot more time then balancing, and I also think there is only one person working on the AI in the Live team, wich is probably Joe Kimmes, and he has alot more to do. Qaletaqa 18:00, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Also I just read the archives of Joe, and this might not be a bug. You can read about it here. Qaletaqa 18:11, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the link, my bad. --Arduinna 18:32, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Hero Battles MaT finale

In the latest finale both finalists (apparently) agreed to run a subpar build and not take the game seriously, which was further made clear when the player that was going to win ended up resigning. While a blatant case of match manipulation, it's also a form of protest to the way Anet has neglected the format, showing that if Anet won't take the format seriously the players won't either. The top players that remain all agree that the format is beyond broken now, to the point where its being rendered unplayable by balance issues, AI bugs and match manipulation issues that have been ruining the format for over two years now. I'd just like to know what Anet's reaction to all this is going to be (if any). --Draikin 19:55, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

So if I run a build anything other than meta I am accused of match fixing? Cool story bro. Pika Fan 19:59, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

There's a difference with not running meta and running 4 bars with 8 random skills, doing barely anything and obviously not trying, and then resigning when you're winning with a huge lead. Not that this needs to be pointed out though, I'm sure ArenaNet *has* to be aware considering this happens every single month...repeatedly... DarkNecrid 20:04, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

(ec)"Subpar" is not just something different from meta, especially when concerning finalists who intentionally bring a build that they know is not fit for the arena. Draikin didn't even mention the word meta. Don't troll or attempt to derail the topic into another catfight. Rose Of Kali 20:11, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Anything other than meta is subpar, unless you are buildwarsing. How do you know and prove that these finalists aren't simply trying to test a build? Or simply not playing on form? There's nothing stopping people from testing builds in mATs or playing badly for that matter, stop forcing others to fit your petty and narrow-minded ideals of what "good sportsmanship" is. It isn't just blatant conga lining. Pika Fan 21:30, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

I didn't post this to debate about whether or not it was match manipulation, because there's nothing to debate. Even if you don't know anything about the format, the player names and the fact that the winning player resigned make it obvious what happened. If deliberately throwing matches is your idea of "good sportsmanship" then please consider making a separate topic about it. --Draikin 22:05, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

like i said before hero badttles is pvp? thats a funny joke you have there.-- Zesbeer 22:15, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

LOL once again. And TBH I think if they removed hero battles no one would care except the 5 people that actually play it.Warherox 07:57, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't obs HB because I am not interested in it, but I had a chat with some people who do and while "the person who was winning" resigned, I hear they were only one point ahead and the other guy had all the shrines and as such, would have won as soon as the timer ticked over. I am also told that the builds were not a joke. Please remember effectiveness of builds in Hero Battles is quite difficult to judge, especially if you try to base it off effectiveness in other areas. I suspect this drama is arising from a lack of understanding on the part of observers rather than collusion. Misery 14:27, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Ok, double checked, builds were not a joke but red did resign when he would have won, lawl. Following the rules I guess, red resign! Misery 14:45, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Does it even matter ? HB is a joke.It goes so far that I'm actually annoyed by it cuz I have to scroll more if I want to observe 2 teams playing the same build yet diffrent then the past time I obsed again :) Lilondra *panda* 15:18, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

I hate to say this but it is well known by most players that HB is terribly broken as it stands currently. -- Salome 22:44, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

tl;dr. HB is bad.Warherox 22:55, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

in all truthfulness i would much rather have hb removed from the game and replaced with a sealed deck or just something else, i dont see how it could be fixed to where it would actually be a pvp arena-- Zesbeer 22:57, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Remove the player and make it 4v4 (all heroes). That would make it less of a joke. Raine - talk 23:18, 4 June 2009 (UTC)

Props to you, kind sir! --Seventh 01:08, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Sealed deck forcing unbroken manliness ftw Lilondra *panda* 05:32, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

They could replace it with PvP Polymock. Xelonir 06:19, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Or even Dwarven Brawling. <.< Mediggo 06:32, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Sealed deck would do :p Lilondra *panda* 10:21, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

As some of you know, "PvP Love" is high on the list for the next Content Update, and Hero Battles is one of the major action items on that list. We know about its issues and we want to assuage them, but as you guys have already figured out, the issues are major and deeply rooted in its base mechanics. I don't think that we can straight up remove it as a game type, but we might be able to smooth out the bigger bumps. It's pretty eerie that you bring up Sealed Deck, Izzy and I were just talking about it yesterday. Did you guys somehow manage to bug the Live Team room? - Linsey talk 18:46, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Running gale warrior every time I log on gw I became so manly God gave me the gift of predicting things (he also gave me a less squeeky voice on vent wich btw is fucking awesome).Anyway I rly hope you find the solution because as long as there is a need for things like red resigns there will change nothing Lilondra *panda* 20:00, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the update Linsey, it's good to hear that changes to HB are still being discussed, even if that doesn't necessarily mean those changes end up being implemented. I'm not against the idea of a sealed deck for the format seeing how it means you can easily deal with the skills that are broken with the format specifically (shadow steps for example). Actual changes to the mechanics in HB are difficult to implement and it's not easy to predict the end result, and frequent skill balances for the format combined with those for GvG aren't exactly realistic either so it's better to look for an easier solution. What's clear though is that any change at all is better than doing nothing, otherwise you might as well consider removing the format since it's really that bad at this point. --Draikin 20:20, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh god when i brought up sealed deck i was hoping for a sealed deck arena not sealed deck applied to hb that would be god awful and not what i want at all and to reply to linsey yes i am physic not really but i do remember reading on izzys wiki page that he wanted to put that into the game.-- Zesbeer 21:54, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

She definitely meant Sealed Deck for non-HB :P, I'm sure, Draikin just misunderstood I think. DarkNecrid 22:36, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually, it was sorta both... - Linsey talk 23:21, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

yea i dont think skills are the real issue with hero battles i think its the heroes ai.-- Zesbeer 23:26, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Cool :). Just so long as the 4v4 or 8v8 Sealed Deck experience is well done and solid and bug free (if it does come!!! *crosses fingers*) I won't mind, can't say I'm looking forward to a 1v1 with AI Sealed Deck much but who knows. Could be fun for a special tournament or something :P. DarkNecrid 23:39, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

The automated sealed deck they have now was coded for HB though. I will be surprised if they have the time to extend it to other formats considering that i asked izzy about it so long ago. --Zora 00:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

We are not bugging the live team. We just know how can you improve Guild Wars. Boro 04:48, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

That's exciting, the sealed deck format in GW. Wonder if it would be a choice between like 3 full builds per profession or maybe kinda like PvX with 1-2 optional skill slots.~>Sins WDB 06:15, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Huh? It's GW's Sealed Deck format but in-game, you create the bars after being given various randomly generated skills, so it's nothing like what you just said :P. DarkNecrid 06:26, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Applying it to GW seems like it ought to be a bit different than how it is done with cards though. Think about how many skills have no use. I dunno, I'd rather not discuss it under this header. No need to get way off topic, start a suggestion somewhere if you like.~>Sins WDB 06:34, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Well there's not much to discuss so I'll just say it's been done in various RL tournaments already over the past few years and you can find the rules on their website. It works, and it's very very fun. DarkNecrid 06:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Sealed deck, while very welcome, I think would only work well if every player was given the same deck to make builds from, and the deck was re-shuffled every day or so. I'd be afraid that, if every player had their own random deck, they would either quit if given a 'low-quality' one, or depend on a second account to receive a new one, and that winning would be very much reliant on luck. Maybe the deck would be re-shuffled right before every fourth tourney, and you see builds progress out of the deck as the day progresses. Also, a few skills would have to always be available, like Orison of Healing, and all class-specific self heals (Healing Signet, Shadow Refuge, Ether Feast, etc). Also, a few key skills that other skills depend on, like one binding ritual, one item spell, Charm Animal, maybe the attunements for Eles, maybe Vow of Piety and Anthem of Flame. You'd not want to segregate the PvP base more, and HB in it's current form won't exist, so I'm pretty sure not many people will be heartbroken if the gametype was flatly replaced with Sealed-deck only Hero Battles, with well-deserved tweaks to some of the mechanics (slower morale, less solo-capping clout). That's my take on it. Looking forward to the end result..--Skye Marin 07:44, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Sealed Deck gives every team the same deck and is shuffled every match :p. The only skills that are given to everyone no matter the deck is Rez Sig, Charm Animal if you have a Pet Attack, and some crappy Assassin Attack skills if you have an Assassin Attack Skill, that's it. This is assuming of course that the Sealed Deck a) does come, and b) follows the already set rules to the letter. DarkNecrid 08:49, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

i was thinking a format where the skills for sealed deck are split like pvp and pve and every class has a center number of skills (allowing for skill borrowing ie making some skills that are normally war into para and so on.) and that small skill set would change every month.-- Zesbeer 08:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

There's no way shuffling the skills daily could work in my opinion, at the very least it would have to be a week. You have to give the format some time to develop a metagame, I'd actually even prefer it to be a monthly reshuffle with a relative large skill pool so that it ends with an MaT. Tweaking the mechanics might not be needed given the fact that there's not that many hero splitters available, so splitting as a tactic would get a nerf simply because heroes no longer have the defensive capabilities to survive long enough for split tactics to work. --Draikin 11:32, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

You could always just take away their cape trims for a month-- Oh wait...

There are many viable ways to add sealed deck to GW. I'm only surprised they haven't done it yet. ~Shard 00:11, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

I haven't read all the posts, but all I can say is please please PLEASE do not replace Hero Battles with a sealed-deck hero battles. I find most of my fun in matches comes from either facing people who use original and interesting builds or spending my time thinking of an interesteing and unorthodox build that will work well. I'm fine with implementing sealed deck (4v4 or 8v8, or whatever) but do not replace the current hero battles, just fix it :)EDIT: Also, sealed deck play would also limit people from the chance of continued play of that build that they like and getting better at it. A large part of why I like to play hero battles is because my victory is solely dependent on my skill/ability and my actions against my enemy. I like making my own team build and ect. I would love to play a sealed deck format but please just fix the current HB, don't replace it.Underated Skill 14:57, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

sorry to burst your bubble but any victory you get from hb isnt from your skill its from your heroes ability to use skills. body block and cap. if they wanted hb to be more skill based they would take the focus off of capping and put it on killing things, as it is right now i can go in there and be able to completly wipe someones team and lose because they kityed there way to victory via capping.-- Zesbeer 22:56, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Don't you know Zesbeer, HB is tactical and micro.Warherox 00:15, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

There's no way i want to see sealed deck for regular play for HB. I would rather see a change to the mechanics of the game where shrine capping was removed altogether. Some of the best 1v1 play i have ever had in GWs were 4v4 with 3 heros or or 8v8 with 3 heros and 4 hench in our guild hall. Our alliance ran a competition that we ran 1v1 comps with H/H in our guild halls. This was far more balanced than the regular HB matches that GWs hosts. It involves flag running, splitting, ganking, NPC killing etc etc. I would rather see more of an element of this in Hero battles or the maps being removed altogether and HB matches hosted on the guildhalls the person belongs to with monthly rotations. This allows for a format where the current meta is already balanced around GvG and also allows splitting and full 8v8 or 4v4 and a wider variety of builds being available and depending on the map, employing certain strategies and in general more skilful and tactical play. Either this, or have an element of flag running / NPC killing and guild lord type ganking on the current maps. In any case, a lot of the degenerative solo capping shadowstep play would die as NPC's need to be killed, guildlords need to die and flags need to be run. If you neglect the flag and choose to try and outright 8v8 this is also fine, but DP's and rezzing back in the base keep the game going which ultimately place flag running high on the list as well as a good knowledge of tactics on certain guild halls and a home advantage during normal play. Trinity Fire Angel 04:51, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

So GvG with heroes?Got it.Warherox 05:26, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

@trinity fire angel if i wanted to gvg with heros i would.-- Zesbeer 22:05, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Linsey, how likely is it that we'll see this sealed deck change for HB or a similar rework? So far all of the planned HB changes ended up being canceled, and the metagame right now has degenerated to the point where the format is pretty much unplayable. There's no point in playing games where the match is decided before the battle even starts. Even a skill balance with a few specific nerfs for HB would help momentarily. --Draikin 23:57, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

i didnt think the meta game ever changed for hb i have felt it has been about the same scene it started.-- Zesbeer 00:14, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

I keep dreaming of Sealed Play ingame since I've heard a dev mention it in an interview in one of first months of 2006. But please, don't connect it with Hero Battles - I want real PvP action with no relevant AI. It could make a fantastic format, with every match or tournament completely unique, with a new level of replayability not seen before in GW. It's a great opportunity for something truly awesome... if it's not HB#2.--83.26.20.199 15:36, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I have been reading this section and it reminded me on an idea I was thinking of not that long ago. Why not implement the Costume Brawl that occurs every halloween? I found it to be quite enjoyable, has a good size of people (6v6), fixed skills and attributes, and is similar in hero battles in many ways. The system is pretty much already set up (maps and automated system are, some skills may need to be adjusted for this year) and from what I understand would be very easy to add to the game. It is my belief that this would be a fairly popular addition because if you added a mode where you could pick 3 - 5 other people for your team it would encourage guilds that want to do higher-end pvp than just TA, but have not been good enough to make it into any serious HA/GvG; sort of an area to improve your communication skills/team work before trying other forms of pvp. What are other peoples thoughts? - I Hacked The Matrix 75.134.125.103 04:52, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

It's indeed similar to Hero Battles and in fact it's just as broken, that would soon become obvious if they let non-random groups enter it. --Draikin 12:10, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

So?

How can i purchase from the store using SMS? - Wuhy 13:57, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Pay by phone is only offered in the UK and Germany. IVR payment is available in both countries and SMS payment is only offered in the UK. http://eu.guildwars.com/support/article/surfpin/ --Dunyas 15:56, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

ty. also, darn. - Wuhy 16:23, 6 June 2009 (UTC)

Is this ready for archival, considering another user seems to have answered it well enough? — Jon Lupen 19:01, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Quest Builder

Not sure why this was in Lin's journal, but it appears all the qualifications center on hardcore experience and no mention at all of needing blah blah blah-Years of industry experience and shipped titles... Is this new? Are there going to be more jobs available at Anet in the future that don't exclude "new blood" on that silly Catch22 premise that the only people suited to work in the industry are those who already have a job in the industry? If so, Kudos. Many of the best levels and Scenarios I've played all came from independent authors and it would be great if we could get an injection of new content from that kind of talent. --ilr 00:24, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

This type of things tends to depend on the job (a programmer for a very killer app title will definitely have these reqs.) and doesn't just apply to the gaming industry but many businesses have similar requirements. It isn't because they think only those people can do it though, but it's because they know those people can get in and generally do the job with minimal need for help and do it well pretty much guaranteed. It's just a safer and quicker bet. For a Game Designer job it's probably better to leave it more open, because it does give you an opportunity to find a game designer who is more creative and fun about their choices and aren't afraid to break new ground. That said, the Game Designer position is one of the most competitive positions there are for any game company and hardly anyone who wants it ever gets it, and it's guaranteed that some of the people applying are going to have those X years in the industry and so on to help secure their chances. :P DarkNecrid 00:42, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

You have to start from the very bottom, by making free games in open projects, for example. MithTalk 02:01, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

...but that's the thing, It's one of those positions that's almost never open to a "gamble". It's almost like seeing a senior Programmer or art Director position open to anyone as low as GED grads. And of course we know the competition for it should be a lot fiercer than most positions but the way this one's written ...it looks like they're specifically trying to pull someone out of our own community and that seems like a promising prospect that deserves discussion --ilr 03:03, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

While companies do grab people out of their own community (relevant to GW example: Regina), I don't think it was written in a way to imply that's only what they're looking for. For a online game that's out, most (if not all) will require you to have played and liked the game, and really game design positions are almost always openy, this partly lends to their competitive nature. For example, Blizzard's Game Designer position for WoW is very similar to the one Linsey posted, with having experience as being a Game Designer already being a "plus" but not the requirement. DarkNecrid 03:35, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Sometimes it's Not a plus though, just look at Bill Roper (or most anyone from SoE). I hope there's Banishment Seals on all of Anet's doors to keep that bugger far away once Champions inevitably Fails. But back to the point, this job almost explicitly lists knowledge of all the game's quests or style of quest making. Hopefully that means whoever fills the job will go back and fix some of the goofed up ones --ilr 21:20, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

It's a "plus" for helping your chances to get the job is all. The things you also just mentioned are things that are expected of you anyways (that's part of why they want you to have a passion for the game). It's highly unlikely they are hiring a Game Designer to change old quests, instead they are probably hiring a new one so Linsey has a new person to bounce ideas off of and improve the game as a whole since they do a lot more than just Quests. There's really nothing out of the ordinary for what they are asking for compared to the standard at all, honestly. DarkNecrid 21:32, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

That's right, ilr, a college degree or experience in game design are not required for this job. Before I continue let me say that I encourage everyone to go to college, stay in school and have a contingency plan in case your career of choice doesn't work out. I was a fine arts major in college, hardly applicable to my job now (though I did put it to use designing the UI for the Stylist), and I dropped out of school to move to the Seattle area in hopes of getting into the game industry. I had no real plan other than wanting to get a job at Wizard of the Coast as a customer service rep and no job lined up out here when I left which makes the whole thing pretty dumb on my part, but lucky for me it worked out. I do NOT recommend this approach. I spent the first 9 months here unemployed, playing GW all day long and repeatedly getting turned down by WotC. I was lucky enough to meet the GW design team and get into the Alpha Program (from all that playing while unemployed) and this is what led me to my job at ArenaNet. I can't even put into words how nervous I was interviewing for this job. As a fan, as a completely under qualified applicant and as someone expecting to get an entry level job in the industry and have to work my way up into design; I was petrified. Yay for me, I aced the design test and they decided to take a chance on me. So as you can see, it is possible to get into this kind of position in unconventional ways. When people ask me what the career path for getting into game design is, it's really hard for me to answer because there are infinite paths you could take which lead to game design and they do not all start with college. It's different for programmers and even artists because there are special languages and tools that a company could need you to be trained in for you to get a job and you get that kind of training in school. Game Design does not always have these kinds of needs. For the Live Team design position, I am much more interested in how much an applicant has played GW, their design sense, or their ability to write and communicate than what kind of schooling they have. - Linsey talk 01:06, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

(For the records, I still haven't forgotten about that "This character literally got me my job" note on one of your character's profile : D) If not for the "Experience using game level and world building tools" and "Experience with scripting languages" requirements, I would consider applying for the job. It's nice to see such open minded mentality. Erasculio 01:18, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Hehe, I'll tell you that story one day, I promise! For the record, I had neither of those things when I applied. If you really want it, don't let something like that hold you back. - Linsey talk 01:38, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

That was quite excellent to read! :) It's great to see how people wind up in these types of jobs. DarkNecrid 02:10, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I like to think that it's a pretty good story heh. Oh yeah, I remembered something, Erasculio, when I saw those very same things on the job listing as I was applying for my job, I panicked. I'd played SimCity, SimAnt, SimOtherStuffThatInvolvesWorldBuilding, and Sid Meyer's Civ games, stuff like that but I didn't even know what "scripting" meant. And then, of course, they asked me about it in the (second, post-initial screening by HR guy) phone interview with the designers and I had to say "no I haven't worked with anything like that". So after that, having landed an in-house interview, I looked up what "scripting" is (it is a simple programming language, usually custom made by the company) and downloaded a macro program. Started fiddling around with macros on a pre-Sear warrior (for educational purposes, I made no gold having deleted the char after I was done testing it out). That way when I went to the in-house interview, I was able to tell them about my adventures trying to get my pre-Sear warrior to run outside of town, go on a scale killing rampage, and not forgetting to pick up every drop. I've just been trying to say that people can over come not meeting all the requirements listed in a job posting, if you are good enough, they will over look quite a bit. - Linsey talk 03:21, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Yes that's quite the anecdote. I'd call it a bit of a Moon Shot infact but Thank you for all the details. I hope it serves to deliver Anet the best talent out there should they happen to read this. --ilr 03:38, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

(resets indent for first time evers!) Thank you Linsey, I have edited my resume (that was already pre designed for you guys, but more towards a programming job), and will talk to my family who I am living with straight away about going ahead and sending it. I would love to get in now as opposed to getting a crapload of student loans, but it will still take a bit of explaining as to why I might skip finishing my Associate's, frusterate my orthodontist and go on the other side of the country. >.> So the resume isn't in the pile just yet, but if the Gods will it, it will be. Katherinezoltin 07:13, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Here's another question: When something like this gets advertised is there much response from the international community, or is it all just people from the US? I'm wondering how much interest people from other countries express towards making a big move, signal a desire to apply for work visas etc. to get into something like this. -- WarBlade 07:38, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to note that the only things holding me back are the possibility of an agegate (you must be +18 to apply), the time/distance issues (I'm living on the opposite side of Earth). Other than that I feel I am qualified. Boro 07:45, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Lol I write quests for my game I'm trying to live off. I think I'd win too. But that is not the point. Linsey - my friend's currently all fuggled because he's got to pay about $68,000 for 4 years of college to learn to become a "game designer". (many classes involved) He wants to end up being a coder/programming. It seems (though you suggest it, as I would) that you don't need college, which honestly surprises me about the industry because I've heard games are the hardest to code, and MMOs... well anyway, so it is required? Or could he just get really proficient at C++, whatever else he needs, and say "Hey, I'm here!"? Vael Victus 13:45, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Game design tools are more and more user-friendly, as an effort to make it more efficient to create content. However, someone who's comfortable with programming & interfaces in general will fare better and learn faster. Also, understanding programming can help you understand what the game can and cannot do, and what might break it, or how to make it do cool things not originally intended. Finally, when they say that they don't require this or that, well it basically means that they'd rather pick from a broader pool. You never know where a really good designer will come from, because of the creativity needed for the job. -- Alaris 14:01, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Linsey, what where you doing logged in as John Hargrove? o.O — Jon Lupen 14:21, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

THE PLOT THICKENS Vael Victus 16:52, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Perhaps I should sent an updated version of my CV... not that much happened since the last time I sent one in. -- Alaris 17:02, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Going to college for game design can open a lot of doors and I do recommend going to college if you want to get into the game industry in general, I'm just saying it is possible to get in without a degree or a relevant degree. For programming, you are almost certainly going to need an education in the field to get a job. Game design can be different though. However, getting into the game industry can be VERY difficult. A lot of people are wanting to do that now, so it's really competitive. Me getting this job was basically like winning the lottery. People do get in through unconventional methods like I did, but very few manage to pull it off and it doesn't happen often. I know a bunch of other people who basically tried to do the same thing I did and have spent years beating their head against a wall. The game industry is very similar to the film industry when it was first getting going. These are all competitive fields to go into and there are a lot of people who might spend most of their lives trying to "make it" in the industry only to never reach that goal. That's why I said to always have a contingency plan.

