devtrackers.gg
I am not sure how I should feel about that, because raids are the only content I really enjoy :c
They're in good hands with Byron.
I am not sure how I should feel about that, because raids are the only content I really enjoy :c
They're in good hands with Byron.
wait, you also got layoff? OH NUUUUUUUUUU
Nope, I'm still around. Leading Living World episode now instead of Raids :)
Should be resolved!
<3 You're all amazing <3
CTRL+P, Print.
That's a great question! I'll check it out.
u/anet_jason Any news about Xera fix?
Her fix was in today's patch, and the kill switch was removed. Xera release note will be in the late notes.
how bout KC
Yes
Is Crystal Reid still around? I loved her enthusiasm in earlier videos.
Edit: Also, I think people worry that "one team" means fewer people.
Crystal is a design manager now, so she doesn't do much implementation any more. However, she is one of the folks that sign off on design pitches and content gates, along with Z and myself. She's still involved, just not as directly :)
Raids and Fractals are the same team working on two different products.
This seems pretty bad for two of the most important things keeping people playing in between Living World releases.
I disagree! I'm also way past AMA time, but I wanted to answer this.
The teams merged well over a year ago, and in that time it has allowed us to create more cohesive designs as there are more designers to bounce ideas off of. Siloing is essentially gone. We also have some pretty neat design processes that each of the raids and fractals, and their respective events, go through to facilitate rapid iteration.
To clarify further, while the teams may have merged, the designers are still dedicated to their respective products. For example, Eli is still the primary fractal designer, while Anthony and myself are dedicated to raid encounters. Ben is unique in that he floats between the two teams because of his unique skillset, but his heart is with fractals. He benefits everyone by creating new tech and quickly putting together complicated skill/scripts, but most of his time is spent creating the next cool fractal with Eli.
You said Ben is working on redesigns for a couple fractals and what I'm trying to say is that we just want him on new fractals not redesigns.
Ben is an agile guy, and fills his spare time well. There are design docs that are incomplete, but certainly in progress. New fractals are always top priority.
So with both teams now merged, can you give us a rough cadence on to how many Raid releases we can realistically expect? Like on average one every 5 months, 6 months etc?
The teams have been merged for well over a year now. While they've merged, the products have dedicated designers so that one of each is always in development.
I wish I could give you numbers on cadence, but I will say that the third raid wing for this season is already in early production.
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 ;)
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.
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.
Quite a few questions, will appreciate if any are answered:
Any plans to do something about the LFG and Dailies sections bloating with each additional map? