Original Post — Direct link

Hi all,

Today we’re thrilled to launch “Out of the Shadows”, the kick-off of Living World Season Three. Today’s release also includes a new Fractal and revamps of existing ones, a new PvP map, new guild upgrades, skill balance changes, and more.

It’s a release day, so our whole studio is spending as much time as we can playing the game with you on the live servers today, interrupted of course by hot-fixing issues as they come up. We want to take some time out this afternoon to hang out with you here on Reddit and talk about today’s release.

As always, the ground rules are that we’re here to answer questions and chat about today’s release, but not to make promises or revelations about future releases.

Here’s who’s joining us so far today.

From the Living World team – Andrew Gray, Andrew McLeod, Angel McCoy, Anthony Ordon, Brett Nellermoe, Erik Fagerstrom, Jessica Brasz, Joe Kimmes, Linsey Murdock, Heather Conover, Melina Mitchell, Sara Kanavel, Sonya Ballas

From the Fractals team – Benjamin Arnold, Sean Hughes

From the PvP team – Evan Lesh, Grant Gertz, Joshua Davis

From the WvW team – Dara Potocska, McKenna Berdrow

From the skills and balance team – Karl McLain

From the raids team – Byron Miller, Paul Ella

From the engine team – Ester Sauter, Jon Olson

From the web dev team – Kevin Cameron

From the comms team – Anatoli Ingram, Gaile Gray, Kevin Ip, Rubi Bayer

And we’ll loop in as many more devs as we can.

Ask away!

Mo

Edit: Thanks everyone for the great questions! We're going to wrap up here because most devs are back to bug-hunting or playing. We'll see you in the game.

External link →
over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by pungkow

Hey guys, I love the new Quality of life changes, especially the salvage right click feature. Are you going to be doing further quality of life changes in future patches, and do you have anything in specific that you think might make it in to the next patch but didn't make it into this one?

Most of the QoL changes from this patch were a result of some down time between teams/larger projects for me. It's usually what I try to do whenever I'm blocked on whatever I'm supposed to be working on. I don't usually plan it ahead, it usually just comes from a suggestion from someone in the office/reddit/forums that happens to be low enough hanging fruit to fit in whatever gap in my schedule I have. I'm not entirely sure that's how everyone else does it, but we play the game and the things that you guys want, we usually do too.

over 8 years ago - /u/ANet_Grant - Direct link

Originally posted by Silieol

I was super excited to see the return of the Capricorn sPvP map. Managed to get in one match before the server crash, it seems really awesome so far. Will the map eventually enter the 'Ranked' map selection? Also, are we likely to be seeing any more new sPvP maps in the next year or so?

One of the priorities for the team is to create new maps for sPvP. We can't say how many we will get out over the next year but we intend to include new maps as part of our teams content creation.

As for putting Capricorn into rotation, that will depend on community reception.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by timleftwich

What feature/event/update did you guys implement in this patch that made you sit back and go, "Yeah... they'll like that one."

Easily "Salvage All"

Every time someone in the office heard those words, it was usually followed with something like, "Oh that's happening?!"

The internal feedback and suggestions on it were great, and it ended up really polished and solid.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetAnthony - Direct link

Originally posted by sarielv

Any remaining undiscovered recipes for the old Forge, or have we finally tapped it out?

We can always add more. What kinds of things are you still hoping to find?

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetAnthony - Direct link

Originally posted by Seasniffer

Trump or Hillary. (Should of made it Gnashblade or Kiel)

Gnashblade 2016.

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by darapotocska

I'd be a mesmer, so I could mesmerize everyone around me and shatter all illusions! \o/

I'd be a warrior so I could shout for everyone to shake off Dara's terrible puns. She drives me berserk. ;)

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by delpahz

Will the next LS update be as large in terms of content and QoL updates as this one was?

QoL can be a little hard to predict. The more low hanging fruit we take care of, the more difficult it can be to come up with more cool ideas.

Also a somewhat relevant response: https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/4uqx15/out_of_the_shadows_devs_here_ask_us_anything/d5s1c73

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by SirLazarus

What's your favorite change and why is it mass salvaging?

Because I wrote the code for it! =D

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetAnthony - Direct link

Originally posted by sarielv

A lot of the puzzles we see are simply scripted. Once you see the solution, the solution is the same for every time you repeat the challenge. Would you consider a puzzle that is procedurally generated, so that it is solvable but not something you could simply get out of a guide?