Unfortunately, we can't accept anyone not from the US. Getting work visas can be difficult these days, and I've heard that there is a finite number of them given out each year. It causes a lot of complications and we've already brought a lot of people over from Europe this year so I don't think that we would consider trying to pull someone from another country for this position.

I happened to be hanging out with Hargrove and I checked my wiki from his laptop, where he has it set to auto-login. - Linsey talk 18:01, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Shame about the visas... I guess there's no point then revising my CV. Thanks for the info. -- Alaris 18:59, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I know I've already posted this somewhere else, but just to give an idea: the number of alotted work visas for 2009 was exhausted in the third week of January. They go fast, and there's about a 2 year waitlist of applications. In short: forget it as long as the current system stands. That was I believe the only reason I didn't get a job with Schlumberger - one of the best oilfield service companies in the world, as my field interview I think went very well, especially compared to my "competition." *sigh* Rose Of Kali 19:30, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Other than that If any of you wish to experience working on a game I can suggest connecting shard. He is working on an RPG game and he already replicated guild wars skill system. The game's name is crusade. Boro 19:49, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

As someone who's always had Terrible luck, or "Negative probabilities" in pretty much everything he does, I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll never be on any Design board nomatter how much I wish I was. So I've been pursuing 3D design/optimization instead since that's generally the biggest bottleneck in any game's production and as a result there will always be "work" for Pixel Monkeys. Especially with all the Video-Card pimping and "Form over Function" obsession with Aesthetics in this industry. Infact I'm convinced most Investors and "Marketing Geniuses" couldn't tell a Bad Design from a hole in the ground but they'll instantly recognize a game that "looks pretty". And probably the biggest secret along these lines is that you don't actually need authentic "Artistic Inspiration", Artistic Talent can be faked with enough practice. So if you don't like your chances, do what I'm doing instead :p --ilr 21:45, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

I applied even though I don't have much (recent, does building levels for DOOM and Duke3D count?) design experience, in the hopes that I can prove myself to the HR folks at Anet during the interview process. I want this position as badly as I've ever wanted anything in my life... I've taken to writing GW quests complete with notes on how to make things work with the current engine just to let out some of my creative frustration. And the only reason I'm risking posting this here is that my wiki account has no info in common with my application info. Linsey, I hope you get to see all the applications received, and that there aren't a ton being thrown out by HR before you get a chance to look at 'em :) -- MrSmiles 22:14, 10 June 2009 (UTC)

Hey, Linsey, I was just wondering, does Anet or NCSoft provide relocation assistance? I know some companies (such as Bioware) do that since applicants pop up from all over the country. --Axwind 11:55, 11 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm not sure, Axwind. My guess would be yes. - Linsey talk 21:29, 13 June 2009 (UTC)

Okay, thanks! --Axwind 03:15, 14 June 2009 (UTC)

I just got the sad email from Sonia today saying they have better candidates, but I am okay with it. Its all about getting your foot in the door, even if you crush it in the process. ^^" Katherinezoltin 02:36, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry, if this has already been covered (It's quite a wall of text that, tbh, I haven't got time to sift through), but there's a lot of text from Linsey here that could go to the unanswered question on her FAQ.. --Alex Eternal 11:08, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

This seems like a relevant place to ask: how would you recommend approaching that whole networking thing, Linsey? You mentioned that you were lucky enough to meet the GW design team, would you mind mentioning how that came about? I'm a game artist with some motley experience under my belt who has been a diehard Guild Wars fan for a rather long time, and would love to work with you folks some day, but my major hurdle is that I don't live in the Seattle/Bellevue area (and I actually have a job at the moment, so rushing off half-cocked seems like a bad idea). The usual route of haunting IGDA meetings doesn't work so well when you're half a country away. Is there anything else you could suggest outside of becoming a spooky online stalker?Jenosavel 02:27, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

If you happen to find the time

I got some questions/my opinion here. I know your busy but if its possible in some way pls answer them.Lilondra *panda* 15:18, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

Why are you linking her balance questions when she doesn't do balance? DarkNecrid 19:21, 7 June 2009 (UTC)

They are questions to anet in general.If it were just about the balance I wouldnt post is as izzy is inactive Lilondra *panda* 14:29, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

Nonetheless, the question has to do with balance. You only cited skill changes, which are not within linsey's realm of control. Your main point has to do with the playing skill vs. hours played/powerful skills thing. But that's tied to skill updates and BALANCE. irrelevant to linsey if you ask me. The only place on this wiki I would dub this with any relevance would be izzys page. if even. Underated Skill 19:00, 8 June 2009 (UTC)

I think you missed the point where it was only the conclusion I linked to.These are questions to anet in general.As there is a team behind izzy and afaik linsey sometimes helps with balance.I could be wrong though just from what I've heard.Lilondra *panda* 05:48, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

I know you linked to the conclusion, yet the questions asked there are: "Why did you nerf blackout and gale...", "Why do you keep buffing raw power ?" (that's what I meant by balance questions)...I guess the other questions could be passable but they're still slightly related to the balance really, and Linsey doesn't do balance, it's Izzy + his team atm. She said she wants to help do the balance in the future, but so far it's just those guys. :p DarkNecrid 05:54, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

But linsey is responsible for changes anything in GW1. Boro 06:21, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

At best she says "No we can't do this massive functionality change it would take too much time" for the massive Elite skill updates (and if anything, that's something the programmer would gauge, and not happen much), otherwise she doesn't do balance and wouldn't have any input on that. She probably forwards some concerns or asks questions, but she is more responsible for game features, quests, character placement, etc etc etc, not balance. She has stressed this before, multiple times. DarkNecrid 07:01, 9 June 2009 (UTC)

Possible References...?

From the quest "Be Very, Very Quiet..." When the Charr meets the Grawl these lines are used... any *ahem* references? Torch Harrowkeeper: GREETINGS. GRAWL. WE. BRING. WORD. FROM. THE. HIEROPHANT...savvy? Grawl Dark Priest: *oot!* Curious, thanks.(75.0.186.25 12:26, 14 June 2009 (UTC))

Zaishen Stuff repeating?

Can I ask why the Zaishen bounties are repeating? There are so many more bosses in the game, is this just a mistake or is there only like a month or two cycle programmed? Just a matter of interest. 000.00.00.00 21:38, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

See User talk:Linsey Murdock/bugs2#was this supposed to happen?. They accidentally reset the cycle - it'll still get to everything eventually. ¬ Wizårdbõÿ777(talk) 21:43, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Is this ready for archival, considering another user seems to have answered it well enough? — Jon Lupen 19:01, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

The Ritualist

Maybe this is just me but the ritualist class feels and acts severely gimped in the recent days of Guild Wars. It has been proved that the turret style of a ritualist simply does not function well in a competitive game like Guild Wars because of their sluggish and passive behaviour. The 10% of spells that actually made them shine (ie Weapon of Warding, Ancestors Rage, Splinter Weapon) have been unfortunately nerfed into oblivion along with their only unique niche, spirits. Playing the ritualist class ever since Factions was released has led me to believe that ritualists are only useful for utility and therefore do not provide any specific niches to the group (unlike Warriors which have knockdowns, monks who can heal, mesmers who shutdown...). With that in mind, their primary attribute is of no particular use to them as spirits are hardly useable anymore and it offers little energy management to assist in that niche. There have been fewer and fewer ritualist primaries due to the fact that other classes (such as Necros and Eles) can fulfill the role of the primary ritualist more efficiently. Is there anything going to be done to overhaul the class in general and rework the spells of the ritualist so that they fulfill a specific niche in a competitive environment? I have posted an in depth list of skill balances which attempts to solve the problem and it could be used for some general ideas. While I understand that I am no professional skill balancer, I hope that your team will not be distracted by numbers and will rather take the idea BEHIND the spells. I apologize in advance if I wrote the message to the wrong person but I felt that you would most likely give me a response. Thanks Linsey :)--Lancy1214 02:21, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

How did you reach the conclusion that their primary attribute offers no energy management? -- WarBlade 03:11, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Most of the primary attributes return energy in some way or reduce energy costs (expertise, soul reaping, energy storage, mysticism, leadership, critical strikes) and there are little useful skills that would (Energetic was lee sa, Attuned, Spirit Channeling). The primary attributes of the other classes helps to eliminate some of the problems associated with their niche (ie, costly ranger skills, necros using costly hexes, eles needing a higher energy pool to use 15 and 25 spells...) while spawning power does little in this endeavor. Hopefully, that's not all you got from that though...that was only part of the problem.--Lancy1214 03:32, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm starting to get annoyed with all the "Ritualists need fixing" topics just like people are with Boro's constant attempt to change everything to needing to fix GW's balance. It is a known point and bringing it up countless times will not help much. I'm sure Linsey has said that she has the need to fix the Ritualists sticky noted. Hopefully the class will be put more on par with the rest in their own uniqueness. But by no means are they unusable. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 03:49, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Oh I didn't realize there was another post above. If you would give me a link to where she said that they needed to fix ritualists, that would be splendid. Also, a good portion of their skills are only useful when there is a spirit within earshot which are a) destroyed within the first 10 seconds of their plantation, b) interrupted (cancel casting doesn't work here because they cost so much energy) or c) the battle is moved elsewhere while u have to wait for a recharge to became as effective again. --Lancy1214 03:59, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

We shouldn't need to give you a link. You should be reading the rules about posting on this page first before reposting a previously answered topic. King Neoterikos 04:03, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

It was more of a request than a demand, really. 99.151.139.100 04:08, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

This has actually been brought up Twice before. Lin already answered the first one. --ilr 04:17, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't normally track down links for people, but this one was easy since it has not yet been archived and you only need to scroll up to find it. Here's at least one of the previous discussions about ritualists. Not sure where the other one is that Ilr mentioned, but I admit I did not look very hard. I'm too lazy to click. (Satanael 05:20, 18 June 2009 (UTC))

--"I'll just keep in mind that spawning power might like to get looked at"--Linsey. ...Under Skill Balance1 in archives, I found it in less than 2 minutes, YW --ilr 05:52, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually the time it needs for the live team to fix clearly broken or badly designed things is at least 3 months (incl single skills). (don't agree Linsey? then proove otherwise) --Boro 05:57, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

That has nothing to do with anything, Boro. Quit trolling before Wyn brings down the thunder. King Neoterikos 06:00, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Posting Rule #2: At least check my FAQ if not my archives before posting a question to make sure I have not already answered it. King Neoterikos 05:58, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

GOGO LANCY, I'M WITH YOU! - Wuhy 06:38, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Guess i need a break. Boro 07:30, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) User_talk:Linsey_Murdock/Skill_balance1#Spawning_power_lovein
User_talk:Linsey_Murdock#Is_there_any_chance_of_taking_a_look_at_the_ritualist_profession_soon?
It's so nice to see some people are starting to get it. -- Wyn 07:30, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

How come the inscription stone in sparkfly swamp is level 0?

just wondering --adrin 09:00, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

On that note, how come the Lost Boy is level 20 in HM? O_O He's still just a little boy who somehow gained 18 levels... (or is it Shiro infiltrating? *dun dun duuunnn!!!*) Rose Of Kali 09:13, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

I believe that most (if not all) objects that you can interact with are a form of NPC, not an object/activator like in other games. This means that when you change from NM to HM they get the boost to their level etc. Example: the Fissure in the Plains of Jarin is Level 1 in NM but Level 20 in HM. Well, that's why I think they're NPCs rather than an activator. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 09:25, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

To answer the initial question: because it hasn't killed anything yet. Xelonir 12:22, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

No, not all the ones you can interact with, but the ones you can talk with. If it triggers something, it can be yellow. If it opens a panel (including dialog panels) it will be green. I believe that's why Xunlai Chests are green. But yeah, Why level 0? To keep the size? That's why Xunlai Chests are level 24? To make them way bigger than other chests of the same model? The Lost Boy has level 20 in HM because all neutral NPCs (lime names) have level 20 in HM. What I'd like to know is the 'race' of all those inanimate creatures. The Solitary Colossus is considered a monolith, but are all inanimate constructs of the same race? (Like Ether Seals or Xunlai Chests) MithTalk 13:56, 18 June 2009 (UTC)

Update.

Latest upgrade was good, Ritualists and Paragons got some major love, AI got some updates wich was needed. I love it. Now gonna play more with my Paragon and will finally start playing with my Ritualist :).

One hickup tho, none of my accounts got the tournaments reward points, and I noticed that many people didn't get them yet. Even tho that the update now says that the "Xunlai Tournament Agents now offer prizes for the May tournament", any particular reason why? or is it a bug? will we still get them? Qaletaqa Hania 03:04, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Same here, got nothing on my 2 accounts... :( Logged and re-logged a few times, still nothing. Rose Of Kali 03:32, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

It seems like it's fixed now, I now get a countdown of 9 minutes so yeah we'll see if it got "fixed" in second update of today :). I'll report back later (in aprox. 10-15 minutes) when I checked all my accounts. Qaletaqa Hania 04:34, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

It's still a no, didn't get points on any of my accounts. Qaletaqa Hania 04:42, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Great update overall! Well, apart from the bugs, but I'm sure they'll be dealt with soon enough. Anyway, it should be nice to see Ritualists and Paragons able to come out more, although I must admit I'm a bit worried about the Mesmer in PvE - VoR and CoP were really the only skills that non-player Mesmers agreed made Mesmers effective, and this could end up with Mesmers being used as PvE-skillspammers (even more) or rejected entirely. Might not happen, but it is something that I hope you guys will keep an eye on. :P Draxynnic 07:55, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Thx for the update, tell Izzy too.~>Sins WDB 07:58, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Well I guess I'm the only one to be disapointed by this update, especially by Ritualist changes in PvE. I thought that PvE/PvP split should be very slight changes...here we have a huge gap between both playstyle. I think this update corrected the wrong problem. For three years (and especially since summon spirit) I've always been able to play spirit in PvE just by careful placement of spirits...But maybe I'm getting to old with always thinking it was better before ^^.Cornflakeboy 10:39, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

The update was much needed to help PvE ritualists and paragons as they were under represented in those areas. While the changes were amazing, I'm going to have to agree with Cornflakeboy. The whole point of PvE and PvP skill splits was to change the way some of the skills work, not how the actual class plays out. In addition, ritualists needed as much help as they did in PvE as they do in PvP. While I appreciate the fact that the team has actually acknowledged the fact that there is a problem with ritualists in PvE, much of those concerns are carried out into PvP as well which has limited their participation in competitive play as well. However, I am hopeful that you guys will think of something :)--Lancy1214 17:59, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I think it's fitting since team play differs so much tween PvP and PvE. I'll add to the kudos on the update.. VoR, RoJ, CoP, Rits, Paragons... all good and needed changes. My only gripe is that SF & 600/Smite should have been a higher priority nerf than some of these. CoP & VoR were overpowered but they couldn't god-mode the supposedly hardest areas of the game.151.209.112.137 12:28, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

CoP yes - the target nerf is one that leaves it useful for a simple Mesmer but not overpowered in groups, and I think the nerf does that. VoR... ehhh. I don't know about PvP, but in PvE, apart from the fact that it puts little purple triangles on multiple targets that can trigger things like CoP, Spiteful Spirit was probably still generally better (triggers on normal attacks, has a shorter recharge than duration instead of the other way around). Now, though, with the majority of offensive Mesmer skills being either mesmer hexes or skills that deny actions (and thus potentially prevents VoR from triggering) we essentially have an elite skill that behaves antisynergistically with the rest of the profession. In its current form I might actually expect to see it pop up on secondary Mesmers, except that the likely candidates probably have better things to do with their elite slot. Draxynnic 07:04, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Nice job. Paragons were totally underpowered , but godmode is A-Ok! (hint: sarcasm). 187.37.69.32 14:04, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Some increase in range (like they did with Fragility) and some help to regain energy faster for Mesmers should do the trick the needs for mesmers in PvE. I had trouble findind decent builds for paragons other than the typical imbagon ones, and playing as a ritualsit was a bit too slow. Now all of that was fixed. I can't wait to try it all out. MithTalk 14:20, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Nice job! I didn't expect such a change to my Ritualist... but I won't say no to it! By reducing casting time, you've mainly made it possible to (1) be useful in a fight that keeps on the move, and (2) make it easier to spread your spirits. The spirit spam remains limited by casting costs and recharge times, so I wouldn't say that the playstyle change is drastic... It's just a lot better adapted to PvE. It's also gonna be easier as a healer to pop a spirit without losing 3s of possible heal reflexes. -- Alaris 14:49, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I made a few comments about the skill update on my userpage, not that they matter or anyone cares. Zen` 15:19, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Uhh, not to sidetrack this, but what proof do we actually have (other than the slight tweak to weapon duration in Spawning power) that this was Linsey's "deal" any way? IoW: it sure is Windmill Tilty in here... --ilr 18:25, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I talked to linsey in-game right after the update and she said she and izzy tag-teamed this one. ¬ Wizårdbõÿ777(talk) 18:48, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Personally I don't have any proof that the skill updates are Linsey's work, and tbh I didn't ask for this to become a "skill" section, but people are free to do so because it's a topic about the update :).

I started of by saying something nice, because it gets people their attention and shows that you are friendly, it also gets most people to read the whole thing, wanted to be sure that Linsey knew what was happening with the XTH points by mentioning it on her page because she is leading the Guild Wars Live Team if i'm correct. So if she gets the news the whole live team most likely gets it. Qaletaqa Hania 18:51, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

This time, I was heavily involved in the skill balance changes. We are abundantly aware of the issues with the Xunlai Tournament House. Trust me. - Linsey talk 19:06, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Ahh, so you were just being coy last month when ya told us you were only dabbling in it. Well Plz keep it up if you find time. This really does feel like a promising new direction. --ilr 19:28, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

No, I really was only dabbling until now. I basically dropped everything I was doing last week so that I could take on this update, worked all weekend on it, spent til 2am writing the Dev Update on Monday and have worked on balancing and bug fixing every day this week. It makes me super freaking happy that people are responding to it so positively. People get really heated about skill balance, so I think it's understandable that I was fretting over it all week. It was all I could think about. - Linsey talk 19:44, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I think this was another great update :), I'm glad spirits will see the light of day again :p. I have a small question too: (sry if this has been answered before, or this isn't the right place) the people who recieved their tournament reward points already, but not the correct ammount, do they each need to send in a reportticket this time? Or will the issue be resolved as a whole? I'm asking because support is probbably flooded at this time (by people who didn't got any points). Greetz --Ellisia 21:33, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Much thanks for the Rit updates! 24.188.207.20 22:27, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Why have neither Nature rituals nor Anguished Was Lingwah been updated? Ɲoɕʈɋɽɕɧ 23:13, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

(RI) Nice update, many of the changes are really interesting. A small complain is that a specific playstyle has been nerfed, and I'm not sure Arena Net realized it. Way back in the Factions Preview Event, we could use weapon spells on spirits (there was even a specific spirit animation showing this), allowing ritualists to play in a more active way (casting spirits and then using short lasting buffs, having to think which buff was better at any given time). This was removed when Factions was released, but some time later we were given a new way to play (slightly) more actively, by using skills like Signet of Creation and Signet of Spirits to buff specific spirits at specific times. This could be used, with good timing, to increase the longevity of all the spirits which lose health when active, such as Agony (which could be made to last a considerably long time), Shelter, Wanderlust, and etc. The latest update has added a new functionality to all the old skills that buffed spirits; and while the "new" skills are interesting, the result is that an old playstyle has been lost, and some spirits (all those that lose health to act, like Agony) are now actually weaker than they were previously, despite the change in level. I'm not sure Arena Net realized this before the update. Erasculio 00:13, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

As much as I enjoyed the update, especially to the Ritualists in PvE (OMG have you tried Signet of Spirits?!! ^_^ ) I can't help but feel that some need to be looked at again, especially the Signet of Spirits. Went down into UW last night with Guildies in HM, and myself and my Signet, Vampirism and Bloodsong were able to hold off HM Aaxtes, in fact after a few near wipes I was able to (over several minutes of harassing a pair at a time) managed to take them down while through the wicked new use of the Signet, the casting time decrease of the other spirits and careful use of Summon Spirits (and that's probably not using more supportive spirits). Needless to say it was a learning for us all and massive amounts of fun, the stress of almost wiping seemed to melt away every time my little rit ran her butt off setting up spirits and fleeing before I took aggro.

