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Different person but thank you for this lengthy insight into the story, the meaning behind it and how it came to be. Its always really nice to read the thinking process behind the writing.
Thank you!
Different person but thank you for this lengthy insight into the story, the meaning behind it and how it came to be. Its always really nice to read the thinking process behind the writing.
Thank you!
Those shots were created only for the trailer.
So back to boring Kralkatorrik? :'(
Kralk is a difficult antagonist to write for, definitely.
A natural disaster isn't a terribly compelling villain, which is why disaster movies tend to focus on tension in the relationships between people trying to survive them.
Is it possible to give priority to new fractal development over fractal reworks? Reworks are nowhere near as exciting and can make existing fractals unenjoyable (molten boss haha)
New fractals are absolutely prioritized above reworks.
That said, raids haven't being delayed at all.
So the current pace of 2 bosses + events every 10 months is the new norm forever?
I'd like to see that cadence improved as well, and it is something we are actively being discussed internally. You're not the only one that wants to get new raid wings out the door more regularly ;)
Hey Cinematics Team!!
I've shouted a lot about the quality of the cinematics this patch, in particular that final one. I think they were truly exceptional. Often cinematics in the game now are pre-rendered and come in a lower resolution, like the one in the second instance. It's a shame considering the quality of the in-game assets are actually so high so seeing you guys execute a cinematic playing in engine with such excellent uses of camera, sound, framing, animation, and mo-cap was so exciting to me. It is by far my biggest standout of Guild Wars 2's storytelling up to now.
So my question to you - aside from raving about the sheer quality of that last cinematic - is whether this shift in technology and quality for the cinematics is something we can expect to see going. Now that you've cracked the in-engine camera systems and live rendering for cinematics are those low quality pre-rendered cutscenes a thing of the past?
Thanks for the love! In-engine cinematics pose unique challenges that can make them very time consuming. We’re always evaluating the best way to tell stories, and what the best use of our time is. There will most likely always be pre-rendered cinematics though.
Mounts Team Matt Lambdin
Is it possible, and if so, can you guys please add the "checkpoint" mechanics into Guild Halls so we can make courses in there?
I'm not Matt, but the way the mount races work is complicated and frequently course-specific under the hood, so it's potentially not possible. That said, this is a really cool idea and I'll keep it in mind, maybe there's some clever workaround for it.
I'm very curious about game development as a career- if you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to become game developers?
(I know this is an AMA about the latest episode and might not be the right place to ask this question- if there's a better place, or a place where some devs have talked about this, please let me know!)
I think there was an article in Nintendo Power a long time ago talking about game-dev education and careers - that was the moment I realized that making video games was an actual job you could have.
Could you package the LS soundtracks as albums with the last episode of the season, or release an "episode EP" with every episode? Honestly I listen a lot to both HoT and PoF soundtrack, but I never really touch any of the LS pieces (that I love), because it's insanely impractical for me to do so
I really appreciate hearing that feedback and it’s something we’ll explore.
Could you explain why the wardrobe system works for backpacks, themselves an accessory, but not other types like amulets, earrings, and rings? Or is it merely a matter of volume and the wardrobe currently can't contain the number of available trinket skins?
The wardrobe doesn't actually track items, but rather the art that they reference. Backpacks are in the wardrobe, because they have a model, while other accessories don't. Aurora, along with the various jewels and infusions with visual effects are set up in a different way that doesn't interface with the wardrobe
Read moreAlright, strap yourselves in cause this is a long one. I have some general questions regarding difficulty in the main story (and in some way open world). It’s a wall of text, sorry, been sitting on these questions for a while and am always asleep when the AMA is posted. Answer what you can, don’t answer what you can’t (or don’t want).
Difficulty progression question: What’s your stance on difficulty progression in regards to expansions and living world? Is the idea that the game becomes harder in chronological order (PS, LWS1/2, HoT, etc.) or are you in favor of “resetting” the difficulty per expansion, as to make it more accessible to newer players (ie. so people who buy PoF instead of HoT wouldn’t instantly be overwhelmed). If the latter, does that mean the living word building up to the expansion is more difficult (because part of expansion) or easier (leading up to new expansion, depending on story).
Death in personal in...