In this case, I think you're talking about having a random order each time? I had prototyped an adventure for Verdant Brink that worked like this a long time ago, so its not impossible, just harder.

In what context would you want to see a more open ended puzzle games? As part of future instances like this? As part of events in the open world?

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by ANet_Heather

Do I have to choose?? T-T

Not at all, Heather. You can enjoy a Boston Cream Pie -- the deliciousness of a cake meets... uhh... the mathematic perfection of Pi. ;)

over 8 years ago - /u/ANet_Grant - Direct link

Originally posted by sarielv

Any chance of a 5th 'season' in PvP so those of us un1337 enough to finish the legendary backpack in 4 can claw out a little more progress before eventual failure? XD

There will still be a path to achieve the back piece in future seasons. We currently do not intend to prevent players from progressing the backpack after season 4.

over 8 years ago - /u/SquadLeaderBennett - Direct link

Originally posted by windwarrior

What is the darkest, weirdest corner of GW2's engine that no developer even thinks about touching? Or did you guys find a magic bullet for Technical Debt?

a fellow software engineer

For me, it is 'MapLayout'. The system that sets up the smooth Google earth style world map is, in many ways, a practice of the dark arts. Any time someone wants to add something to that system I pad in at least an extra week to peel back the layers.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetAnthony - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

Re: Tidbits, Bloodstone Elementals that explode into smaller Bloodstone Elementals worked out way better than I thought it would. Now I just need to make a legendary that splits into 3 champions and so on...

over 8 years ago - /u/Joshua_Davis - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

Evan Lesh, Grant Gertz and Joshua Davis: I haven't played the new map. Could you please describe it to me in the best way you can? I'm an avid PvPer so please explain it with as many comparisons or metaphors you'd want.

Lion's Arch meets Pirates of the Caribbean, but none of the pirates can swim.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_KarlMcLain - Direct link

Originally posted by Lemon30

  • We have seen some minor split skill examples between some game modes in today's patch. Are we going to get a major skill split between WvW/Pve/PvP in later patches or is this going to be the trend?

  • Why don't we get more balance changes between season depending on the player feedback?

  • Is there a chance to get a Public Beta Environment like the one WoodenPotatoes had in his video to test skill changes beforehand? Wouldn't it also be easier for devs to make changes on PBE than waiting to push them to the live client together with the content patches.

  • Are we(eles) going to get our mh sword with the next xpac?

Thanks for doing this AMA! I'm going to enjoy the new living story in a bit but I'm a little bit upset about the ele nerfs atm.

Some of the skill splitting tech is new and compliments our old tech to the point where we are much more comfortable with making splits. Are we going to look to split everything and have completely separate skills between game modes? Probably not. The splits shown today are a good example of the kinds of changes we'll be going toward in the future.
As for he frequency of balance, we want to give time for things to settle and gather information/feedback as to the current state of things. We've done some changes 'mid-season' before and will do them again as necessary, but will try to not repeatedly shake things up over a short period of time.

-Karl

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sarah - Direct link

Originally posted by SuperRetardedDog

Why are the hairstyles same for Male/Female on anything but human/norn and why are the human and norn hairstyles just swapped?

Feels kinda disappointing after waiting for so long. The male asura hairstyles make no sense... :(

Players have requested more cross-race hairstyles and we wanted to support that request. While looking at some of the more popular hairstyles for cross-race use there were some culturally aesthetic and physiological restraints. Human and Norn share more similarities and were a more natural choice when creating cross-race hairstyles.

over 8 years ago - /u/SquadLeaderBennett - Direct link

Originally posted by Adriaen6

If you could be one profession for a day in real life, what would it be and why?

Necromancer. I'd be glad to have an army of undead servants to do my bidding.

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by Nebbii

What does the bloodstone taste like?

I sort of imagine it tasting like concentrated imitation cherry flavoring. Don't know why though.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sarah - Direct link

Originally posted by XephyrGW2

Alright here comes the most important question, pie or cake?

Add my vote for pie!

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by digitalruse

What would you rather fight: One Tequatl sized pocket raptor or 100 pocket raptor sized Tequatls?