Arenanet is quite slow at changing things, like keg farming and the such, that aren't right. If you're going to change or finetune what we've done in this update please do it sooner rather than later (like a week not 3-6 months). I'd like to play my rit more especially but I'd rather not get comfortable and then BAM! you guys change something in a /smacks head into desk way. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 00:42, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for another great update! I haven't tried everything yet, but I'm aching for a chance to. I did notice how funny the ritualist spirit casting animation is now that its been sped up so much, though. Lol. Thanks again. --MushaTalk 05:40, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Great update, I'm looking forward to the next major profession overhaul. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 05:52, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

What happened to the "PvP love"? A lot of HBers were let down by the fact that not much was changed for them. The only positive about this update was that hexway was nerfed.76.106.26.108 13:40, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

This wasn't the content update. That is due for August - I think. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 14:09, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

I was happy, wasn't anything really for me except the fact I have to unlock some rit skills now...but I am sure my ritualist heroes love you now because they won't have to sit behind as much. ^^" Katherinezoltin 05:48, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Good update. Keep it up! Ritualists' spirits are really good in PvE now (although I think spiritleech aura should have been moved to spawning), and paragons recieved some love too, it's a pity that they will need to be redesigned.

PS: (in case you need screens about speed clears e-mail me pls). Boro 14:01, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

friendly message/reminder

Unbearable lag is killing your already mostly dead game. I'm not even going to bother arguing that it isn't my ISP - it's obviously on your end when everyone is having the same problems. I just wanted to let you know that you need to fix that shit because it's pretty embarrassing. I couldn't even stay online long enough to collect my monthly XTH reward - you've got some serious server issues that you need to address. Outside of balance, which I'm sure you hear enough of already, PvP is actually incredibly hard to enjoy because of these lag issues. Teleporting around the map while you're trying to do complex movement control like body blocking is incredibly frustrating. Can you give us an update like "yeah we realize lag is a huge problem and are working on it" or even "no, we're too far in the hole to afford decent servers, get used to it?" Keeping players in the dark is a mistake I hope you've learned not to make again and again, since you've already suffered greatly because of it. -Auron 06:48, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I haven't found any lag yet in PvE zones on the 216 server(s). ~~000.00.00.00~~ 08:19, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

I lagged out from Linnok Courtyard, and it took 3 tries to re-establish connection. That's just pathetic. 99.151.139.100 08:35, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

← moved to User talk:Auron

BMP, The Tengu Accords

Dear Linsey with the new update to the ritualist's skills, Master Riyo's skill bar is also affected, the problem is that Togo's skill bar isn't. His Call to the Spirit Realm and his Disenchantment still are at the previous setting, because Master Riyo has 11 in Channeling Magic and 15 in Communing his spirits will also get the buff while Togo's remain at level 7 and his Disenchantment at 6. A battle with Master Riyo will result in a complete and utter mishappen unless the player prepares before hand and abuses a bit on the AI by casting beforehand near him and attempt to bodyblock him so that he can't run around, and destroy his quickened casted spirits with in one go with Dragon Empire Rage skill but even then it's not fool prove method a quicked recharge Wanderlust will still result in a loss because the Togo's skill bar is not balanced with the new Updates, and I still have not the faintest idea if this updates also affect Turais Ossa Storybook with the Paragons update.Sincerly Cake and Waffles10:25, 19 June 2009 (UTC)Cake and Waffles

Just started the BMP and can confirm that Togo's skills remain unchanged. (I don't see how Turai's mission would be changed except by enemies, as Turai is a warrior). -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 10:55, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Sorry I should have been more specific, I was more thinking more on the lines e.g. if the enemies have "Braces Yourselfs" and the players used Giant Stomp (Turai Ossa), but "Go for the Eyes!" and "Incoming" affect, lets say, nicely with Turai small army, but like I said I am not very sure, but according to wiki Corsair Commandant have Bladeturn Refrain, if there are extra shouts about it could affect gameplay, (I am not stating it will ruin the mission), but like I said I am sure, But I am positive that trying to to bonus on the Tengu Accords will be extra diffcult or even not possible with the update only with extreme luck I would keep Talon alive in Master Riyon battle if I didn't managed to kill him on the spot as soon as possible.85.243.167.215 11:26, 19 June 2009 (UTC)Cake And Waffles

Feedback on the update

User talk:Kain Fy

Linsey told me, as quoted "You can post it on your userpage and then link it to my talk page" for what I was talking to her ingame about on today's update. So here I am. My all-out feedback on the update. --Kain Fy 04:52, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

WHAT THE **** IS THIS LAGG

sorry for raging linsey but srsly, what is this? - Wuhy 17:33, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Two things. People who usually don't play logging on repeatedly on their mule accts trying to get their points, and people who no longer played GW much experimenting with the new skills. Maybe. Here's to hoping that's all there's to it. Rose Of Kali 17:53, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

obabies - Wuhy 18:00, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

(editing conflict)Also, the past couple days weather has been bad, weather at where I am at comes from the west - i.e., Anet HQ, and yesterday was a MAJOR storm, I wouldn't be surprised if that storm knocked around a few servers across the northern U.S. That, with what Kali said, and possible a few other things are probably what has been causing the lag. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 18:02, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

GvGing last night the lag was terrible (my guild is Australian, but we play as Europe o.O) to the point where the game was unplayable. Just pointing it out. King Neoterikos 23:57, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

New Zealander here who PvEs, I don't play on the 206 (europe) server(s) be default because the ping is way too high, I play on the Us (216) ones, which have generally around the 180-200 mark for me. Is this lag people are experiencing limited to PvP? I've heard of a few pvpers going on about it but no one I know in PvE has experienced anything out of the oridinary. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 00:51, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

There are people all over PvE complaining about it, and since lag more or less made PvP impossible for me, I've done nothing but PvE for weeks now........where I still get terrible lag, rubberbanding, disconnects, etc etc. I know other PvE players who are having similar experiences. It makes perma farming a bitch. Vili 点 01:58, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Hmm, I must be lucky then, usually I lag up a storm when people had days like this, but I'm not having any noticable difficulties. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 02:01, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't think it's actually just player congestion! ...cuz check it out, last night on Dunes alone I was OMW to get the Slow Totem but the game had other Ideas and put it's own Slow Totem on ME... I could flag my heroes and they'd eventually respond, but I was rubberbanding liek WHOAH while doing it. And just when I couldn't take it anymore and got on Firefox to complain here... the connection re-established all normal like again and I was right back to Green. So I think it might be the Game Client itself freaking out too and looping some bad voodoo bugs/packets after the server itself drops us. It would be very interesting if someone could recreate this little episode and show what was happening with IP tracing when/IF it could be Force re-established --ilr 04:16, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

I highly doubt player congestion is a factor, since I get the same whether I'm playing 3:00 AM, noon, 5:00 PM, whatever. I know people all over the world, playing at usual and unusual hours, who could also attest to that... (Of course, going to Spamadan AD1 *never* helps any connection xD) Vili 点 04:28, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

unknown Tyria

a few thigns regarding unknown Tyria one being the true name of the bay nort of Kryta beyond the Giants basin the oen with the volcanic isle in it, whats is its true name, and is there any way we will be able to find out what lies aroudn tyria as a concinent and what lies on the oposite hemisphere of Tyria(world)--Lord randy taylor 23:56, 20 June 2009 (UTC)

Regarding Awakened Cavalier and their "buffed" skill: non-suggestion redux

← moved to User talk:Linsey Murdock/Projects

You guys might want to check out Linsey's Project page She has specifically requested feedback on broken monster bars and this should go there. -- Wyn 11:07, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

"...I am looking for is monsters who have had their skill bars rendered obsolete due to skill updates changing functionality." OBSOLETE ...but the current state of affairs is Not a result of them being Neglected (read: Nerfed) or functionality changes that prevents synergy between the powers in their skill-set. ...but thank you for atleast keeping it in the neighborhood of Lin's page... & try not to delete this section until she's had a chance to review it -_- --ilr 21:19, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

Aion

Have you see or tried Aion yet Linsey, whats your opinion on it? --77.97.23.248 14:49, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

My opinion is that guildwars still has better graphics. ^^ Death Sligher62.133.217.254 08:26, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Who cares about graphics, graphics doesnt make a game good its the game play and other things. 90.217.214.180

Aion has better graphics and a z axis with flight-integrated combat. ~Shard 21:40, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure that Aion has more stuff to do too. Prolly less grinding too. Drogo Boffin 21:41, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

A Korean Game? "Less Grinding"?? Did someone really just say that? --ilr 01:13, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Aion is very awesome. It looks pretty, and the combat system works nicely, especially with the flying, which is lots of fun. There is some grinding of crafting skills, but that doesn't make it any less fun. ¬ «Ðêjh» (talk) 02:17, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

GW has better graphics I can run aion on 86FPS and GW at 34FPS or so. I guess its just diffrent gw is more reality graphics and aion more patch WoW grapics(animated style), Well i prefer Reality graphics above animeted.62.133.217.40 12:49, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

Kurzick NPCs in Fort Aspenwood

Why Kurzick NPCs uses PvE versions of skills? For example Ward Against Melee by Kurzick Elementalist, all binding rituals by Kurzick Ritualist, Sundering Attack by Kurzick Rangers. Luxon Longbows have Sundering Attack PvP. Should all NPCs have PvP or PvE versions of these split skills? Or favors Arenanet Kurzicks more? --84.253.233.214 19:36, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

You actually made me lmao with that last sentence. - Reanimated X 19:59, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

It may be a balance issue, an oversight or something that's on their to-do list. But I seriously doubt it's done purposefully to give one side an advantage over the other. 145.94.74.23 19:46, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

It's the same deal in AB. But it doesn't matter, because it's perma-Grenz, anyway. >.> Raine - talk 20:20, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

See #Fort Aspenwood headache? — Poki#3 (talk) 23:38, 21 June 2009 (UTC)

The "Honor" statue and the Rainbow Phoenix

Linsey, we can't figure this out by ourselves, so I decided to ask you. After the update that changed the Hall of Monuments to account based, we have noticed some inconsistencies:

• The "Honor" statue used to be linked to the maxed titles rank (or MTR). The only ways to make the statue progress was either by gaining more ranks in the MTR, or by having a completely full Hall of Monuments (all five monuments filled). However, after the update some users have noticed that their "Honor" statue has progressed without having all five monuments filled. This has happened to me: as soon as I filled my fourth monument, my "Honor" statue began showing one extra step in its progression for all my characters (the characters with "Kind of a Big Deal" title got the "People Know Me" statue, the characters with nothing got the "Kind of a Big Deal" title, and etc), despite how my fifth monument is not full (my "Valor" monument has only four weapons). Some users have seen the same behavior, but other users haven't been able to get that progression without filling all five of their monuments.
• The Rainbow Phoenix has become available, to be tamed in the HoM, for some players without the original requirements (either the "People Know Me" title or the "Kind of a Big Deal" title and all five monuments filled), but for other players the pet only appears when they meet those original requirements. I believe this is a consequence of the previous point: the phoenix appears when a character has the "Honor" statue at the second step of its progression, regardless of how said progression has been achieved.

Is there a pattern we haven't been able to figure out, or is there a bug in how the "Honor" statue works? I'm not listing this in the bugs report page because we don't know if it's a bug at all. Erasculio 00:00, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

I can verify the Rainbow Phoenix bug - I was rather surprised to find it just now. I have 9/10 towards People Know Me, but I have a fully filled out HoM, and the statue displays at level 2. Ashes Of Doom This user grants Arenanet full permission to use any of his suggestions. 03:21, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Also, a bug that is probably connected - in the Hero panel, when I am in an account based HoM, my balthazar and kurzick faction caps are at zero - that is just now it said 1324/0 under balthazar - this isn't exactly a problem, but it's kind of odd... Ashes Of Doom This user grants Arenanet full permission to use any of his suggestions. 03:24, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Can confirm that, it seems quite odd. 128.176.178.35 08:42, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

That's probably just a random bug, I was getting that in some explorables today. ~Shard 07:28, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

I've had that happen to me after disconnecting and reconnecting... -- Elv 07:51, 23 June 2009 (UTC)

MOX Quest Lore

I was just wondering when in the timeline of GW events the MOX quests take place. After EOTN? Or during/after one of the other campaigns? I didn't recall seeing any indication of when they might have happened, but it's been a while so I might have missed something. I hope you can clear this up this bit of lore, Linsey. Thanks! --63.106.124.254 16:01, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

It must take place after Eye of the North. As Zinn, being an asura, is well known in the three continents. Before Eye of the North, Asura were not known. So there was more than likely some time between EN and M.O.X.'s quests in order for knowledge of the Asura to spread to Elona and Cantha. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 16:37, 22 June 2009 (UTC)

Xunlai Tournament House Deadline

Having some issues while voting in the new Xunlai Tournament House concerning the deadline in which predictions must be cast. The 'Rules' section states that the voting ends June 27 for this month for the GvG predictions. Today it is June 24th and it is telling me that predictions are closed and no voting is allowed. With days still until the MAT's, I'm dissapointed that I'm not able to make predictions. If you know anything about this, please let me know. Thanks! 76.176.199.250 02:43, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

According to this post by Regina, the Xunlai house is closed for repairs until further notice.--Pyron Sy 03:20, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

OMG just delete XTH. That would pretty much solve all problem around it. --Boro 08:08, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

They'll be taking that option into consideration. Imagine how much time they've spent on that thing and it's never really worked properly. Now imagine how much time they've spent on it when they could have folded those hours into actually improving more important parts of the game, like making sure their stuff like skills work properly. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 09:30, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Go-go, Boro, let's make the Zkey prices skyrocket, shall we? They'll have to make them cost like 500-1k Balth Faction if they remove the XTH completely. Rose Of Kali 16:55, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

That suggestion would effectively kill off the majority of remaining interest in PvP, 000000. XTH and reward points were put in place to replace real world prizes. When you take away the in-game prizes for competing, people will leave - so many have already left that there is basically no desire to play the game to beat anyone. No koreans play. The americans left playing run honor balanced and never win because they lose to bad euros running 321spike builds with sixteen layers of defense. The only thing left for many players is RP - taking away the XTH would be a very big mistake. -Auron 17:05, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Well... I don't know. I don't see the competing in guessing which guilds will win the MAT. --Boro 17:45, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The XTH has been taken down until further notice while we investigate and repair it's many issues. Until now, the XTH system was not being maintained by the Live Team but by, so the assumption that resources which could have been used on improving the actual game were being put into the XTH, is false. We do not have an ETA on when it will go back up. - Linsey talk 19:09, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) How about an ETA on Reward Points? Drogo Boffin 19:11, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Just buy 10 Creme Brulee, it'll feel just like using 10 Zaishen keys. -- MrSmiles 03:29, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Obviously the XTH is more trouble than it is worth. Perhaps you should consider forgetting about it? The game would be healthier that way anyway. Win win. 218.214.126.215 08:32, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

Auron, I know about the XTH and the rewards, I was around for that and the Z-rank non-sense. You almost paint a picture that PvP needs to be taken out the back of the shed and tearfully given both barrels, also I scuff at "honur balanced", I see more gimmicky 123 BS watching American matches than Europe, but then again I'm biased and probably (must be)grossly misinformed maybe because I think Pvp is shit. Hey, I'll be sad, in some ways, if they axe the whole thing. I was getting a lot from predictions and I didn't even have to compete to receive the in-game prizes. ^_^ ~~000.00.00.00~~ 09:45, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

So if the live team is not involved in XTH web development, does that mean the new system was implemented for use in GW2 as well? Or would that make too much sense? ;) --Skye Marin 19:31, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

You misunderstood, I think. The XTH was created a long time ago out of something that was meant to be something else (hence some of the unexpected bugs that just now came out with the new web system), and was maintained by someone other than the Live Team until now. That what I read somewhere on Linsey's or Regina's or whomever's page. Rose Of Kali 20:43, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

So, any idea of when those of us that got cheated out of all of our reward points will get them? I submitted a ticket, got the usual canned response, and then nothing else. -Drakora 19:57, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Dialogue Glitch?

I got to the Eye of the North yesterday, had a tapestry shred and a normal red iris flower in my inventory, yet when I went into the HoM, there wasn't the extra bit of dialogue between the character and Gwen that Wikia says there should be:

When you enter the Hall of Monuments with the Tapestry Shred, Preserved Red Iris Flower, Red Iris Flower, or Gwen's Broken Flute a dialogue will start between you and Gwen.

Gwen: "You say you are from the south. You look strangely familiar."

<name>: "We met long ago. I have some things of yours."

Gwen: "So many feelings. So many memories. I... no. The Ebon Vanguard needs us. We'll talk again after that matter is settled."

That didn't happen for me. Did I miss something, or is it a glitch? Or did Wikia get it wrong? --63.106.124.254 16:17, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Was it the first time you had spoken to her? Try going in and talking to her again. -- Wyn 16:19, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

This is not a glitch. You need to do all of the Ebon Vanguard quests. Maybe you should read this again. You will notice that the dialogue you mentioned is listed. Drogo Boffin 16:22, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Er... it is not after you do all the Ebon Vanguard quests... it's after the first vision cinematic, you talk to Gwen to get a tapestry for the HoM and she says that. Also, that dialogue is NOT a part of the quest where you need the tapestry shred. That dialogue happens no matter what, as long as it is the first time you enter and get the HoM tapestry. Seeing how you got that off of Wikia, I'm not surprised it is wrong. That wiki is a mess of incorrect information. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 16:45, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Rofl... What? Why on earth would Gwen ask everyone if they're from the South and say she's met them long ago? Bahaha. Rose Of Kali 16:58, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Because you get the Tapestry Shred in Pre searing from Gwen (Prophecies), which is south of the HoM. You need a Tapestry shred and a Preserved Red Iris Flower to trigger the quests Fire and Pain and Then and Now, Here and There. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:DrogoBoffin (talk).

@Rose, becuase it is how EN was done, it assumes everyone is from Prophecies. This issue caused a huge spam of questions/complains from a gwen fanatic a while back who made 3 topics on the same thing on here, and even took it to other Anet userpages. @DrogoBoffin, you could use a regular Red Iris Flower or Gwen's Broken Flute for the quest Fire and Pain as well, and you only need one. For Then and Now... you just need the Tapestry Shred and nothing else is needed (aside from also needing to be a prophecies character). -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 17:47, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

If that were true, Azazel, about how EOTN was done (assuming everyone was from Proph), then more would have been gone into about the Gwen-PH backstory instead of the dumbed-down bare mention we get. I tried talking to her after the first vision and still got nothing. --63.106.124.254 18:44, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) Have you done the quest? I'm gonna say no you havent since you HAVE to do it first. Drogo Boffin 18:46, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Actually, the page claims that the dialogue occurs before The Missing Vanguard. --67.240.83.137 18:50, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Right. To get the quests from Gwen you have to doThe Missing Vanguard. Drogo Boffin 19:07, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

I know about the quets, but the dialogue I quoted above is supposed to happen before that, at least according to Wikia. When you first meet her in the HoM, if you have the right items. --63.106.124.254 20:03, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

The dialogue listed here and on gw does not seem to match up, so either that article is incorrect or both are. --67.240.83.137 20:08, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

@"then more would have been gone into about the Gwen-PH backstory instead of the dumbed-down bare mention we get." the game dialogue and actions act as though the character is from Prophecies. The making of the game takes it as any campaign - i.e., Gwen will take the hero as one from Pre-searing. Why the conversation was dumbed down? Well, 2 quests and a dialogue, one of the quests going greatly into the friendship (which also requires the character to be from prophecies)I don't see it as dumbed down for someone who only knew someone for a day, and spent 6 years as a Charr prisoner. Do we really need to go back into this?

@Drogo - you do not need to do that primary quest to get the first tapestry which triggers the dialogue in question - look at the dialogue, it is talking about rescuing the vanguard.

Regarding the dialogue, you do not need any items to start that dialogue. If you got the first HoM tapestry after the first vision from Gwen, then the dialogue should have happened, if not then you should go talk to her. When you do so, the The Missing Vanguard and the Norn and Asura quests should show. At least, that is how it has been for me every time. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 21:01, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

← moved to User_talk:Axwind

Anyway, back to the topic, I was wondering if the dialogue mentioned above is supposed to show up at some point. According to Wikia, it's supposed to be when you first meet her, before finishing the vanguard quest. But others here say it's after the vanguard quest. Can you clear this up? Thanks. Here's the lines again, so you don't have to scroll back up:

Gwen: "You say you are from the south. You look strangely familiar."