1) Generally we try to make the golden path story approachable by majority of our player base. I think we generally try to approach content more like your latter suggestion, instead of the former. Ideally achievements could be used to add challenge to an encounter and not block players from experiencing the story.
2) This is tied to the previous answer. If we do scale an encounter towards the harder side, we know that death doesn't reset an encounter which can be extremely punishing. Again, we can always put in achievements for "don't dying" or "don't get hit by X" instead to give that challenge without blocking players from experiencing the content.
3) The skill variance in our players can be quite large. If you know your profession really well, and how it combos with others, you can output something like 5x the damage and sustainability that an average player could.
4) I'm a fan of challenge motes in story instances but it does at scope to a release. I wo...
Read moreGiven that GW2 is increasingly featuring content that is in essence a resurrection of conventional quests rather unwieldly packed into the achievement system; has there been any consideration towards reintroducing a dedicated quest system/log?
I feel that the positive reception the Caladbolg "Current Event" received is a good indication that this kind of content is still in demand, and still relevant. At least when done well that is, mundane fetch/kill quests are still quite rightly replaced wholesale by Dynamic Events. Well done quests would slot in perfectly in the current gaps between existing systems (i.e. DEvents, Hearts and Instances) in GW2.
I can't speak to adding new quest systems, but I'm glad you enjoyed Caladbolg! I'd like to make more sidequests like it, but keep in mind that they are a significant time investment to do well.
If Raid Releases are obviously getting delayed, can the community at least get Information about it? The worst thing for the Raid-comunity (especially at the moment) is that there isn't a single bit of information as to why this happens. Also, if you make a priomise and realise that you can't hold it, could you just admit it and not find some excuses?
Raids and Fractals are currently one team developing two different products. That said, raids haven't being delayed at all. In fact, the next raid is essentially done, we're only waiting on externally delivered assets, such as VO.
I mentioned R/F being one team because we are currently attached to Living World episodes, so development has been staggered to evenly disperse the content across Season 4 releases.
Oh by the way, the trailer for ep3 was everything I was waiting for a lw trailer. You've got it !
I agree, /u/ANET_Byfield has been killing it!
I'm very curious about game development as a career- if you don't mind me asking, why did you decide to become game developers?
(I know this is an AMA about the latest episode and might not be the right place to ask this question- if there's a better place, or a place where some devs have talked about this, please let me know!)
It’s mostly my mother’s fault to be honest. When I was young I told her I wanted to learn to program and she, thinking I would have more fun that way, got me a book on game development in Java. I’ve been making games ever since.
You didn't answer why, and Soundcould doesn't provide an option to either download commonly used file formats (these are very good quality downloads, but very impractical) and it doesn't fulfill the role of Spotify
I apologize for not being clearer: the why is because we use our aggregator service to distribute to Spotify, and we use that service specifically for songs that are packaged as albums, as with the HoT and PoF OSTs.
How can you build content around a mount you can't guarantee people will have?
By not making it a hard requirement. We wouldn't have central-line content depending on having a roller beetle, but there can be extra things you can do and find, or different ways to experience things.
beetle racing is amazing, any chance we could see racing system build up around them, be it festival or something similair to adventures but with multiple people?
Answered a bit at the link below; short version it's on the table.
Once, a person in gw2 map chat told he's game dev of ArenaNet and everyone asked a lot of questions.
I still have got just one question since I'm not even sure if it was really a dev, not a fake.
I'm not into reddit, communities or questions.
Right now, I've finally got a chance to know the truth. Please, feed me with long term promises at least.
So my only question is:
"Will I ever get a chance to play as a tengu?"
Because gw2 and wiki info are not enough at all.
I wish one day I will be finally able to play as a "bird-person" in my favourite game - in Guild Wars 2.
(Or at least in any other good game in this world?)
Thanks for the best game ever. Wish you all the best, dear ArenaNet <3
Adding new playable races is a huge task, and one I can in no way even begin to hint at. Within the domain of things I could add to my suggestion list (which is probably years-long already), would you settle for a Tengu combat tonic?
Do you guys / gals at Anet have a cadence of sorts like you do for fractals?
Raids and Fractals are the same team working on two different products. Our cadence is currently integrated with Living World episode releases. You'll see the next raid before the next fractal, as that is how we have staggered development.