So if the Tequatl sized pocket raptor's ability to leap at you scales directly with its size, then definitely the 100 tiny Tequatls.

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by digitalruse

What would you rather fight: One Tequatl sized pocket raptor or 100 pocket raptor sized Tequatls?

Pocket Tequatl party for the win! Glide over its pocket-sized tidal waves, and stamp on it as it obligingly stays in one place.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_KarlMcLain - Direct link

Originally posted by BrunoBRS

@Karl

why did you (assume when i say "you" i mean "the team") feel it was necessary to revert the venoms' radius to 240? the baseline venomous aura is a huge step forward in making condition thieves competitive, and i'm more than fine with the reduction in stacks in some of the more, err, problematic venoms, but at the same time, the radius was reduced back to 240, which is a huge step back.

a few years ago that was the standard radius, and by ANet's own admission, it was really bad to try and share venoms with a radius that bordered on melee range, which is why the radius had been updated to 360. and now, just when venom sharing is finally carving its own niche, it immediately gets a nerf that makes using it optimally, even in a PvE setting, clunky and unreliable.

i'd really like to know what was the team's thought behind that. if it's PvP-related, why not split the radius like it's been done to so many other skills in the game this patch? or, hell, i'd compromise for 300 radius. but most of all i'm curious to know the reasoning behind the change, because from where i'm standing, it kinda looks like "two steps forward, one step back" for the sake of it.

When we increased the radius of the aura, we did so because it was a skill-modifying grandmaster trait that you had to make a trade off for. As there's no longer a trade-off, decreasing the range felt necessary, as it in turn increases the positioning requirement of the thief and somewhat increases the skill cap. We'll continue to monitor the effectiveness of the utility set and adjust as needed.

-karl

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by selendra

Where's the memorial for my side-salad Trahearne? :c

My fellow devs are currently discussing creative ways to combine hedges with the new guild hall grave monument to create a truly fitting memorial. ;)

over 8 years ago - /u/Joshua_Davis - Direct link

Originally posted by darapotocska

There was a time where the Bouquet of Roses could be thrown at enemy creatures. When they caught the bouquet, they would get a new set of skills that they didn't recognize and would freeze up. Basically, they were defeated by gifts of love and would lock up till they were defeated. Joshua Davis found this one. =p

I can't believe it's been 3 years already. o.O

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by Furin

Whose idea was it to have the one asura in Rata Novus say "excuuuuuuuuse me," and why didn't she follow up with a proper asura replacement for "princess?"

Assuming this is a reference to the Legend of Zelda cartoon of old, you win cool points. :)

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sarah - Direct link

Originally posted by Kirito153

What is your favours Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle character? Also did you watch the new tmnt movie

Yes, I've watched the new TMNT and Raphael remains my favorite turtle but I'd say Will Arnett would be my favorite actor from the movie :)

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by ProxieOknesay

Did you ever play the game and got so pissed off about something that you did first thing in the morning the next day at the office?

That has happened many times. Usually it's small bugs, sometimes it's small QoL things.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_KarlMcLain - Direct link

Originally posted by SansSariph

/u/Anet_KarlMcLain, I think this one is for you.

Myself and several friends were expecting a nerf of some sort to Epidemic today. I'm a reaper main and have always loved DoT-based classes, but Epi seems a bit strong when you have multiple necromancers bouncing conditions.

How does the team feel about this at the moment?

There's a bit of inconsistency with the ways that condition copies function and we are looking into how we can normalize it. Once that's solved, we'll be able to better evaluate epidemic's current effect.

-Karl

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sarah - Direct link

Originally posted by Jedioptimus

With the new backpiece/glider combo why can you dye the glider part of it but the backpiece reverts to the original color when you done gliding. It looks really wonky and i wish when dying it it worked across back pack and glider functions.

Backpacks and gliders are different items and came into the game at different times with different goals, needs, and different technologies available. By the time we were developing gliders, we were able to intentionally create them so that they could be dyed and had missed that opportunity with backpacks. My toon also has the new Shining Blade Backpack and Glider Combo that are mismatched due to this.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_SeanC - Direct link

Originally posted by SquadLeaderBennett

For me, it is 'MapLayout'. The system that sets up the smooth Google earth style world map is, in many ways, a practice of the dark arts. Any time someone wants to add something to that system I pad in at least an extra week to peel back the layers.