<name>: "We met long ago. I have some things of yours."

--Axwind 02:25, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

You were in the Spearmen? D':

Thats nice to know and so sad...You guys were in my alliance for some time (We Can Count To Four [1234]). Its sad because i miss leading an alliance and HA'ing. The other day i saw Beer (I Love Beer or something like that) in HA and she wasnt in Spearmen, or some other guild thats won halls once or twice...Someone also told me it got disbanded, is this true?? There were a lot of nice people in that guild =( --→Darklɘs McChaosmongɘr 21:26, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Rly? Bummer. 'Eh Lin, if that's true and ya find a new (preferably OpenMinded) Guild, could ya get me an Invite too? I need a break from this H/H'ing stuff and PuGs just aren't doing it :p --ilr 00:40, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

The Spearmen have had its ups and its downs. It's a really nice guild with some great people, it just lacks attendance at times as some of the players in it have been playing other games/doing other things now.--'ÑöẊĭƑý 13:52, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

After talking with beer, she said they all just took a break till gw2 --→Darklɘs McChaosmongɘr 18:02, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

I don't know anyone that goes by the handle "Beer" or something like it. 치 The Spearmen 치 was not disbanded and I am still in the guild. All of our core members have become inactive in GW due to either playing other games or in most cases, concentrating on real life. I think the only reason I would leave 치 The Spearmen 치 is if the Live Team forms it's own guild which is something we have been talking about. - Linsey talk 22:21, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Alwese thought ZoS was the main anet guild, but I was wrong. Although most screenshots have ZoSmembers in it^^.145.53.242.142 22:56, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

DRAGON FESTIVAL

Can you confirm whether or not it is this weekend? --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:82.8.147.3 (talk).

Of course. They usually post the announcement on Tuesday, just wait a day. Rose Of Kali 16:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

The event is always the first week(end) of July, so it should be ending Sunday, July 5th. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 18:42, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Good thing I've been putting money aside... because the welfare check isn't in the main, and I'm in the mood for major gambling! -- Alaris 18:58, 29 June 2009 (UTC)

Regina confirmed it on GWO:

"Dragon Festival will be this weekend, and all events that you know and love from past Dragon Festivals will be there. :)

The person who recalled that we typically publish an event page a week before the event is correct. The web team is working on publishing the event page for that this week.

I can't say what the mask will be, but I've seen the artwork and it's AWESOME. I personally like it more than last year's. :) I think a lot of people will like it (though of course it won't be to everyone's taste, as with all things. :))"

(source) --Nkuvu 13:50, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Woot! New mask! -- Alaris 15:59, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

YAY! DRAGON FESTIVAL!!!! *runs around like a nut* Katherinezoltin 22:01, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

I fear for what the hat will be... if it follows the trend of the past two years, it will be this, this, or this. I only see one good hat there.... -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 22:36, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

I'm sure the mask, like all others, will enjoy its 15 minutes of fame. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 23:58, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, and then go to oblivion like the rest, XD. It's a shame for some of the mask model, since they could be nice headgear... and there are worse things than any mask that have already ma armor, like the Crown or the Bandana. MithTalk 10:52, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

All three of those are awesome, although I had difficulty seeing what the transparent one was really. But the claw is loltastic! -- Alaris 15:37, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

It is not one of those three. - Linsey talk 18:18, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

OMG SWEET! :D I only kind of liked the Dream Rider, but hey, Lins just made it more intriguing. Rose Of Kali 19:41, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

q__q I really adored the chaos wurm masque. I hope it is not something like a "Kuunavang" thing. Ɲoɕʈɋɽɕɧ 20:16, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I got an itch... telling me it's a revamped Dragon Mask... -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 21:06, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

We wouldn't be able to do the Dream Rider anyway because it is transparent. A district full of people with transparent masks would be baaaaaaaad. - Linsey talk 22:01, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I've said it before, I'd love to see [SUGGESTION REDACTED]... I mean, some means for masks to actually be viable combat wear (and not in the 'gimpmode to increase challenge' way). Draxynnic 04:08, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) But...but...but... I <3 the Dream Rider mask... *sniff* --★KOKUOU★ 22:18, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Me too, but I <3 stable servers and happy programmers more. - Linsey talk 22:25, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

I <3 cookies myself... ^_^ >:) Give me the cookies!! >:| ~~000.00.00.00~~ 23:11, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Ooh Ooh! Make something with Specular-lit animated fire particles next that also emits blobs of liquid that rag-doll ripple, or induce multiple Lens Flares, and have it all ignore client DirectX-levels, muhahahaha --ilr 23:18, 1 July 2009 (UTC)

Just go with the trend. Add something that uses an extremely unnecessary amount of shaders, and then add shaders over those shaders, XD. No, really, some games are real shaderfests. Doom III could have used a bit less , and better. Some monsters looked like made out of polyethylene, >_<. I can't thank enough the moderate and correct usage of shaders in GW. MithTalk 01:20, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Tormented claw headgearXD.Death Sligher 18:58, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Just wanted to say, new hat = WIN! Thanks so much! -- Salome 10:22, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Yes, whoever designed the pretty new hat gets a good job cookie. I wasn't around for the first dragon festival due to forced vacation but this hat makes up for it. ^^ Katherinezoltin 20:23, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

Internetcafe or internet on vacation FTW^^. 145.53.242.142 22:55, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

If Anything Was Broken....

....during the most recent (Thursday) and subsequent waves of archiving, you have my permission to hunt me down for it, same goes for Regina and her page. :) — Jon Lupen 05:54, 2 July 2009 (UTC)

Stereoscopic Vision

Hey hey Linsey,

have you tried that stereoscopic 3D Nvidia glasses thing on GW yet? I tried it yesterday and I have to admit it was awesome! People actually ran past you and watching an arrow arc further away rather than just getting smaller was incredible. It messes with your eyes a lil bit as you have to get used to it, but once you do, it takes player immersion to a whole new level. I was so taken with it, I'm now saving up for a whole new gaming rig just so I can play GW in 3D. One downside however is that I did find my ranger, Salome, to be disconcertingly "perky" in 3D. ;) -- Salome 10:21, 3 July 2009 (UTC)

om nom nom I'd like to try that:P - Wuhy 04:15, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Dragon Festival mini missions

After 3 years, their rewards are still so low that most people I know don't bother about them. People would rather delete and create characters and make the quest than bother about the missions. New players find them too hard to beat, and old players that could beat them find them... negligible. In the time you'll waste making one of them, you'll be able to make the quests with one to three characters more. You even get more Victory Tokens by farming any big bunch of low-level enemies than by making the missions. Time spent, difficulty and rewards do not tally in there. MithTalk 04:25, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Gotta say, this is the first year I've done one of these missions (stumbled in with just me and 3 heroes) and I was a little confused with this too. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 04:29, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeh the rewards for the missions are far too low. In 3 years ive done all the missions a grand total of once. The reward just wasnt worth the time invested. -- Salome 04:39, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

The stupid part is that the statements people make about the rewards of the missions are only based on the first two. 66.190.15.232 04:58, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

nah, all should be like 400, not 50 lol, also i dont get why do the last missions have greater rewards than the first ones.... - Wuhy 06:24, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

--71.240.44.21 15:56, 5 July 2009 (UTC) while hard to see a difference they get a tiny bit harder as you go unless your new,first time i did them i noticed abit but still bored me--Lord randy taylor 06:32, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I've made tham all, and the only one really worth doing is the last one. The others are a quite a waste of time. MithTalk 13:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

*Sigh* This isn't a suggestion, its basic feedback and is covered by our current license. The tag on this doesn't need to be there. -- Salome 13:30, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

Might as well get used to it, right? If you read the new namespace plans (and I'd highly encourage everyone to), basic feedback like this will be more likely to be tagged and moved than it already is now. --ilr 19:07, 4 July 2009 (UTC)

I was just bringing the issue of those mini missions barely being made, mainly because most people don't think it's worth it. I didn't gave any kind of idea on how to deal with the issue, so it's not a suggestion. At least not my comments. In Wintersday, people do the mini-missions because the unique rewards, and they are not too easy neither too hard. They are perfect as they are. But Dragon Festival missions vary a lot depending on your profession, and some of them take a lot of time compared with the difficulty anr rewards, so most people won' do them. That's the issue with them. MithTalk 13:41, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Salome, I disagree, as I was the one that tagged this as a suggestion to begin with. They suggesting changes (in fact YOU are the one that made it a suggestion), thus a suggestion. -- Wyn talk 00:52, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

salome is right, dont tag every shit as a suggestion >.<"- Wuhy 04:13, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

What Wynthyst fails to realise is if Salmome was truly the reason this was tagged as a suggestion, the comments prior to Salome are not suggestions. Just because one person in the topic hijacks it with a single suggestion doesn't mean the whole thing should be deleted or be moved. That's crazy Nazi tunnel vision tagging and a lazy attempt to sweep things under the rug. You can't go and tag every topic where one of the responders makes a suggestion, every single valid post which doesn't start off with suggestions has them eventually. 122.104.164.229 16:16, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Wyn got a Goddy already? Epic LuLz! --ilr 18:00, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I dont see how "the rewards are too low", which was said by the op and "the rewards need upped", are in anyway different, this is just semantics. They are both the same statement however I dont want Linsey's page turned into a licensing argument and nor do I want people moaning at Wyn about her tagging. She does a great job at keeping this page ticking over, one that Linsey and most of the wiki community is grateful for, thus I've changed my original comment to echo the OP's statement without actually giving the needed course of action and my apologies for any issues that this may have caused. -- Salome 20:21, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) First, I have only skimmed this section, but a couple of things caught my attention:

1. Moving 'suggestions' to the new name space should be (and might be) a no-no. It changes the license without the authors consent.
2. There is a technical difference between saying 'this is a problem' and 'fix this problem this way'. The first is a report, either of facts or opinions. The second is a suggestion for action. The first may imply an obvious fix, but there is a necessary creative step in deriving that fix. That creative step has legal significance, separates the fix from the report and makes it the property of Arenanet. The second form includes the creation of the fix and makes that fix the intellectual property of someone other than Arenanet.

I'm NOT a lawyer, so check with a real lawyer before relying on these opinions. --Max 2 16:56, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

"What Wynthyst fails to realise is if Salmome was truly the reason this was tagged as a suggestion, the comments prior to Salome are not suggestions." I do not fail to realize this, but what you all seem to fail to realize is that the minute you all start discussing the way things need to be changed the entire topic then becomes a suggestion, so the entire topic needs to be moved to the OP's userspace. If you all would NOT take the discussions down those paths, none of this would happen. Since it's a violation of user page policy to remove comments off of talk pages, once you post it, it is what it is. Yet I notice that somehow Salome's comment has somehow miraculously been removed from this discussion, so it seems to invalidate any point that was made after it. This is why we don't removed comments from discussions. -- Wyn talk 04:30, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

@Max 2, Nothing from this page will be moved directly to the new feedback namespace. The original poster can however moved the original suggestion to their own suggestion page within that namespace (minus all subsequent discussion). Or, in this case, since the original post was not a suggestion it can be placed back on Linsey's page. -- Wyn talk 04:30, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Would it be possible to make a sub-header titled "xyz topic suggestions" as soon as a topic turns into a suggestion, and only tagging the discussion there on? This leaves the original post intact and can take care of hijackers by only removing what was said by them and the replies to it. Just a thought until the suggestion namespace finally goes live some day. Rose Of Kali 15:16, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

TO TRY AND CONCLUDE THIS DISCUSSION: As already said on my talk page, the rewording was a lapse in concentration on my part due to me being knackered from starting a new job. I have already told Wyn that I am happy to replace the original text and use the strike feature. (which I'm very aware I should of used in the first place and I still can't believe how tired I must have been to make such a fundamental error in my editing *kicks self*)

In regards to editing policy, she is completely right (although nothing miraculous about it, as I clearly state that I changed it and what my original statement was in a subsequent post). In my defence the text was erroneously removed on my part due to the belief that simply striking through the text would not be enough to invalidate the comment and thus satisfy the blanket approach we are taking to feedback/suggestions at the moment and my wish not to prevent a valid concern, raised by another user, from getting the attention it needs, due to possible legal constraints of our current license. It should be noted that editing in regards to licensing is markedly different from anywhere else on the wiki. Everywhere else, a strike through would equate to the comment being withdrawn and thus invalidate it, however in regards to licensing concerns that is not the case, thus any slightly misworded comments can possibly invalidate a whole, otherwise sound thread from being commented upon, with no way for the user to correct their error or to reword in a safer style. I am only explaining this so people can see how my somewhat faulty and tired logic was working at the time of editing, in that I was trying to be helpful, not problematic, but I should have also remembered the policy guidelines, which for some reason went out of my head at the time of editing.

The above aside, I am not getting into an argument over licensing, as this is Linsey's talk page and really not the place. I regret bringing it up in the first place, as I truly didn't expect it to derail the topic quite as it did. I know linsey is just as frustrated as we all are about the licensing and it is getting sorted out and will be finished soon. In fact Wyn is one of the major people working on it and thus helping facilitate the wiki community getting feedback in the future. I would suggest therefore that people lighten up alot on Wyn and what she does, as she is investing alot of herself in helping everyone on the wiki. I hope the fact that I have explained myself fully helps to bring this discussion to a close and stop the needless moaning at Wyn, which seems to be taking place, and once again my apologies for any hardship or confusion caused. Blessed be -- Salome 23:49, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Traveler Items

Are the items that are necessary for Nicholas the Traveller excempted from anti-farming code? The Anti Farm Code page indicates that they are not. Are those of us who can't get to doing the weekly Traveller collection until the weekend at an inherent disadvantage because of it? --71.240.44.21 15:16, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Please read this -- it is not a suggestion in any way. Compare to Salome's comment in the previous topic for affirmation. --71.240.44.21 15:56, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

It's a suggestion asking Linsey to deal with how the items required for Nicholas the Traveller are not excempted from the anti-farming code. Asking the Arena Net developers to change the game is a suggestion, sorry. Erasculio 16:02, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Will someone PLEASE stop with the insane over-tagging of suggestions? Not to mention the tagging with bad time. There, I modified my original question to remove the so-called "suggestion" that isn't. --71.240.44.21 16:05, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Once the Feedback area is finished, suggestions won't be tagged like this anymore as the license issue will be solved. If you would like the "over-tagging" to stop, don't complain here; go help with the feedback section. Erasculio 16:07, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

Right, b/c it will just be moved instantly or the poster B& outright. This right here is the kinda thing Linsey really needs to comment on... I know I'm not the only one getting tired of second and third-hand rationale of what she said in private PM's about future policy. --ilr 23:46, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't really agree with your idea of moving ideas instantly or banning people outright, ilr. I guess it's a good thing you are not offering any input about the feedback space, that's not the kind of idea I would expect to see there. Erasculio 00:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

ilr, your comments are off topic, if you have something to say about how things are going to work in the new namespace, feel free to join the ongoing discussions. Announcing that things will be "just be moved instantly or the poster B& outright." is a total fallacy that you have pulled out of thin air to disrupt the topic here. The way the original post was worded, it WAS a suggestion for change, and thus made it impossible for Linsey to comment on regardless of whether you feel she needs to or not. -- Wyn talk 00:50, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Nice try but No one's complaining about me, it keeps coming up b/c of Your actions --ilr 01:14, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

problem with the 7:00pm (UTC) finale

hey, i never recieved my mask from the finale event, so did alot of people, i had my tokens in my inventory, was in the first slot, and my bags were empty, alot of people missed out and i wanted to ask why it never appeared --Robot 19:44, 5 July 2009 (UTC)

When did you show up in the district? Had Kisu finished his first speech when you arrived? I saw many confused people showing up too late in the district for the exchange of tokens for hat. --Aspectacle 04:37, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

i was there 10 mins before he showed up. so i should have got it, i got it in the next finale after tho --Robot 10:01, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Dragon Festival ending?

It seems that the Dragon Festival may have "started late", as it was first understood that festivities would begin at noon, Pacific time on Thursday, but didn't get implemented until hours later. Right now, at about 7 AM Pacific on Monday, festivities are still going on when we were told that they'd be over yesterday before midnight. Perhaps we are being compensated on losing those few hours on the first day, but if that's the case, just when will the festival end? Will this last all the way up to the next live build? 66.219.148.4 14:12, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

it didnt started late at all maybe you got confused on the the time, it started at 10 AM (GMT + 1)in my time zone as it was suposed to --RagingLynx 16:13, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Some new unnoticed addition?

I was killing some kitties outside Doomlore Shrine, and when I finished I noticed this in the chat box:
I haven't noticed such a thing before. Thinking this may be something repetitive, I scrolled up a little, and found this: I don't know if this is some old thing that I didn't notice or something new, or just my hallucination. Care to shed some light? Thanks in advance. Titani Ertan 14:24, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Nope, it's from Ebon Vanguard Sniper Support, it's been in there since they changed the functionality of it. Whenever you get the bonus damage, a random quote appears. DarkNecrid 14:37, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Those are quotes from the movie "Enemy at the gates" which feature a real life famous sniper that did fight during WW2, Vasilly Zaitsev. Other ww2 heroes include Rejewski who broke the german 13 billions combinations code. At this time engeneers could still calculate mentally a division on floating point numbers with 7 digits mantis faster than computers. Modern technology spare us this effort but the modest computers borm from military intelligence around 1950 are what gave birth to the internet (ArpaNet, Cyclades, etc). Yseron - 90.14.96.139 22:24, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Huh... Thank you. *coughs* Titani Ertan 14:38, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

*points & laughs* --ilr 17:45, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

^ Unnecessary. (Satanael 21:57, 6 July 2009 (UTC))

^ unintresting Lilondra *poke* 19:27, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

A role for pets in PVE HM please?

← moved to User_talk:Ilr

Once again a topic on Linsey's page was hijacked with a NON TOPICAL discussion regarding what is and is NOT a suggestion.

@ilr, you have been extremely vocal on this page complaining about the tagging of things as suggestions and have hijacked repeated topics, and I'm asking you to stop now.

@Erasculio, stop tagging EVERY topic that is on this page.

Changes have been made to the suggestion notice at the top of this page as per Linsey's instructions. I suggest everyone read them. -- Wyn talk 00:34, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

I see what you did thar :P 218.214.126.215 03:37, 8 July 2009 (UTC)

Fort Aspenwood Goals

Hi, I was wondering if Fort Aspenwood is ever planned for an overhaul. Being a Kurzick, I shouldn't have to worry about it since I am on the easy winning side, but I do. The fact is, Kurzicks just have to not loose, while Luxons have to win. Sounds confusing at first but if you have played both sides for a long time you will understand what I mean. It promotes healing/support only for kurzicks, and pure offense on luxons, which isn't fun/balanced gameplay at all. There is a thread on Guru somewhere stating the facts on why its unbalanced. Simply changing monster skills or npcs WILL not fix this sadly, so a complete goal and maybe map change is needed. I think it would be a great idea for one of those Big project updates such as menagerie and daily quests were. 72.15.84.217 13:32, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I believe the map is working as designed... I can understand the complaint tho... a poor lux team = kurz win by default... but a poor Kurz team <> a lux win... but I've seen many a game where a focused lux team steamrolled the Kurz due to the added benifit of seige turtles who's attacks far outweigh anything the Kurz have... MrPaladin talk 13:36, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

The map is defenitly working as designed, but the problem is in the design itself. FA is not balanced at all, and luxons can only win if they are allowed to by kurzicks. A game based on the randomness of ONE side is not balanced. RA is random, but both teams have the same goals and is therefor balanced. JQ is balanced, the map is symmetrical and goals are the same. While the FA style is indeed interesting, it just doesn't work in guild wars. 72.15.84.217 13:42, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

There is no other competitive mission where Luxons defend and Kurzicks attack. The main flaw with FA is that stagnation works to win for Kurzicks. Luxons have to swim upstream. MithTalk 13:59, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually, Kurzicks have to defend, Luxons have to attack. We have 7 offensive professions in this game (warriors, rangers, elementalists, necromancers, mesmers, assassins, dervishes; not to mention how RoJ monks, ritualists and paragons can be offensive) and 3 defensive ones. It's incredibly unlikely that a Luxon team won't have any kind of offense, while it is extremely likely that a Kurzick team won't have any kind of defense. Together with how the Luxons only have to move foward, while a Kurzick team without plenty of monks or ritualists has to actually run amber...I think it's simpler for the Luxons to win than for the Kurzicks to win. Erasculio 14:47, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

(1) Yes, the map is asymmetrical. This is not an issue as long as the difficulty of swimming upstream offensively is balanced against the difficulty of defending or slowing progress. If properly balanced, wins would average out to a 50% change of winning independently of which side you chose. (2) The lack of a mission where Kurzicks attack and Luxon defend if unfortunate, but is not a factor in the proper balance of Fort Aspenwood. (3) The number of offensive / defensive professions is mostly a moot point, as most FA players will bring a build & profession that is advantageous to their side. So if playing on Kurzick side, you're more likely to bring a defensive build, and if playing on Luxon side, you're more likely to bring an offensive build. (4) Having played FA a few times, I can say that it's not trivial to defend. In fact, on the Kurzick side, I did my best to delay Luxon progress, but they invariably pushed forward. The matches were close calls. I can't tell if it's balanced (not enough data), but I can tell that if there's an imbalance, it's not as bad as the OP thinks. -- Alaris 17:29, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I just want to know if Anet plans to do anything about it. Luxons winning fully depends on what roles the Kurzicks play. If kurz plays to win and brings defensive, then no amount of offense will help. Luckily though luxons still find themselves facing players using warriors thus giving them a chance. One monk is able to deter at LEAST 3 players and a turtle, and this is one of the major flaws. We need a pvp format that gives both sides an active goal, such as being the first to collect X amount of items, not see if you can survive X amount of time. The only reason it doesn't seem as bad is because the lack of players playing to win (IE bringing effective builds). 72.15.84.217 18:09, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Be awesome if Linsey could drop some statistics on us. I have a feeling there is more parity than people think, especially given the completely different goals of each side. -- Ravious 18:45, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't have data to support what I am about to say (neither do you), but I really doubt that it's imbalanced as 72.15 claims. (1) Players have lots of online resources to figure out what works best, and there's plenty of players that will consistently use these resources in all game modes I know of. I really doubt that FA is the exception to that rule. (2) There's no way a single monk can deter 3 players and 1 turtle, because if they could, at least 50% of Kurzicks would be running monks. Turtles alone do much more AoE damage than monks can sustainably negate, and thus the best strategy against turtles is to kill them, not negate their damage. This is one reason why you often see offensive builds being run on the kurzick side. (3) I rarely see Paragons in FA, which you'd think they'd be pretty popular given their high defensive value. (4) Just because one side has to hold a position and the other has to move in, it doesn't mean that the best strategy is defensive and offensive respectively. In fact, Kurzicks have offensive goals as well, e.g. cap amber to repair the gates / advance the timer faster, and kill the turtles. Also, luxons have defensive goals as well, e.g. protect the turtles, cap and hold amber spots to prevent kurzick's ability to repair their gates. -- Alaris 18:56, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

In practice, most of the time people ignore the side goals (capturing mines, running amber, etc), as mentioned here (which is where this discussion belongs, actually, but anyway...). A monk with the proper build could prevent a NPC from dying and thus keep a gate locked indefinitely before the buff to the turtles, but even then often the Kurzicks would lose - because people more often want to try playing whatever they want to than playing a monk in order to win. Which means, despite how defensive professions tend to work better, the majority of players in the Kurzick bring offensive professions and give you parties without any sort of defense.

(Paragons are not a good idea on the Kurzick side; too many chants only affect party members, and people spread out way too much for paragons to be useful.) Erasculio 19:05, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Well I do agree with ya there... "affecting allies" was kinda the only thing that made Goons unique in encounters with NPCs/Minions and they can't even specialize in that anymore (which I guess is good for PvP, but for PvE?...wicked pisser) --ilr 19:44, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

@Alaris. Yes, it's basically true that a Monk can hold opponents out as previously suggested. I do it often, but my ability to do so is contingent on what the Luxon attackers are bringing. Sometimes I can hold off three, plus turtle and Luxon Warriors for more than 5 minutes without effort. Other times I can hold off two attackers for 30 seconds and only manage to slow them down. You have a point that the Kurzicks could win every time if everyone brought a Monk, but in practice one of the big Fort Aspenwood Kurzick problems rears its head: New players to Fort Aspenwood not knowing a thing about it bringing all manner of characters, builds and bad tactics. Lately the Zaishen Combat mission for this place has practically guaranteed a first timer in every match. -- WarBlade 20:55, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

True, I'd like to try it out myself now that there's COINS for it, and I don't even like PvP in this game --ilr 21:38, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

So What is Anet's view on this Linsey? 72.15.84.217 03:32, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Actually a reply to WarBlade, but indent was reset... I'll have to go try the monk. I love playing healer in PvP, but for some reason, I tend to play Ritualist instead of monk. Would I need a specific build to make that work, or just about any heal or prot build works? Does resto build work? -- Alaris 13:31, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

From a Kurzick perspective... I run a Prot build on a Monk. Basically, Protective Spirit will ward off a lot of damage from a turtle blast and you need one more enchantment on top of that to hold it in place. Add Zealous Benediction for a monster heal to pick a gate NPC back up after a big hit and the rest is pretty much vanilla protecting. As for Ritualists, there are a huge number of ways to build. Their ability to area support with spirits can be a handy advantage to give the base NPCs some more fortitude. Lately, my annoyance with Luxon minion masters has led me to run a Rt/N build using Verata's Gaze to steal away some of the Luxon force and on a similar note the various skills for getting rid of spirits can be quite useful. -- WarBlade 22:29, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Compilation of Lore?

First of all, when people refer to Guild Wars lore, are they referring to history/backstories of characters and events or are they referring to the in-game dialogue? I would be interested in reading the history of all the countries, races, events etc brought to us in Guild Wars and I am wondering if there is an organized compilation of all Guild Wars lore somewhere. If one exists, I would appreciate a link to that location. Thank you. --MushaTalk 22:32, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

The manuals (manuscripts) have a lot of that information. They have free copies in pdf form on the official website somewhere. ~Shard 22:35, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

We document lore too - Category:Lore. -- Brains12 \ talk 22:43, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

To your first question: Both the history and backstories of the game (characters, events, locations, etc.) and to in-game dialogue and events. For the second thing: there is no perfect compilation of lore and non-quoted lore entries on most wiki articles (note: Not all, and I have been trying to make the number smaller) have incorrect points or put in theories. For history of specific locations, you can go to the manuals which have the most basic of the stuff. There may or may not be more on it based on any in-game dialogue. Of non-in-game dialogues, this thread on Guru that I made would be best, as I included all manual and articles from Anet of canon lore in that thread, and it links to a number of threads on lore on Guru. You may also like to visit GWO's lore forum (specifically the archives of GWO's lore forum which links to 4 other archives *one for each sub-forum, each sub-forum dealing with lore tied specifically to a certain game*) and Guru's lore forum, for more discussion on lore - which includes both fact and theory. There is also the guild The Archivists' Sanctum [Lore] which has a website here which also contains archives for various threads from both Guru and GWO. And lastly, a real compilation of lore is planned as a lore project for the lore communities of Guru and GWO (and others interested in lore who wishes to help) to make such a thing (all fact, of course). Though that project would have been started by now - but we had to put it on hiatus for the guild site. :x I hope that answers your questions! -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 02:12, 10 July 2009 (UTC)

HB K Value

recent developer update increased k value of gvg and hero battles to 15. hero battles is still at a 5 k value. update would be appreciated BMShen 19:15, 11 July 2009 (UTC)

strange gates in the breach

A friend of mine found these strange gates in The Breach. Why were they put there? Especially why were they put to the CHARR side? Is there any lore behind that?

--Boro 19:02, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Look like typical sewer entrances to me. There are many ther doors that lead nowhere in the game. Some of them are very annoying to see, since they are pretty visible, like the one in Barbarous Shore or the ones in Tahnnakai. MithTalk 19:10, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

The wooden ones look like what Mith said, but not the purple. O_o And why is it glowing? Rose Of Kali 22:16, 13 July 2009 (UTC)

Such questions were discussed on the GWO lore forums. It is a very interesting concept. Most believe to simply be the Ascalonian sewer system - if such existed - which would possibly include that huge pit in the Catacombs. As to why it's glowing... radioactive feces? -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 02:09, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

The purple one just has an 'ominous glow', like the cracked seal in Forum Highlands. It doesn't mean it's not a sewer. It just means it's mysterious, XD MithTalk 14:10, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

Tormented abonded ones life there.Death Sligher 22:14, 14 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm betting a world-builder just truncated/misassigned an ambiance value --ilr 03:16, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Maybe it's an abandoned zone portal that they left in as scenery. -- Gordon Ecker (talk) 06:30, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Damn, it looks like the secret Cow Level entrance has been discovered... -Drakora 19:35, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

What ? No Pandas ? Lilondra *poke* 19:57, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

Haha a cowlvl in guildwars that will never happen:/, although raptor farming is kind of cow farming isn~'t it.Death Sligher 23:28, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Raptors don't go "moo". MithTalk 14:58, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I guess they could give them a moo soundeffect lolz.Death Sligher 19:54, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

We already have minotaurs, ntouka and berserkers for the moos. MithTalk 18:53, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

{ri} Well. this topic got derailed quite quickly: So. Linsey do you know what is the purpose of these gates? --Boro 19:14, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

oxen. Raine - talk 21:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

That's easy to answer. You don't need Linsey: none. They are just scenery. MithTalk 20:06, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

And the smartasses strike back stronger than ever! Rose Of Kali 20:13, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

You can't pretend every inch of the scenery to have a purpose. I bet that many times NPCs are place in certain spots just because such spots look like a nice place for them, instead the scenery being made specifically for them. MithTalk 20:17, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Besides, it was made so long ago that no one probably even remembers why... --ilr 21:50, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

There was at least one quest in pre-sear where your goal was to explore the catacombs to make sure that the Charr were/were not coming in that way. It's pretty viable that, yes, they're meant for things like sewers. Plus, such a great wall needs lots of maintenance work -- having only one gate is counter productive to that. --71.240.44.21 00:53, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

But then why does it have a toxic waste glow to it? Adelbern ate too much ectoplasm for dinner? Rose Of Kali 15:39, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

It's also stupid that those gates don't continue on the other side of the wall. --Boro 16:58, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Maybe because these lead into some underground sewers, and the ground level on the other side is higher? But that would be easy to check, just count the tiers of the wall on each side and see if one is higher, though that's too much attention to detail for this game. Rose Of Kali 20:57, 25 July 2009 (UTC)

Nightfall storybook sadness

Hello Linsey, I'd like to express a bit of disappointment regarding the Nightfall storybook. I just completed all chapters of Nightfall in normal mode, and found I couldn't turn in my newly filled book!

Reading up on it, I see that you can't turn in the normal mode book if Sunspear rank is 8 or greater. I never farmed Sunspear points, just played the game normally, grabbing whatever bounties on the way while doing all the quests, and still ended with over 10000 Sunspear points by the time I completed all chapters. This was with a Tyrian character, not even able to take advantage of the early bounties in Istan!

Is this behavior intended? Oh well, at least I was able to read the filled in pages. On to hard mode... someday ;) 76.164.111.57 06:26, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

You know, that you can exchange the book for LB points, too? If your Lightbringer rank is not higher than 4, you can give it to the Source of Whispers in the Chantry of Secrets. Balwin 07:34, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Fantastic! My Lightbringer points are at 7006, just shy of losing that opportunity. Thanks for pointing that out, Balwin! Lucky, I hadn't completed all the Realm of Torment quests yet. 76.164.111.57 10:16, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

IP has a point though, I mean, what's the point of even having an NPC that accepts a normal mode book for SS points if going through the game once gets you over the 8k limit? I went through the game before the books, but I remember my char being either a general or a full on spearmarshall by the end of the game, doing just what the IP said above. (Satanael 17:49, 17 July 2009 (UTC))

Exact thing happened to me, except I had also surpassed the limit for LB points. I just trashed the book. I'm waiting for the feedback namespace for the rest of what I want to say... --Freedom Bound 17:51, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Normal Mode Hero's Handbook can be turned in up to 80k points, 50% to max rank, and the book only rewards 20k points, 12.5% of the max rank.

Normal Mode Night Falls can be turned in up to 7.5k points (SS and LB) - only 15% of the way to max rank, and awards 6k points, 12% of the max rank.

12% and 12.5% are very close when it comes to progression towards max title rank. 50% and 15% cut-off are a HUGE difference.

So, you can use up to 4 EOTN NM books in each title (the basic rep you get on the way is only around 5k per track after first story completion, even less in Deldrimor, this is with no special farming like leeching Asura points from Raptor farmers).

Assuming you took absolutely no bounties on the way and no side-quests (big assumption already), you can only turn in one NF NM book per title, as all the primary quests and mission rewards will spill you over the limit after just one book. Furthermore, if you did take bounties and complete side-quests, you will end up unable to turn it in for EITHER title long before completing your FIRST book. I usually hit 7.5k SS before reaching Vabbi, and same for LB before completing the campaign, all without doing anything out of the ordinary, no vanquishing, and only completing a few side quests.

Not trying to suggest anything specific here, just pointing out the HUGE imbalance between two very similar books. Needless to say, Prophecies and Factions books do not have a Normal Mode cut-off because P has no rep titles, and F rep titles are account-wide. Rose Of Kali 18:12, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Wow, had a feeling it was screwy but I never knew it was that big a discrepancy... --ilr 22:48, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

Hey, you guys think it's bad, when the books were introduced 1) all of my characters had already finished Nightfall (in NM), and 2) most of them got kicked to at least Mighty from the retroactive point rewards for quests and missions that were introduced at the time. Count your blessings. (That said, while I'll probably never use it myself, I can see an argument to raising the limit at which you can turn in books for Lightbringer points.) Draxynnic 14:48, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Why was this restriction introduced in the first place? - Reanimated X 16:21, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

It is there to prevent you from "farming" the titles all the way to max in Cake Mode, it's the same thing with bounties in NM over a certain rank. Kind of makes sense, but at the same time doesn't, because it's so much faster in HM that most people would do it that way anyway, even if the restriction wasn't there. And most people were in a similar boat as you, Draxynnic, albeit probably not to such an extreme degree (i.e. "ALL characters"). There's a reason these weren't made to be retro-active at launch and that's fine, the problem is what I described above for all characters ever created in the game, even if created after the book launch. Rose Of Kali 18:40, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Little game: definitions

Hello Linsey. I propose you a little game if you have time and are willing to play it. The game consist in commenting on those exagerated definitions, and to comment them with a sens of humor. Can you do it ?

Professions:
- A/El

Loot:
- Confuse new comers when gold/green items drop for them after they contributed to a party whipe. It encourage them to do it again.

Job interview for game and art designers:
- Discussion with a futur employee about skills to make content that players will run or speed clear.

Outpost:
- Particular instance where players(1) wait with their 3 heros for other players(2) to quit their 3 heros in order to join their party. It works too if you swap (1) and (2)

Elite areas:
- Particular instances where people cry a lot. They are called cryers.

Tactic (pve):
- The tank tank, the nuker nuke. If the monk has to heal, the party keep resigning and coming back until hey found some players that dont have to be healed.
- Variant: the monk is a wonderfull monk but that's the only decent player in the entire party.

Bip:
- An excuse for not being able to kill things fast or safely enough.

Snare (pve):
- Effective lifeguard that pve players never bring because "where are the yellow numbers ?". The Aaxtes are still laughing.

Yseron - 90.28.203.223 11:36, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Although I agree with your post I don't understand why you posted it here.Linsey is not retarded,She knows about the problem and I think that by now she made up if she is going to change things or not.Lilondra *poke* 17:45, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

PvE players don't bring snares because PvE players don't know what kiting is; they will stand next to a crippled Aatxe and let it wail on them. I'm sorry, but it's sadly true. If you don't believe me, go frontline a few rounds in AB.

PvE mob design is so terrible that it's possible to finish campaigns without ever learning anything about position-based play (I know; I finished NF, Prophs, and Factions on my first character and learned almost *nothing* about basic tactics). :/ Raine - talk 20:38, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

My PvE is better than yours. --Jette 20:52, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Raine, there's a rather interesting topic in the archives of GWO. It's about how, soon after the release of Nightfall, players were raging over how the new AI made the game "not fun" for them, thanks to how the AI would actually kite. A player kept repeating over and over how he would be stuck with himself and his heroes running in circles trying to reach the enemies, and how that proved it was a dumb design by Arena Net.

In other words, said player was so smart that, even using heroes (in other words, with four full skill bars under his control), he could not find a way to counter the predictable way the AI would try to run from him, and he thought that was Arena Net's fault, not his own. See, this is the kind of player Arena Net has to deal with. In this case, unfortunately Arena Net listened to him and his friends and nerfed the AI, but a slightly more challenging PvE would make those players simply incapable of doing anything outside Pre Searing. Erasculio 22:02, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

People like that are why I'm perpetually cranky. I'm not saying we should kill all the stupid people, but maybe if we just cut social security and took the warning labels off of everything, the problem would solve itself, you know what I mean? --Jette 22:14, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Yseron's post is quite lame. I have no doubt Linsey can add some lulz to it. ~Shard 22:24, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Completely agree with Jette. Please, put evolution back into the human race... >:D Rose Of Kali 23:59, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

...& bring back LawnDarts, they're like darwin awards you can throw... --ilr 21:55, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Instead of dumbing-down the content, anet could make more inclusive tutorials, or create scenarios that force people to stop being bad. I'm not saying "do moar DoA", but stuff like the Corsair Runners in Maddock Crevice could be more commonplace. Creating objectives that require some degree of conscious thought and MAKING IT IMPOSSIBLE TO PASS CERTAIN AREAS WITHOUT LEARNING THE KEY SKILL (and I don't mean the 1-8 on your keyboard skills, I mean stuff like kiting) teaches people to play. Look at any good console game ever - this is something that they ALL implement.

I mean, putting in a boss that hits for wtfbbq damage but that always moves 50% slower teaches people to kite OR THEY CANNOT FINISH THE MISSION. Putting in a mob with a maintainable IMS and high spell damage resistance but low melee resistance teaches people to snare. If people still don't get it, put in an NPC that explains it to them and demonstrates. "These guys hit pretty hard but they move slow, like a hammer warrior in Flail. The best way to deal with them is to attack from a distance. Try to keep away from them."

I can understand it for NM - it's supposed to be relatively easy to pass. But HM? It's just as much of a joke as NM because the AI still has the same basic flaws. It doesn't challenge players to learn to be better at the game because it can be beaten in the exact same way.

­*sigh* I've probably blown this section pretty far into suggestionland. If anyone feels the need to move the discussion to my page, feel free to do so. It's just that whenever I see a section about PvE, I feel the need to rage at the bad. =x Raine - talk 06:08, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

These are GW players we're talking about here. They are the dregs of MMOs who are already pretty much the dregs of social ladders in general. There are better, more intelligent players on WoW, ffs. Institutionalized retards have a greater IQ than these people, except at least the people who run said institutions have the common sense to try to keep them from breeding. They wouldn't l2p, they'd just baww, moan and cry like the little 13-year-old boys most of them are, and then go back to "experimenting" with vaseline and the screenshots of elementalists. I'm not saying that'd be a bad thing, mind you -- but it would not be a good way for ANet to make money. This is why I think all games should be free and open-source, supported by the government. They could convert some criminals, illegal aliens and surplus politicians to oil to make up for the added financial burden. --Jette 06:31, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Or they could undo the $800,000,000,000 corruption tax. ~Shard 06:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Wait, that would require them to actually go to DC and have a meeting. We wouldn't want that. ~Shard 06:38, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I tried to correct that whole situation with one of these babies but the man at the store said people with my medications aren't allowed to own anything of that caliber.  :< --Jette 06:54, 20 July 2009 (UTC)

Way to generalize, Jette. Have you met every single one of the millions of GW players? If not, you have neither the right nor the ability to say anything about them as a whole. There are plenty of exceptions to your grossly inaccurate "rule". For instance, I've enjoyed GW for about six months now, while in my real life I'm 31 and work as a graphic designer. I've been with my gf for five years now, and we have a four year old son that we're raising together. While in GW, I'm more of a casual PVE player than anything else, as that's what my guild does and it's what I like to do. We help newer people learn the game and simply try to have fun, and a fair number of our members are more my age than the younger crowd (though we've got some of those, too - our guildmaster is 20, for instance). And incidentally, I got my associate's degree with a 4.2 GPA. So no, not all of us GW players are unintelligent, Jette, nor are we idiots or wackos, as you like to claim. --Axwind 17:14, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Good for you. I also got my Electrical Engineering Bachelor's degree with a 3.8/4 GPA while playing GW and am happily married for over a year now. I think you are over-reacting a little. :P Don't distract Jette, or he will forget his medications again. Rose Of Kali 23:14, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Axwind, in case you're the last person to find out, Jette is a well-established troll (but he's cool). ~Shard 23:25, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Sorry if I went a little far. Just thought his comments were unjustifed, is all. --Axwind 02:37, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Wow, how did I miss this? Stupid wall of text page. Anyway, yes, you're right, there are plenty of intelligent GW players. Unfortunately, they're a tremendous minority: the fact that you're on this website, spending time out of your day discussing the game with other people instead of just playing it and then turning off the PC, establishes that fact. I for one would be perfectly content if there were only a few thousand good players with decent attitudes and common sense -- I don't even mind new players, really, insofar as they can admit that they're still new and not make asses of themselves trying to prove that they're zomg teh beeeest. But in a game where you're charged by whether or not you ever bought an account, as opposed to how much time you spend online or whatever, quantity > quality when it comes to the bottom line.  :< It's also the main reason for power creep (the second being, you know, the former balance "team" never playing the game): when Dervishes came out, everybody knew they would basically replace warriors in terms of damage, so everybody had to buy Nightfall if they wanted to do serious competitive PvP as a melee. Similarly, paragons are seriously gay. If the company feels like being really nice, they'll instruct whoever is in charge of balance to fix the obvious problems that have cropped up a few weeks after sales start to simmer down. Whenever I hear the term power creep, I think of Zerg who have discovered electricity. May God have mercy on us all. --Jette 03:48, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