Can confirm, MapLayout has a lot of pieces that are pretty much elder sorcery. I'm working on making it more user friendly right now, but sometimes I Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn feel like it's a neverending task.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_KarlMcLain - Direct link

Originally posted by Petrillss

On behalf of most Ele players, we can agree that a damage nerf was needed. However, the cooldown increases make rotations clunky and unsatisfying to use (fire/lava font specifically). Is there any chance we can see the old cooldowns restored and instead apply the nerf to the skill damage directly? I’m all for game balance but I really want my main class to be enjoyable to play.

Hey all,

Regarding the cooldown (training) traits, the previous 33% reduction caused skills to be too effective when traited, causing issues with both offense and defense game-wide. As such, they've been normalized to a more appropriate 20%. As for Lava Font, this particular skill was causing an undesirable amount of sustained damage in prolonged fights. We worked with development teams across content types and felt that keeping the damage per-cast of the ability as is was more desirable than a reduced damage value and same cooldown. We understand the concerns and perspectives presented here, but believe we need to give the changes some time before we look to make alterations to the profession.

-Karl

over 8 years ago - /u/exackley - Direct link

Originally posted by VegetaLink

I love your sound team who made the quake sounds and the intruder alarm sounds during the event? And how? Lol best devs na.

Hello, thanks for listening. Drew "Fireball" Cady built the rumble "quake" sounds from some sounds that were already in the library. He was also the one that hooked up the Alarm sound, but that sound was originally done by Joseph Clark.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sean - Direct link

Originally posted by Danix20

Is there any chance of getting gliders on fractals? And is there any plan for a gliding fractal? Thanks

No, we want to keep Fractals accessible to non-HoT players, so we can't require Gliding for Fractal completion.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sean - Direct link

Originally posted by Ahlec

The old system of queueing for fractals and then being sent to an unknown fractal was inherently unpredictable and the whole experience led to unfun things such as rolling for swamp, and getting rid of the randomisation factor made the process a lot more streamlined. Lore-wise though, it always felt more in-line with what fractals were supposed to be, that you'd just walk through a portal and wind up... somewhere. And now that you're committing to putting out fractals once again, won't the continued addition of fractals make reassigning them a pain for both the developers as well as the players who get used to which fractal is what? The new UI would help, but are there any plans to go to a different system?

We've talked about it. No solid plans yet.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sean - Direct link

Originally posted by Kamahil

Any chance to make it so Retaliation can't get stolen from players in scale 81+ Fractals? Guardians can wipe groups :(

We may end up replacing that instability at some point. In the meantime, bringing boon-strips should make it easier to deal with.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaKeenan - Direct link

Originally posted by LinkHughes

Assuming this is a reference to the Legend of Zelda cartoon of old, you win cool points. :)

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by [deleted]

[deleted]

I've met girls named Ryan!

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by zwei2stein

Well, how do I opt thing out from mass salvage without putting them to invisible bag?

Currently that, and putting things in your bank are the only way.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by Amadan

Does that mean we should never expect QoL stuff that is not low-hanging fruit?

Don't take me wrong, I am very very grateful for "salvage all", but... build templates? Pretty please?

Non-low hanging fruit does happen, but those require being in the schedule, and sometimes extra people. Like for the wallet, I ended up sort of being a one person team for a while just working on that. The wardrobe had a small team for months to make it happen.

Larger QoL changes aren't off The Table™.

over 8 years ago - /u/ArenaNetRyanD - Direct link

Originally posted by shdowmyst

Its probably a bit late, well 5am in europe. Can the https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mystic_Chromatic_Ooze be the next low hanging fruit? all I really want from it is a duration increase. to 30 minutes or so. Pretty please?

I'm a programmer, and that's more of a designer thing, but I'll pass on the feedback.

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sean - Direct link

Originally posted by Fexmeif

My party wasn't as amused to this realization as I was, but the device we fight the last boss on top of is called DDR because it kinda lights up like a dance dance revolution pad... Right?

Yep!

over 8 years ago - /u/Anet_Sean - Direct link

Originally posted by Zadah

interesting. how long does it take to revamp the older fractals?

1-2 months, depending on how much we're changing.

over 8 years ago - /u/LinkHughes - Direct link

Originally posted by ArenaKeenan

Love. It.