They don't need electricity. Just like the Tyranids, they already have the power their living body creates to power bio-weapons. Like a venom cannon which IS a semi-sentient living being used to create and shoot acid to burn through the thickest armor. or the Devourer which breeds and shoots living organisms devouring their way through any creatures. --Boro 08:39, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

I don't think biology works the way you think it does. --Jette 08:43, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

It works in 40k. --Boro 08:46, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, but that's 40K. You're expected to leave common sense at the door. --Jette 09:07, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Well (offwarning) we have the tools to genetically engineer ourselves, we have the tools to create machineguns shooting explosive rounds. We have the tools to create better and better armor. We only need teleportation (WIP). --Boro 10:21, 29 July 2009 (UTC)

Tiebreak system

Given the fact that many pvpers are unsatisfied with the current GvG tiebreaker mechanic (as evidenced here), are there any plans to revamp or modify the 28:00 lord damage mechanic for GvG battles that you are allowed to comment on? I realize that a simple forum poll is not in any way statistically representative of the games population, however would much appreciate an answer. To any non-Linsey wiki-ers out there please try to keep speculation to a minimum, it will not in the slightest bit help with this topic. Thanks :D --118.90.96.20 13:23, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

GW is unplayable

do something to the huge laggs DCs rubberbanding coz its getting darn annoying now, i dc idling in gh, POLISH DIS HAVE 30 SEC LAGGSPIKES ffs - Wuhy 15:11, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Why would you play in polish dis ? Lilondra *poke* 15:13, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Just a wild, crazy guess here, but maybe he speaks Polish? --Jette 15:18, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I get less lag in Guild Wars than I've gotten during the Aion closed beta events, and when I do lag, it hits everything on my network, regardless of what it's doing. — Jon Lupen 15:20, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

im not polish but that is the district known as the "less laggy" dis so something is rly wrong here - Wuhy 15:32, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

@ Jette I knew he wasn't polish.Also Lag was Mkay last time I checked :x Lilondra *poke* 15:36, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Wuhy, you first need to be sure the lag isn't being caused by something on your network or your ISP. Also you need to contact support (gaile), not Linsey. File a support ticket, give them as much info as possible, and wait. You can ask gaile to rush your ticket if you get tired of waiting.~>Sins WDB 17:06, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Side note: not all networks are created equally. — Jon Lupen 17:08, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I haven't had any lag problems in over a week, and I've been playing for several hours every day. -- Wyn talk 18:37, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, I had the most horrible lag of my GW history after the 4th bday update (I dare to say worse than my dial-up days), but it's gotten better since then, seems back to normal now. Rose Of Kali 19:11, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I feel sorry for Linsey. Not only does her wiki page get spammed with stuff related to her work - or that she permits - but she also gets just as much stuff that doesn't deal with her work or that she doesn't/cannot permit. Anyways, I have never heard that polish district is a least laggy district. Just that it's usually empty. Usually, it's more people=more lag, and sometimes the foreign districts get laggy because they are meant for foreign nations to use. If you're american and want as little lag as possible - go to International (heck, from what I know, International districts are the districts known to be least laggy - those and asian districts - again, mostly due to lack of people). Listen to Sins, gaile would be a better person to report to, not Linsey. Servers are out of Linsey's area. Heck, Joe would be closer to this area than Linsey would, and he's still rather far off, to be honest, neither works with the servers. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 19:14, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I have 0 lag when I play no matter how often or how long I play. I was averaging 125-160 ping with 5 downloads and my wife GW on her computer also with no lag and on a wireless network. DrogoBoffin 19:19, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Azazel - can you point me to someone on this wiki who works on the servers? I'd be glad to take it to their talk page in a heartbeat. Bitching and moaning that it's on the wrong talk page is well and good, but there isn't any alternative. -Auron 19:32, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Mix of wired, and wireless, 8 other computers, all of them downloading, streaming video, various internet activity, or online gaming in a handful of games, as well as a Xbox 360 gaming via Xbox Live. Bottom line: very busy network and very little lag. On the off chance I do lag, it's not on Arenanet's end, as I see the effects rippling throught every other machine. For example, this weekend, whenever my brother would lag in Guild Wars, my other brother would lag out in Call of Duty 4 on the 360, and I lag on Aion. — Jon Lupen 19:34, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I stood in TA yesterday and that's all I could do - stand. I couldn't move for the lag (that was only in GW, mind you - none of my downloads slowed, none of my IM programs disconnected, IRC didn't lag, browser still loaded pages fine, etc). I don't think the lag hits all of GW at once, but it is there.

@Azazel - to clarify, I don't think anyone deludes themselves into thinking Linsey is going to rush to the server room with a screwdriver and fix everything in ten minutes. But because there is nobody else to talk to, people send a message to be relayed to the right people, since the right people aren't here to take the message themselves. -Auron 19:38, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

I run several games at once in my house, all on wireless networks too Jon, and when I lag in GW I never notice a change in my other games. My brother was in town a couple of days ago and he was playing L4D while I played GW. I lagged out 4 times. He didn't have any lag. I could give countless more examples where that has happened, but really there's no point. Anet fanbois will defend Anet no matter what, and people with slow internet connections will always bitch. However, there are some of us that aren't in either category and are getting a little pissed about the lag. (Oh, and check how often a new "OMGZ! The lag is terrible!" thread pops up on Guru. I'm sorry, but that's not coincidence). Karate Jesus 19:47, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

The lag is only hitting a select number of networks, and it hits the entire network at once. When I'm at a friend's house on my laptop, and myself as well as two other friends are on Guild Wars, we all get lag-spiked and disconnected at the same time, every time. Members of the wiki are reporting that they play with no notable problems or little to no lag. At the same time, there are other users, yourself for instance, who are telling of horrible lag. I play Guild Wars on the go rather often, at my university, local coffee shops, multiple friend's houses, ect, and only had the kind of trouble you speak of in one place. The problems are not bound by ISP, connection strength, or activity. They strike seemingly at random, have already chosen their targets and have not moved from their targets. Also, I'm not on a very strong connection most of the time. Yes, something is up, I'm not going to deny that, I'm just trying to get a better feel for the situation and give my end to people in a similar boat. — Jon Lupen 19:53, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

We got severe lag spikes in EU district yesterday with disruptions of the guild and alliance channels (other channels were working OK), some disconnections or timeout when rezonning and difficulty to relog with lot of error 040. After a while (an lots of tries) I could relog one of my char in GToB and rezone to INT district. Happened at the same time to every other members of the alliance on the other side of the world (France) as it was happening to a friend and me here (Australia/Pacific) who were connected to some EU district. Jaxom 20:31, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

@Auron - as said, Gaile would be a better person as she is a part of the support team. Regina would also probably be a better choice than Linsey. No one to give the issue directly, but other and better options than Linsey do exist. -- 20:39, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

Then please move the topic where it belongs already? My lag problems are mostly gone, but when I do lag, it often seems like everyone I play with lags at the same time, it's just nowhere near as sever for me as it was after the Bday update. Rose Of Kali 22:03, 22 July 2009 (UTC)

As said above what I dont understand is if its my isp's fault why is it that myself and my friends all suffer from the same lag at the same time? Between us, we live in Australia, America, UK, Holland, Canada and other random parts of Europe and we are all on different ISP's so seems odd it's hitting us all. -- Salome 23:06, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for all your hard work Linsey

Hi Linsey, Malchior here. I haven't seen you in game recently which leads me to believe you are swamped with work. I (along with many other players) appreciate the hard work you do to keep Guild Wars a reliable and fun game to play. From your head designing, to now handling skill balance while Izzy works on GW2, you and the Live Team deserve some praises for the endless work you do. Apart from MB eles, GW PvP is the most balanced I have seen it in a long while, and you revived the fun in playing Ritualist PvE. Here's to wishing you and the Live Team a job well done. *Raises a glass and gives a toast* CHEERS!!!--Malchior Devenholm 17:31, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you Linsey!! CHEERS!!!!! -Eevee 21:15, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

Here, here! Good job and thank you Linsey! -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 21:47, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to extend thanks aswell, though not everything and everyone is perfect, most people never get the thanks they deserve. -Underated 21:59, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

I'm just glad some fulltime effort is being put into skill balance --ilr 22:31, 23 July 2009 (UTC)

LINSEY!! - Wuhy 17:13, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Read!

You're awesome. Keep at it. --The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Leo1993 (talk).

Upcoming Content/Features Update

Is it possible to share some news for the upcomming Content update in august. We are almost 4 months further so we can asume there is something new comming. Cult Mephisto 21:26, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

That's a pretty big assumption you're making. I like Anet and GW as much as the next guy, but Anet's done an exceptionally poor job, at least from an outsider's point of view, of being able to meet deadlines and keep to timetables. They said there would be a campaign every six months, then before they got around to making another campaign, it was like "Oh wait, nevermind, we've changed our mind, EotN will be out soon". GW2 beta was supposed to be last year, and we're over halfway through this year without any announcement regarding beta (or even a shred of info about GW2, for that matter). Somewhere, I believe one of the devs stated that beta was just pushed back closer to the release, and that everything else was still more or less on time. Personally, I find that hard to believe, as I don't see how anyone can get a calendar, circle a period of 12+ months, and say "OK guys, beta will be somewhere in here". That's not the way an efficient, tightly-run game should be handled and developed. They said there would be a huge HoM update, among other things, but we've only seen a minor change or two to the HoM. Monthly skill balance updates? Sporadic at best. But these are just my views, and I'd like to believe Anet's handling both GW1 and 2 very well, and that we'll have content updates, balance updates, an HoM update, etc.

All ranting aside, I doubt the news about a major or reasonably major content update would be broken by Linsey on her wiki talk page in response to some random post. So we'll more likely than not just have to wait until there's news somewhere, e.g. an update in one of the dev's journals. calor (talk) 11:24, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

"I'd like to believe Anet's handling both GW1 and 2 very well" - at this, I lol'd. A.net is increasingly tripping over furniture as they stumble in the dark trying to figure out what direction to take either game (and unable to find a light switch to illuminate themselves - maybe more effective community relations presence could have averted that ...) while GW1 is slowly strangling itself (and allowed to do so) in an ever-tightening noose of status, goodies and grind, whilst GW2 (which in effect is no more than a glorified WoW clone) slips further and further down the vaporware slope. If they'd taken their Live Team to do "minor campaigns" (I posted up a couple of 10-minute ideas for those on my Thoughts page - nevermind my rant about the last (non)content update they botched) I think people would have been happier, less frustrated more less likely to worry about GW2's slippage/shoddage ... oh well, just my couple of tarnished coppers (not Zaishen, so they're tradable) Clan Yumemiru 12:26, 27 July 2009 (UTC)

Cult, you may not have noticed, but Linsey has not answered a question on this page since May (yes, she's replied but not answered anything). We've been told that's due to her large amount of work. However, I can guarantee you that even if she answered, she wouldn't tell you anything. We have already asked Regina the same question and we got a generic, "We know how you feel..." response. So, just be patient and don't get your hopes up. Karate Jesus 16:10, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

That's not true, check the question archives, you'll see she posted just 4 days ago. She also made a huge effort a few weeks before to answer a huge back-log of questions in preparation for the Namespace Move... --ilr 20:44, 28 July 2009 (UTC)

Zone-Creep

"Shadow Form, MB and 600Smite are all problems with the format they are prevalent in. I don't want to nerf SF (though I think about it for every update), I want to fix the problems in UW/FoW/DoA. I'm still on the fence about 600smite on whether I should hit the build itself or the areas that are supposed to be high-end yet can be farmed with it. We have been discussing the MB ele at length, but as we see it, the problem is with the tiebreaker not the build. There are other builds that do the same thing as the MB ele, so just nerfing it isn't actually going to fix anything. So we are going to continue to work on the tiebreaker instead. Changes like that need more careful consideration than normal so it takes longer to get something onto Live. - Linsey talk 18:57, 7 August 2009 (UTC)"

First of all, it would just be terrific if everyone else who frequents here could simply absorb this comment without Armchair Quarterbacking it to hell, so that future viewers might enjoy it too. ....My actual question is: Who will be doing these Zone overhauls? Will this be the task of the new Designer you talked about in your Journal? ...and will it only be UW/FoW/DoA, or will this include other HM areas also affecting the material trade? --ilr 22:25, 9 August 2009 (UTC)

Thats (zone overhauling) is the second worst idea I ever saw about shadow form. --Boro 06:15, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

What was the worst? --Jette 07:01, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

One might argue that is was making Shadow Form permanently maintainable in the first place. Clan Yumemiru 07:29, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Linsey many people will hate it if you take away SF.Thats obvious but normal.you gave them something you never should have given them in the first place : Permanent immunity.MB ele's are a problem because they are mindless and there is no real way to mitigate the damage.You nerfed dwayna's touch but that won't cut it.The problem is not MB alone,or other skills alone.The problem arises when skills are limited by their energy cost.Guess what MB gives ... Lilondra *poke* 10:01, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Why don't you want to nerf SF? You all at Anet think it's okay to have a maintainable godmode in your game? --Arduin 10:29, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I still think that nerfing SF is not a solution, nor changing every area in which a 'god-mode' build works. Changing it to be as good or even better in teams, but not as good solo is the way to go. As most people has noticed, when SF is maintainend all the time, it is too much, and when it can't be maintained all the time, is completely undesirable in PvE for breaking the flow of the game. When changes in numbers no longer work, you change the letter. MithTalk 12:46, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Mith at this point revamp = nerf since nothing could outclass permanent invincibility ? Lilondra *poke* 13:00, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Weeeeell, technically speaking... --Jette 13:22, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Wait, what? They want to invest the time and effort into fixing the problem in the Elite Areas instead of just... bah! ~~000.00.00.00~~ 13:27, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

As 0's said, fixing areas is good. I still think SF needs to not be permanently maintainable however no matter what the change is, but thats just my 2 cents. -- Salome 13:54, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Don't forget about Deep and Urgoz. Whoever is gonna want to do a 4hr dungeon without SF to speed it up? And if SF is not maintainable (which I don't object to), then it should lose the "one hit and you're dead" crap, make it something like "lose 30-50% of your max HP", but not more than that, or it will be another Smiter's Boon. Rose Of Kali 15:44, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I've lead groups of people who don't know anything about deep/urgoz without any SF and it took 2 hours. Warrior and ranger tanks, respectively. 76.84.34.210 16:03, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Maybe you should accept that buffing shadow form was a mistake. Its time to admit your wrong, swallow your pride and revert it.

Redoing a whole zone because of one skill? That's not exactly wise use of resources. Zones that have been basically the same for 4 years, which players have been able to complete without exploits, are now going to be changed? Any changes made will affect legitimate player also, why should they be punished.

If you are going to redo zones, fix SF separately first. Instead of delaying the fix for months, because we know such an update will take a long time given the live teams limited resources.--77.97.23.248 16:25, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

You guys seem to keep forgetting that this isn't Izzy we're talking about. Maybe there's other reasons Linsey envisions some zone changes as well? Maybe increasing the overall quality or enjoyment of these zones for average folks is on the docket as well? IE: if the dynamic threat levels of most encounters (read: Mob skillbars) are altered to focus on these gimmick builds, then chances are they will become a bit easier for other builds that aren't as specialized. And if we know who's doing it and when, maybe we can reinforce that point that a lateral change is needed most, thus avoiding straight-up PowerCreep for every encounter... --ilr 20:19, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Dont forget that these places were made in the first guildwars edition and now we got 4. With new skills, bv pve only skills. Thats why these places are alot easier now then they should be. So redoing the zones is maybe not avoidable. Death Sligher 20:33, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Redoing zones is avoidable, but it shouldn't be. Eye of the North locations could be kept the same (minus a few builds that have been affected via nerfs and buffs and most importantly, via functionality changes). Both balancing skills (either buffing or nerfing) and changing monster bars (at least) are needed throughout the game. The later was, seemingly, never considered initially, unfortunately, and of course hardly done - but it should be just as much. I'm all for changing of mods, as long as it doesn't removing any lore value of NPC placements. -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 20:43, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

or just remove the bullshit pve-only skills, consumables, revert every pve skill version change to 2007.09.06. and balance to that, HM and NM, we would have an awesome pve then - Wuhy 23:31, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

PvE could be, to a relative degree, awesome! but that would require a level of work Arenanet aren't compatible of putting on a rebalance project. PvE is just too huge of a beast. The lazy thing to do is just the elite areas. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 23:36, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Well If SF is not wanting to be nerfed, what about the glyph or the echo that makes it a perma form? --Robot 22:58, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

That would be the same thing as hitting SF itself. - Linsey talk 23:33, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

@Robot: Not Glyph of Swiftness or Arcane Echo, but Glyph of Swiftness and Arcane Echo, also Deadly Paradox, Deadly Paradox is used in all Perma SF builds that I know off. Also when doeing UWsc you only need Deadly Paradox and an Essence of Celerity, so a nerf to both Glyph of Swiftness and Arcane Echo wouldn't ruin that.

Anyway I think a complete revision of some zones I think would be better, I'm gonna make a seperate page on this with suggestions. Don't wanna ruin this topic by posting it here :). It would not only be more exciting then another skill change but it might also give all professions a place within a team build designed to play and complete certain areas. Some elite areas, the way they are now, don't really give alot of room for diversity within a team.

I think the game needs both, revisions of certain areas and skill balancing. Qaletaqa Hania 23:49, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

(Reset indent) <holds up hands, looks to one> Change a few player skills, <looks to the other> redone zones.

Let's not mince words there, shall we? It's kinda funny (and somewhat sad) when you think about it: changing the zones has the same effect as changing the skills, expect one will take more time and effort to do. If you want to change the zones to help counter the overwhelming effecting Shadowform, for example, is having, changing them will in the end have the same effect as changing Shadowform itself, or it's associated skills. Stop treating the symptoms and go for the cause. You're just overloading yourself when, from appearances, a zone redo is more to counter farming than it is to refresh or balance these zones for the additions to the game that came after the initial zone creation. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 01:52, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Huh? Changing just the Elite zones allows those skills to remain the same in the rest of the game. What you're failing to hold up and weigh in both hands, is how many people use these skills for the Non-elite zones. (but that's why I specifically asked about those non elite zones that also affect Material Trade). Ya nerf the GodMode skills themselves and they could just plain stop working entirely in other areas where every other class retains their own Solo godmode options. I'm not saying that's a bad idea infact. But I would take note that retaining their "overpowered'ness" in the rest of the game appears to be a goal so far. (They'll never tell us what the Datamining tells them on that, so we really can't question it I guess) --ilr 02:37, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

I really don't want to see 600/smite hit :( It is a really, really fun build. And unlike SF, which is solo and allows us to do unimaginable things like uwsc, 600/smite has sometimes not only one, but TWO bonders being dragged along with you. And if any of the bonders are hit, you're *dead* In ways, it's a lot less overpowered than Shadowform. And many, MANY players are accustomed to things like dungeon runs. If we don't get the runs, how will we do things like Vloxen's Excavations HM? The rewards are not worth the time and effort. And sometimes it is not the difficulty itself of something, but the forming. I constantly read QQ that Guild Wars is now too so called "easy", but it can be quite the challenge when you're forced to H/H everything because Guildies never come help, the outpost is dead, you're limited to 3 heroes, and can barely have any team organization. It's even frustrating! As for drops, they're rare enough as it is, even with the concept of running. Plus running is a very big convenience for HM dungeon books and it greatly reduces the grind to increase that dreaded Vanguard title. Dungeons get boring and repetitive as it is. If 600/smite is nerfed, they will not be done otherwise because they really are that much of a waste of time unless they're run. This is coming from someone who has done them in both normal mode AND hard mode, Please consider not nerfing 600/smite since it never really broke the game like SF has with elite areas. It's not SF and it's definitely not Ursan. It is 600/smite and all it's ever done is give us a great farming convenience that is given to multiple people at once, and dungeon runs. I don't see it as that bad. --Kain Fy 04:28, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Nicholas be brokenz

Someone fell asleep when resetting Nick this week? He just says "Trophy greet text here." It better be something good... Rose Of Kali 15:39, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Oh, and I think he's supposed to be collecting Krait Skins. You know why? Because the merchant seems to think they are invisible and says that my backpack is empty even though I have one sitting there. Um never mind that, it kind of helped once I wasn't talking to a material trader... O_o /doh Rose Of Kali 15:47, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

I hope you know the changing for Nicholas isn't done manually... so this spot's dialogue was just overlooked by either John or Joe. If John, it'll be a longer fix, if Joe, just need to reprogram - which would also mean resetting the locations in which he has been (assuming it is random). -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 18:10, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

Hopefully any change won't re-reset the cycle, etc. --151.207.242.4 18:58, 10 August 2009 (UTC)

No it will not effect any thing, oh is that not what was said when Xunlai Tournament House was fixed 5 times only to be removed.

No resetting of the system in this case. His list of locations just got a little jumbled. Arbor Bay wasn't supposed to show up for another year-ish which would explain why the final text for it wasn't in that file. Heh. Let's never speak of this again. It gives me a headache just thinking about it. - Linsey talk 17:30, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Oh wow, I had no idea you guys were making that many places for him. I figured you'd put him on a 52-week cycle or something. Makes me wonder if his story will ever... evolve. --Ravious 17:56, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Same here, I din't expect him to ask that many items. "I just remembered not to make any suggestions >.<" --Ellisia 18:01, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Would anyone care to explain to me where he gets the eggs from, or how they've stayed preserved without hatching for 8 years? Or, for that matter, how they take up any space in the inventory, given how small a spider egg is? I'm also interested in why he needs any help with killing monsters and taking their stuff with the colossal amount of explosives he keeps on him. --Jette 19:50, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

And explain his location selection - by Linsey's wording, it seems like they are in a certain order and are in no way random. So which is it, ordered or random? (And on Jette's "how they take up any space in the inventory, given how small a spider egg is?" same way a big arse scythe or hammer only takes up one spot when they shouldn't even fit inside one's backpack! =D) -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 20:02, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

It's called "Suspension of Disbelief". Nicholas visits many places and collects many items. I don't see how knowing if it is random or not is relevant to anything. - Linsey talk 20:15, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Ordered. If any of the system was random it would be complete, as this week's screw up suggests it clearly is not. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 22:23, 11 August 2009 (UTC)

Knowing if it's random or ordered matters because if it's random then he's not telling us any connected story plot but just random bits. My guess is it's a randomly pre-generated sequence list of locations, just like the zquests are, so the devs can check the list and add just a few texts to appear in the following weeks to our gw.dat. --Yawg 04:46, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

Will Nich ever revisit places he's been to before? Because I'm wondering if there's much point to holding onto items he's previously asked for but which I didn't have at the time, only later. --Axwind 16:44, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Linsey said at some point that this "bugged" location wasn't supposed to show up for another year-ish. Thus it is safe to assume that he won't be repeating his pattern for at least a year, if ever. Imho, no trophy is worth the storage space for a year, no matter how hard it is to farm it. Rose Of Kali 18:03, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

Nick will have, at least, a 2 year cycle, maybe even more. There are quite a few explorables in the game for him to travel to. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 01:41, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Something lore-development related

File:Unused Scepter icon.png

Related to this quest?

On one hand, the thing i want to ask you about doesn't necessarily have to show that the lore was developed slightly different than possibly intended. Yet there's something i'd like to know.
Jette uploaded several semi-large skill icons a while back, among them this one (as seen right). He told me it was one of several icons, shown by an artist named "DougBot" which designed a bunch of icons for guildwars as seen in this thread.
Looking at the icon itself, it apparently depicts either the Staff of the Mists or the Scepter of Orr, although i doubt it's the latter one since the majority of his icons - especially the dark yellow non-player ones - are from Nightfall. This makes it quite possible that this icon was planned for some effect for the quest The Cold Touch of the Past, either punishing or summoning some sort of elemental creature from the Desolation, but was finally abandoned.
Do you possibly know what this icon was for?
Also, looking at the complexity of the apparently associated quest given that the icon was related to it, was there possibly a time where the Staff of the Mists was planned to get a greater importance, as part of a further mission in Nightfall which got later reduced to this quest?
I'd be glad to see an answer, hopefully i expressed myself comprehensible. —ZerphaThe Improver 21:51, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

I also found it interesting that the thread had a picture of a copper zcoin 3 years before it was released. Yay for use of past concept art! -- Salome 21:56, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

That's actually a Zaishen Medallion. - Tanetris 22:42, 15 August 2009 (UTC)

It's for Curse of the Staff of the Mists. I remember getting hit by it, before picking up the staff for the first time, after killing Turgar. 66.190.15.232 03:05, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Lag

If balance doesn't ruin it lag will.Yes linsey lag is still ruining all the fun.I lagged out 2ce,get heavy rubberbanding and stuff like that :/.Also reposting it because someone tagged it as a suggestion.Apparently playing captain obvious and saying lag is bad is a suggestion.Lilondra *poke* 19:47, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Given that most players are playing trouble-free I'd say the servers are fine. If you have a problem with the network, you should be dealing with Support at www.plaync.com instead of airing your concerns on Linsey's talk page. -- WarBlade 19:53, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Rofl @ the suggestion tag. Anyways, the horrible post-Bday update lag is gone for most people I know, including myself. Though, we did have 2 people lag out on my last attempt at the Deep trophy after the last Kanaxai's bounty. Incidentally one of them had just picked up a gold perfect stormbow dropped by someone for a tank to pull a mob out of the no-spells room. O_o CC longbow for pulling ftw. Rose Of Kali 20:00, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I don't know I'm still getting pretty hefty lag spikes and weirdly my computer was running fine playing aion. However I'm not complaining as I don't understand enough about network traffic to trace the issue, thus it may well be my or, more likely, a third parties fault. -- Salome 02:13, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

The thing I've noticed over the last 4 years is that anet's server connections get worse over time. ~Shard 02:37, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

The thing I've noticed over the past 10 years is that severs get worse over time. — Jon Lupen 03:25, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

I¡ve been tracing some difficulties in connections between countries in both sides of the Atlantic. I don't know if it is just my ISP or its default DNSs, but last Monday y could not resolve a single address in America, and connection to anything physically located there was a pain. We can enter now in conspiration mode. MithTalk 04:50, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Look both me,my friend and some guildies rubberband alot and have huge lagspikes.I sometimes see people in RA complaining aswell.Yes for some people there still is lag and anet WILL have to adress it Lilondra *poke* 06:16, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

LOL YEEN DOIN RA LOL LOL - Wuhy 07:29, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

U're just complaining to hard for you! Lilondra *poke* 08:32, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

^what he said - Wuhy 09:24, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

Lilondra. If you start tracking Guild Wars server IPs you'll soon find out that they are registered to NC Interactive Inc, not ArenaNet. Therefore I can't see that bringing the expectation that ArenaNet "have to address it" would be all that effective. Bug Support instead and see what they say. They are the ones tasked with the job of helping with your situation, far more so than Linsey does. -- WarBlade 09:38, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

If they are registered to NC then all hope is lost. There is no way that they will fix it --Boro 10:00, 20 August 2009 (UTC)

International Talk Liea a Pirate Day

Answered. This section has been answered and should be archived by Sunday, 30 Aug 2009 to questions

Quick Question: Will we get this event this year?Titus andronicus 19:10, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

on the international talk like a pirate day? http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ or is your Q more like when around sept will it start ingame? MrPaladin talk 19:12, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

That should be without question, shouldn't it? Recycling stuff is always easier than making brand new things. All the other mini-festival events appeaed again, like the Wintersday in July or Easter. MithTalk 23:21, 24 August 2009 (UTC)

Gee Mith, when you put it that way... >_<

Yes, we will have Talk Like A Pirate Day again. - Linsey talk 18:19, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, he wasn't wrong, was he? He's just telling it like it is. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 19:44, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

You guys should make a toolkit like Blizzard does with their games, so fans can make their own stuff. Then they submit it and if it's not garbage, ANet can implement with no work involved at all. omg a suejstion! o teh noes! --Jette 19:47, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Hey, don't get me wrong, getting recycled stuff is better than not getting anything at all, XD. Now, for the toolkit... I've seen those used befor, and the thing is that you'll need to go through a lot of garbage until you find usable stuff, and that would require people. The best way to save such kind of resources is letting people separate the wheat and from the chaff themselves until there is a few stuff, and then you need much less people to use that. Just letting everything thing in would make the GW.dat HUGE when using /image(unless user-made stuff was saved separately) and have a whole lot of legal issues as a bonus. "I could be wrong now... but I don't think so! It's a jungle out there... it's a jungle out there" (I love that show, XD) MithTalk 03:38, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Role of the dervish?

There have been a few discussions lately on the Dervish and the perception that it's fallen in the shadow of critscythe A/Ds and Warrior's Endurance W/Ds. One of the recurring themes in these discussions is the question of just where the Dervish was intended to fit in among the other melee professions - especially on the question of how much its intended to rely on the scythe as opposed to dishing out damage and conditions through enchantments. Can you give an official view on where the distinguishing lines were intended to be between the three melee professions? Draxynnic 14:07, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

Yes, please. Because as it stands, the dervish is outcompeted by W/Ds and A/Ds in just about everything it can possibly do; from scythes to survivability to (ironically) enchantment spam (which is pretty much useless to begin with when scythes and "Save Yourselves!" are so much more effective). So if it's not the optimal choice in any of these areas, what else is left? What is this profession supposed to be doing? What reason is there for playing them that we're missing? --131.91.231.121 17:24, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

This is an interesting question. I would guess the official answer could be that the dervishes are a melee profession that uses enchantments for various effects, but the question would be, which effects? It's easy to be very specific regarding the other melee professions: warriors are the executioners of GW, able to pressure with their auto-attack and to inflict strong spikes of damage with attack skills plus Deep Wound, while also having light shutdown (interrupts and knock down) and utility skills. Assassins focus on taking down a target quickly, having a lot more mobility than warriors but being more limited to a single target due to how the combo chaions work, packing more versatility thanks to the higher energy regen and also having some utility and light disruption. Meanwhile, a dervish...? Does Big Damage in an area?

A pity I'm sure someone is going to make a suggestion here (about how to "fix" dervishes) and then this section will be tagged away, but it's an interesting question. Erasculio 21:10, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

No, >>> This <<< is apparently all they ever intended the Dervish to do... Granted, in HM, they're an even bigger PitA now than the Annur-Ruk's(in NM). But that doesn't mean they actually have a role. Who ever recruits Dervishes in Dungeon outposts or elsewhere? They'd rather take A.I. controlled monks than a Derv. It's too late for Dervishes to get their own role even if they could protect as well as a Monk while tanking like a Warrior. The general population is often too stubborn to ever accept any kind of alternative to a Monk. More tweaks to the class would be nice but I don't know how they'd address that issue of widespread ignorance inherent in PuGs. --ilr 21:58, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I would like to address widespread ignorant in pugs by posting an IQ quiz on ANet's site. If you can't get above a 65, you get permab&, which would eliminate about 95% of the playerbase. Bonus points if they do it on April Fools' so everybody thinks it's a joke, and then a day later they get lolb&. I'm kind of a jerk like that though. Anyway, my opinion on the Dervish might be summed up by what Auron said a few days back: It's almost like ANet designed the class to be run by shitters, to farm other shitters. --Jette 13:21, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Aye, "big damage in an area" is the intuitive answer. However... is it intended to do that mostly with the scythe with PBAOE enchantments as supporting damage, or is was it intended to be primarily a PBAOE caster who happens to use a scythe as something to swing between spells? Additionally, even without secondary professions, big damage in an area isn't exactly something Warriors and Assassins lack - Assassins had the Moebius/Blossom combination before the recent update and a few more options and enhancements after, and every Warrior weapon has at least one means of dishing out continuous AOE damage as long as they're surrounded by enough enemies (swords can combine Hundred Blades with Whirlwind Attack, axes have Cyclone Axe and Whirlwind with choices of Warrior's Endurance or Triple Chop for the elite, and hammers have the Earthshaker/Crude Swing/Whirwind combination - all popular builds in PvE). Draxynnic 15:50, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

In teams, your targets don't stay bunched together. Half of them stand spread out casting while the rest go for your back-line, and since you're not a warrior, you don't have any knockdowns to change their 'aggro'. Dervs might have PbAoE damage, and they might be able to Heal... but they can't actually "NUKE" nor can they truly "PROTECT" their teammates. It's a good Solo class who just so happens to have its main soloing powers that actually require Skill to use, totally outshined by Assn's and Monk's that require none. --ilr 21:06, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

My derv has no problem getting parties, or doing anything I wish to do in the game (as demonstrated by her 27 maxed titles) all this Derv hate is silly. They are a fun profession to play. I have much more fun playing on my derv than I ever have playing on my warrior, and definitely more fun than I have ever had playing my ele (my absolutely least favorite profession in the game) or my monk. Why does a specific "role" have to be defined? They are another profession option that many many people enjoy playing for all sorts of reasons. -- Wyn talk 21:18, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, Good for you(and the people you know), but I once spent 90 minutes sitting in a mission trying to get a team on mine. Eventually I gave up and just went imp farming instead out of sheer boredom. ...meanwhile I can't even step foot in most dungeon outposts on my Monk without getting unwanted Blind-Invites. It' friggin' ridiculous how useless a Dervish is to most Teams...by comparison --ilr 21:27, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

To be fair, comparing the desirability of anything to a Monk is going to put the Monk in front - most parties want a 2- or even 3-character backline, and there are still plenty of players who haven't realised that the various alternatives to primary monks - E/Mos, resto Rts, N/Rts - are actually viable for most purposes. Conversely, all melee professions can have issues getting into groups unless they're permasins. To be honest, I'd actually be generally inclined to take a Dervish over a Warrior due to a similar effect as many have cited with Mesmers - the observation that the people who are still playing dervishes are those that can still be successful with a profession that is seen as less powerful than the alternatives. The real issue that's developed, though, is similar to what Ritualists had before the update a couple of months ago - the Ritualist itself was playable, but outshined by N/Rts. The Dervish, likewise, is playable, but is being overshadowed by Warriors and Assassins using their primary attribute and associated skills with builds that are otherwise essentially Dervish builds. Draxynnic 03:40, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

My Warrior gets into most teams without trouble. --ilr 19:01, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

I don't think Linsey is allowed to answer on the Dervish topic due to the rules she must follow. And I'm sure there's BS in the office that prevents her from fixing them too without nerfing the scythe options of other classes. Though one thing's for certain that she's aware that Dervishes have a problem. With the new update plans and a new developer on the team, I expect to see a fix soon. Enchantment Juggling and more things like Sand Shards, along with a big energy boost in mysticism, could really be helpful, and I expect I'll be seeing a lot more like it. I just hope that when they buff the Dervish, they don't actually end up nerfing them like how they changed Vow of Piety used by Orders Dervish, which're the only viable build left for Dervs.

~ Kain Fy --66.131.60.43 06:44, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Well, on the plus side, VoS runners are a lot more Fluid and compressed now. --ilr 23:51, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

And now for something completely different

It's been bugging me for some time now: how is "Shing Jea" pronounced? Is it Shing-jee? Shing-jay? Shing-jya? Or something else? ThaADVANCEnks, -- Hong 14:45, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

How the hell do you pronounce "ThaADVANCEnks"? -- Armond Warblade{{Bacon}} 14:51, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I would guess thanks in advance :3 – Emmett 15:29, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I've always gone with shing-jay. >_> -- Azazel the Assassin/talk 15:30, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

that would be advaTHANKSnce MrPaladin talk 15:31, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I Lol'd Azazel! That was great.

I've always used "Shing-jya" :S sounds more oriental to me. --Nekki 16:33, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

According to Plague in Cantha (cinematic), Mhenlo says "Shing Jea Monastery". I suppose that's where you can find out :). If I remember correctly (but I probably don't), it's "Jay"; I still say "Jee", though. -- Brains12 \ talk 17:32, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

I always read it as "Shēn yā," if Shing Jea does, in fact, use a Japanese pronunciation. — Jon Lupen 20:46, 25 August 2009 (UTC)

That would be more like She-n-gu jee-ah. But it can't be japanese because the japanese alphabet doesn't have a G with no vowel sound (chinese does though). -- Armond Warblade{{Bacon}} 01:15, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

And considering it's painfully obvious that Shing Jea = China... --Jette 01:49, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

It absolutely IS Chinese so ask your Chinese friends how to say it. ;) I've always thought the romanization of Chinese sounds is ridiculous- since when does a Q make a 'CH' sound?! And shouldn't it be advTHANKSance? Lol. --MushaTalk 02:13, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

That could very well be the case. It's hard keeping my little knowledge of the various Asian languages sorted out. Feel free to ignore me if I'm wrong. — Jon Lupen 15:03, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

In any event, the English voice actors pronounce it as "Shing" like "Shingle" and "wing," and "Jea" like "Jay." I think we can assume that's the "official" pronunciation, regardless of whether or not it's technically correct from a linguistic perspective. --Jette 15:38, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

I always pronounce the Canthan names as Asian names written in romaji. That way, "Shinhg Jea" would be pronounced in a similar way as "Sing, Yeah", but with a 'sh' instead of a 's', like this: [ʃɪŋ jɛə], also I go with Greek pronunciation for Luxon names (That is almost eactly the same as if you read them with Spanish accent), so 'Cavalon' won't be pronounced like "Cave-alon" but like 'Avalon' with a 'K' in front: "Kavalon", and for Kurzick names, I try to keep in mind that they are names inspired in Germanic languages. And I won't trust much the voice actors, when in some languages you get things like gender changes (in all Spanish voices, everyone speaks as if Kormir was male, also in some texts), that shows some lack of comunicattion that probably causes voice actors having to deice things on their on to speed up things.MithTalk 21:52, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

It's pronounced "Shing-Jay" in the in-game cutscenes. If it's not pronounced "Shing-Jay", then the NPC Shing Jea Sherman doesn't make a whole lot of sense. --Mystisteel 21:36, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

@Mith Talk, I'm Totally with you. I'v applied the Japanese, but never thought about the greek and germanic. Of Course, as Spanish is my language, I have always pronounced K-alavon. thanks Mith. --Nekki 15:50, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

I am chinese, I call it Shee-ing gee-er, so case closed. Pika Fan 12:13, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Hey

Thanks. Just in general.

I suggest you treat yourself to an ice cream or something, because I meant to say that quite some time ago.

Oh wait. Not supposed to make suggestions here, am I? :/

-- Armond Warblade{{Bacon}} 01:14, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Get one of these ♥ --Jette 01:52, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Pointless section is. . . well, you get the idea. ~Shard 01:59, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

lol oh man, i would also like to suggest going to the bathroom on regular intervals OH NO SHE CANT TAKE THAT SUGGESTION NOOO WHAT HAVE I DONE.-- Zesbeer 02:00, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Remember! Breath in then breath ou-EXPLODES- personn5 02:01, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

After hearing Kuntz tell about ArenaNet's room of sugar, I can't believe that anyone there would want more sugar. How about a smoothie instead? :D --Ravious 11:53, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Hey! I suggest you to organize a tank race in the server room. oo almost forgot: Regneration FTW --Boro 12:01, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

would be hilarious if this was tagged for being a suggestion, somebody fucking do this. --Cursed Angel 12:07, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

i would like to suggest that this section gets tagged for being a suggestion, then watch as the wiki implodes--BobbyT 16:07, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

I'd like to suggest everyone who reads this conversation to rage the hell out at the feedback process --Boro 17:02, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

Doesn't anyone read nowadays? Don't post suggestion cause of legal issues. Jeez, you'll get more results by talking to a wall <.<. (Roleplaying FTW :P) --MageMontu 19:07, 26 August 2009 (UTC)

only pvp is considered rpg in gw. --Boro 07:23, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

• There are no tracks going in or out. It looks like the corsairs avoid it completely. Perhaps we should learn from them and not travel that way.
• See those footprints in the mud over there? It looks like a patrol comes through here on a fairly regular basis. Perhaps we should conceal ourselves.
• Corsair camps! There. To the west. Our best plan is to stay close to the eastern wall here and head north around the camps.
• We've got to get past that camp. But look. You see those two corsair runners? Their job is to alert the other camps of any trouble.
  If they get away from us, they'll surely bring back reinforcements
  --You have followed 0 of 4 of Dunkoro's suggestions. YOU JUST LOST THE GAME--
  --ilr 02:51, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

The reason ANet players will always fail at moddok: They can't take suggestions --Boro 06:10, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Tonics

On behalf of friends who for some retarded reason can't figure out how to use the wiki: are there any plans to introduce new tonics? Are there any plans to make specific and/or specific everlasting version of Nick's tonics? And is there a reason why tonics can't be used in explorable areas other than some of the models being xbox hueg? --Jette 23:29, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Well we're going to have Everlasting Henchmen tonics when the new contest is over. And you can't use some of the tonic models, because they don't have proper animations as far as (player-like) attacks go. — Poki#3 (talk) 00:49, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, 20 players get something cool. That's bloody brilliant. Not to mention it'll be 20 players who are actually competent at the game, so it'll really to go to the 20 richest jackasses in the game who have nothing better to do than shake the layers of fat they've accumulated playing the game 24/7 at each other bragging over which of them has the most. Also: I would totally forgo some attack and spell animations for the ability to use those models. I think most people would, actually. Have you seen the way the Warrior's Construct attacks? They use the same model Mursaat do. It's totally awesome. They get the best spell and move emotes in the game, too. --Jette 03:04, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm sick and tired of seeing all this uber-exclusive crap that turns into nothing more but tokens of who's the richest bastard in the game who got away with buying money or farming. Someone apparently shelled out FIFTY FIVE THOUSAND ECTOS on a miniature, and there are only two things I can think of after seeing that. How the hell do you get that many ectos in the first place? And then, how the hell do you even trade them? 220 stacks of anything would take up a full account! O_O Now I just wonder how long it'll be before the 20 tonics (I'm assuming unique, one for each of the 20 winners' submissions) start trading in GtoB. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if it's like the one Kanaxai I saw on Ebay for $5,000 USD: sell that and who cares if you get banned from the game? Rose Of Kali 05:20, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

To answer your question on trading: I believe (although I've never traded on that level myself) that armbraces are the next level, going for something on the order of 55 ecto each. So the trade could have been made using four stacks of armbraces. How someone gets four stacks of armbraces is an exercise for the reader, but giving the benefit of the doubt when it comes to EULA-breaking activities, I'd guess it came from power-trading. Draxynnic 07:28, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

What's your second guess?--Gah_ 16:07, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

who cares this sounds fucking cool Xd - Wuhy 21:16, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

seriously a for linsey for figuring this out, i like player interaction - Wuhy 21:49, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

Commander Title

Hey im an old hero battle player, made money in past tourneys and such(you still owe me amazon cards /cry) and excited for the new arenas. my only issue is my commander title progression, is where im close to r8 which gets lengthy around that area. if i am unable to reach it by when the time comes, any way it can be rounded or something of that nature? would be appreciated, college > gw in importance --BMShen 23:40, 28 August 2009 (UTC)

"College>GW"

CASUALS --Jette 03:44, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

yea removal completely i feel is a bad idea... you might also want to post your journal update on the main page (www.guildwars.com) i cant say more with out suggesting what i think you guys should do...-- Zesbeer 03:54, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Pls do WHAT EVER YOU WANT but dont remove a way to push the command title ... This would be sooo bad, i dont know anything who likes this idea. Im sure there must be a way to higher the title after remove herobattles. Pls.

Maybe some day ANet will realise that it's the existence of PvP titles that's causing a lot of the problems. Without such titles there would be much less incentive to abuse mechanics. Xelonir 10:59, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

that is very true xelonir, but they are to far into it to turn back and i feel like they are going to rage a lot of people by just stopping the commander title dead in its tracks and adding another. because the last thing we need right now is another title. i would also like to point out that with the removal of ta (witch i am against) getting glad points is going to be a lot harder.-- Zesbeer 22:06, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

If Arena Net is reading this message, please take a large amount of considderation of what is being said and read it in its entirety.

Let me introduce myself. I am currently ranked 1st in the Nation (USA) for competitive archery, and was receantly accepted to the Olympic Dream Team (and will be competing in the 2012 Olympic Games).

Before you think this is irrelevent to the subject, please keep reading.

To me, Hero Battles is not simply an arena, or a farming spot on Guild Wars. Hero Battles, in fact, got me accepted onto the USA Olympic Team for 2012.

This is because Hero Battles is a game in which the player must rely on himself, and only himself, to win. The way this helps me with competitive archery is that in the sport, a large amount of 1 vs 1 experiance is required because archery is a VERY highly mental sport. My opponents only have a few hundred matches of 1 vs 1 experiance, but i have 10,000+ matches of experiance because of the mental game Hero Battles taught me.

Between my matches, I actually listen to the Guild Wars Theme on my iPod and shoot flawlessly the next round. During the World Team Trials, I made it to the final round and had to face the ranked 1st competitive archery in the nation (at the time was ranked 2nd). I won for one reason: before shooting this round, i listened to the Guild Wars Theme. It created a large amount of mental concentration due to the memories of Hero Battles which the music invoked in me. I shot a perfect Score and a National Record.

This is not only my training method, nor does this only benefit me, but this way of training has spread like a wildfire through the ENTIRE USA OLYMPIC DREAM TEAM. Currently, about 75% of the USA Olympic Dream Team plays Guild Wars, in particular, Hero Battles, in order to receive this 1 vs 1 experiance which can be provided nowhere else.

Arena Net, I am speaking on behalf of the entire USA Olympic Archery Team, and the Olympic Training Camp in California, when I say, We all ask that you please do not delete Hero Battles from the game, and that you simply create another Battle Island for another Arena. Feel free to e-mail me at zrank13@yahoo.com (Arena Net, Please send me an e-mail so i can cover the topics above more in depth.) --The preceding unsigned comment was added by 98.28.156.81 (talk).

I don't have to forward this to all my friends now, do I? King Neoterikos 07:15, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

SO Cash --ilr 05:21, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

sorry but this is irrelevant to my topic hehe, congrats though. my concern is commander points for next title, not removal of hb --BMShen 13:58, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Removing HB is probably one of the worst decisions I've heard in awhile. The only people who actively play Hero Battles are those who ENJOY IT. I have played through the campaigns, and now Hero Battles is the only thing keeping me playing this game, because it is fun. I'm sure a lot of people will be leaving, along with me. 76.176.201.149 18:49, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

@ archer Cool Story Bro, dosnt change the fact that hero battles is bad. and all of you who enjoy hero battles are in the minority as linsey said in her post.-- Zesbeer 03:21, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for opening the curtains to the community!

A lot of us actually already knew you guys were having some trouble behind the scenes anyways. But I just wanna say it was really awesome to finally come clean XD

The new ideas are awesome. I really like the new concept of bimonthly updates.

You also mentioned new pve hench bars? That also means no hope of 7 heroes, right? Disappointing, yet still nice to hear henchies wont suck as much. Mhenlo is a cool guy and I like to chill with him :P I hope to see the update add a lot more synergy to henchmen builds. The only good one off the top of my head is Zho in Eye of the North, and she abuses AI mechanics X_X

Anyways, good luck. Really, really looking forward to sealed deck PvP as well. We've been wanting it for awhile :3 --Kain Fy 04:01, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Isn't the hench update for pvp only? --MageMontu 06:25, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

she says in her journal that latter they will do the same thing for pve-- Zesbeer 06:31, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Point of clarification: no mention of using the Pollster or other datamining for it. ...Though anything would be better than some of the current builds. Mhenlo excluded o/c because eh got hawt healz and doesn't afraid a battle rezzing --ilr 10:01, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

=o somehow I skipped that part. Great, the Proph hench really need that change. --MageMontu 05:50, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Quick ? about Sealed Deck & SB

Is there any plans to change Smiter's Boon (PvP) now that Sealed Deck is becoming a reality, or will it be treated as a "banned" pick until it is changed? Anyone reading this, please do not suggest changes to the skill or anything, just hoping Linsey can give any info about how this will be handled, thanks! DarkNecrid 04:38, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Hopefully they will keep the true spirit of Sealed Deck, where the guy sitting next to you opens a Spiritmonger and you open Unnatural Selection. ~Shard 05:01, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Worst rare ever... --Jette 14:50, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

um can someone explane what a sealed deck format is?--Thedreadlordpie 18:23, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

search function -- Armond Warblade{{Bacon}} 19:28, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

Jette, you obviously forgot about this one ~Shard 18:43, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

That's a rare!? Holy crap! I always knew that was one of the worst, but I thought it was a terribad uncommon or something. It's like an elite Smiter's Boon. —Jette 22:45, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Probably a stupid question, but i'll ask anyway...

← moved to User talk:Regina Buenaobra

zquest for sealed deck?

just asking if there is going to be a zquest for the sealed deck, as i will be loseing my hero battle quest that earns me 2.5k a win when the update comes Thedreadlordpie 20:24, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

the TA and HB zquest will obviously be removed anda SD zquest will be added InfestedHydralisk 20:26, 29 August 2009 (UTC)

How about the herobattle and team arena titles?Death Sligher 11:37, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

you can still get the Glad title through RA. The HB title track will be frozen, and a new title track will be introduced with the new SD arena, as the Commander's counterpart. This means if you didn't have chance to max the commander title, or get the statue for the HoM, the new title will act as an equivalent (if you max both the commander and the new title, you only get 1 point to the KoaBD title, and you can only ever display one of the 2 statues in the HoM). ~ PheNaxKian 12:58, 30 August 2009 12:58, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

I'm surprised that they even made a distinction about KoaBD. The only pvp title ever maxed so far is the hero title, nobody's ever maxed the Commander title and I doubt they ever will before HB is removed. So I doubt this'll even matter, since no one will have ever earned a point for the KoaBD title from the commander title. Underated 16:24, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

That's one of the two things I don't like about the GW titles; they're all impossibly unattainable (the other problem, of course, is that they exist). —Jette 16:38, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Personally, too, I prefer my HA, AB and TA teams completely full of useless scrubs who pretend to know crap. ---Chaos- 18:09, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

You ask for a rank in AB o.O 24.6.127.61 18:57, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

With HB Being Removed

Let me say a few things: A) I don't want to see HB removed. It's never my favorite format (GvG/HA), but (when my current only other option is RA) it's a decent way to pass some time. B) I'm excited about sealed deck. C) Many, many people would like to hit some final tier of their commander title before it's gone forever. D) Having a vague sense of the impending death of HB, you've told us that it will remain intact through a final monthly. E) Having seen other major content updates, they usually don't arrive on the first Tuesday build or the second Tuesday build, they're usually third or later. This is nearly another full season. All of these points bring me to two final questions: Will the removal of HB absolutely coincide with the content update, will it be a week before, will it be a week later, will there be advanced notice to players, etc? Secondly, as a final weekend event before HB is removed, can there be an "HB's Last Hurrah" with 3-4 times multipliers (dare I say 5) on commander titles? If it's going out, let it have it's bang. (As an aside, I don't care about HoM title stacking, but what about PvP faction caps?) 24.126.215.181 17:44, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Removing HB is a terrible decision, but I agree with your "Hurrah" idea. Removing the format totally, wow. 76.176.201.149 18:55, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Maybe they could just remove TA and replace it with sealed deck and leave HB, but that creates a sort of a double standard. Linsey also mentioned that they'd be using some of the old HB maps, but altered, so maybe that means the old maps can't continue to exist? I like HB too, but idk. Underated 19:10, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

it is just a broken format that needs to get fckin erased, people exploit it, they decide matches by rolling, rock-paper-scrissors, and you wanna give these ppl their final ranks? no, they have 1 month to do their bullshit, then HB will be removed, point. - Wuhy 21:51, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Addin more PvP modes would spread more the PvP playerbase. It's better to keep then concentrated. So the most deserted modes get the kick. MithTalk 22:01, 30 August 2009 (UTC)

Just because it gets abused is no reason to delete it. And I'd say once you get into about the top 6000 rank wise resigning for wins is scarce. It's not like everyone does it. Mith has a viable point though- spreading of the player base IS bad- thus a deletion makes sense. Underated 02:18, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

@everyone in this topic who thinks hb is a good idea and something worth keeping over ta, your wrong all hb is is gimick builds and broken mecanics with heros and pve. -- Zesbeer 03:26, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Here's the REAL problem with removing Hero Baddles. There will be significantly fewer AI bug reports, since the most dedicated testers discover most of the bugs through HB.

And, unfortunately, certain skill tweaks which were made to fix HB issues (and sometimes made more problems in other areas) issues probably won't get undone. Vili 点 03:32, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Definitely contains a suggestion and should be tagged... To everyone H8'ing on deleting being the solution, yeah it sux but how else is Anet supposed to bring together that fractured PvP playerbase?? --ilr 04:12, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

The "fractured PvP playerbase" isn't as big an issue as that combined playerbase being tiny. There really isn't any way for PvE players to get into PvP.

If they're "average" PvE players and they decide to get a guild together and GvG, they're going to start at 1000 rating and get rolled every time for a while - how often do these people say, "You know what? This isn't fun." and stop hitting "Guild Battle"?

Then there's HA. There are four ways to get into HA:

1. Have a guild that plays HA - this is probably the best way, but how many PvE players can boast this?
2. Have ranked friends - it is important that these friends are ranked, because in order to form decent-ish groups, these friends need to be able to recruit ranked players. While PvE players with ranked friends may not be as uncommon as PvE players with HAing guilds, it's still pretty unlikely.
3. Have a rank - this, obviously, isn't the way anyone is going to start out.
4. Form unranked groups - good luck getting off of Underworld. This is the same situation as starting GvG - your team is not good at it, and you start off playing against teams who are (relatively).

I don't think it needs to be said again at this point, but it is *difficult* for new players to get into HA.

What about TA and HB? Well, those are TBR at this point. They're to be replaced with Sealed Deck - how many PvE players are going to care about that? The PvP community seems to be hyped, but how will this increase the size of the PvP community?

So what does that leave? Random Arenas? AB? JQ? FA? While RA leads lead into TA, then HA (both of which are difficult to start up; one for aforementioned reasons and the other because of Reflected and co.), where do AB, JQ, and FA go? They're low-end PvP that *never* leads into high-end PvP.

In a nutshell: PvE players have a difficult time getting into PvP *when they want to at all*.

If you were to poll the PvE playerbase, how many of them would know what HA is?

That schism between the PvE and PvP playerbases is, imo, something deserving more attention than "uniting the PvPers". Raine - talk 16:48, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I think Sealed Deck will actually appeal to a lot of PvE players and lower-end PvP players as well. It's a good way to introduce people to PvP, w/o them freaking out about team mechanics. Btw, getting into a guild that HA's is really not that hard for PvE'ers. I think the problem here is that too many PvE'ers have heard that HA guilds are rank discriminatory and have stereotyped it, which from the outside I can understand, but tbh it's really not that hard to find a guild to teach you....and HA in general is really not hard. I know several guilds that take unranked players and teach them w/o any requirements. If PvE'ers actually wanted to get into HA, I'm sure it would be easy, but it seems that too many of them are happily settled in screaming "IZ 2 BIASED!!1!" to even try or care. Karate Jesus 17:24, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

World PvP in GW2 may help with that schism, actually, or so I've heard. It's something I'm interested in seeing -- as little faith I have in it, I am still interested in seeing what GW2 turns into. Now, in my opinion, the smart thing to do would have been to implement that sometime back in '07 in GW1, rather than make a whole new game for a bunch of stuff nobody is really going to care about, but I guess it's not my company anyway. —Jette 17:30, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

"World PvP" scares me. Look at WoW's PvP. It's a joke. I just hope GW2 doesn't end up like that. Karate Jesus 17:31, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Oh that's right, I forgot. I was expecting them to do it right for a minute there. Silly me. —Jette 17:53, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Worst case Scenario... it ends up being like CoH's "zone PvP"... only with a dev team that actually tries to balance around PvP every month instead of doing nothing at all for 3 years. And don't you PvP peeps even try saying they didn't balance GW enough for PvP b/c as a PvE'er I had to put up with atleast 3 straight years of PvE nerfs every month b/c of PvP balancing. --ilr 23:15, 31 August 2009 (UTC).

@Raine: Thank you for the thorough explanation. It doesn't really answer my question but it raises a good point. I guess Linsey's biggest task now is convincing everyone that the PvP community can still grow or atleast be maintained. --ilr 23:27, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

@KJ: WoW's PvP is a joke because of mechanics like stealth and crowd control, not because it's world-based. For world-based PvP, it's actually half not-terrible (and Aion's world PvP is pretty awesome too).

@Raine: Lol @ alliance chat. -- Armond Warblade{{Bacon}} 23:38, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

What is the Goal of the live teams future skill balances?

Some will wonder why I am asking this specific question. To balance the game D'oh?

The thing is I have a more particular question than just this. The best way for me to ask my question is to ask a few questions with a little bit of elaboration.

1. Do you and your team see your skill balancing role as mixing things up to provide a metagame that changes more regularly?

Providing variety is a good thing but at what cost? If variety is a desired end will this be desired rather than balance?

2. What kind of builds do you want to be seeing in the monthly tournaments?

The community has a high regard for builds that require more skill than others. We call these builds balanced builds. Would you like to see them played in the finals with a viable chance at victory?

3. Will you fix problem skills faster than before?

In the past it was felt that the company had an attitude of "well maybe its not that broken so we got to observe it in play a bit more". The problem is that this is applied to skills that need to be fixed yesterday. Examples include Mindblast, Escape [on rangers with melee weapons] etc etc.

The game is mature eneogh now that the consensus of good players is almost always correct. Will you guys listen to those players more?

Paul

Due to the current licensing terms, Linsey is unable to accept or comment on user-submitted suggestions of any— oh, what's this? Alright, hold on, lemme think...

Due to the current licensing terms, Linsey is unable to divulge information regarding the development of future plans for Guild Wars until they have been slated for release. —Jette 02:32, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Ewww, "Gotcha!" questions. Regarding #1: Isn't keeping FotM's from becoming FotY's enough for you? ...Regarding #2 & #3: Those are Known-Unknowns until an actual process develops. --ilr 04:33, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I do not think that those questions fall under the category of future plans for guildwars that cannot be revealed. The reason is that Linsey has already said they want to do bi monthly skill updates. I am not asking for particular skill balances. It should be fairly obvious that this is a general question asking to clarify CURRENT intentions. These intentions about very frequent skill balances have in case you missed it Jeffe are in the public domain in linseys own blog.

Secondly these are the kinds of questions that need answering.

Thirdly its not so much about FOTM becoming FOTY rather a case of imbalanced and broken build being left to rot the game for months on end. If a build is healthy for the game its no biggie.

Paul

Traveler

It looks like he is missing text again.Death Sligher 16:06, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Fixed, hope it helped.Death Sligher 20:08, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Drakkar Lake

I noticed the Dwarven Miners in Drakkar Lake yesterday as well as the glowing effect over the dragon frozen in the lake. I like subtleties such as these. Great job with the design. --RoyHarmon 18:31, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Nic

• "Nicholas the Traveler is no longer depressed, making him much more responsive."

YAAY! lol. --Boro 14:11, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

• "Nicholas the Traveler has been brushing up on his language skills."

Good for him xD Elemonk Nibo 07:38, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

PvP updates

This looks very promising for the PvP community, we have always felt like Anet didnt care for us. This is the first time in a long time me and some others feel like PvP is getting some attention.

Just wanted to say thanks <3, however don't balance less, you should do it more. For the sake of GvG(R/A's. Lord Damage. Party Heals.). 86.89.203.194 16:30, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

It doesn't neccessarily have to mean they are balancing less if they are using that extra time to make the balances bigger and better and generally more solid. Not rushing things is gud. DarkNecrid 17:24, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

But surely small quick and to the point nerfs more often are more beneficial than the large updates can ever be alone. E.g. The shadow prison nerf from aaaaaages ago. 218.214.126.215 22:35, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Or look at the current meta now, the last thing we need is a balance update to take another month at least. King Neoterikos 03:05, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

PvP updates are nice. Global updates are even better. Hopefully we'll get power scaling down (nerfs) rather than more power scaling up (buffs). Power creep maek 480 health sad. When do updates happen again? The first thursday, or the second? —Jette 03:06, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

The next balance update is scheduled for next week. It's the last one before going to the bi-monthly schedule. The problem with doing lots of little fast balance updates is that we would only be able to do "reactionary" balancing. That is a mode from which it can be difficult to see long term effects and difficult to see all the consequences of making the change. We've been basically doing that for the past 6 months plus and would like to try a different approach. It's definitely not less work to do it this way because of all the time it takes to interface with the community and Test Krewe. But what it does do, is let us be more deliberate in our decisions, let us test them out more and gain feedback from a wider group of players before the build goes out. That way we are more likely to catch potential balance problems before they have the chance to damage gameplay on Live. And that's a good thing! The need for fast reactionary balances will lessen if we aren't introducing problems as often... - Linsey talk 18:24, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

A Question For Linsey

Hi, I was speaking to you yesterday in game about Hero Battles but you had to leave mid-discussion and I was wondering if I can post everything you said on guru? And I was wondering if their was any way to send you a private message on wiki, I am new too wiki and I looked for like 20 minutes but this is the only place I could find to contact you. And if someone else can answer both of these questions for me please do and remove this. X tigercat x 04:08, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

You have to register a valid email account to be able to send and receive emails (and so does the person you want to mail). The link to mail people appears at the left while you're viewing their page ("Email this user") ~Shard 04:56, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Alrite Ty Shard I had no idea. Now I just need to know if I can/cannot show our convo. X tigercat x 05:06, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

I Hope I will still be able to play fun builds

I like playing magebane ranger in TA even against hexway/shoveway, I hope I will be able to do the same in the new format :) 11:40, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

It depends on what skills are available in any given week. - Linsey talk 18:27, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

The bug that wasnt a bug, the fix that wasnt a fix

fyi people are still able to sync in RA, oh and you forgot to apply the patch to JQ/FA which have the same issues --77.97.23.248 14:25, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Yea, FA/JQ are both still easy to sync. Same thing with RA. It's a little tougher to do, but it definitely wasn't "fixed"....and I don't see how it was a "bug" in the first place. Karate Jesus 15:11, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

it not really a bug, you enter with people that press enter roughly around the same time as you, it a mechanic on how the queuing system works, people just use that mechanic to sync, i see no way on how that is a bug.--BobbyT 16:08, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Yeah, at this point, it's all about how many people are playing. If there are only 8 people trying to get into FA or JQ, then all 8 will be on the same team. Not really anything we can do about THAT. - Linsey talk 18:09, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

What about the syncing in RA? It's still pretty easy to do. Can't you guys do something about it? (besides just making RA pull from all districts >.<) Karate Jesus 18:14, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

We could increase the timing to 60 seconds to increase the pool of players it's pulling from, but if there aren't a lot of people playing at any given time, then it's not going to be very hard to get on someone you know's team. It does randomize all the players in the queue before teaming them up, it's not like it's pairing 1+2+3+4, 5+6+7+8, etc. - Linsey talk 18:27, 2 September 2009 (UTC)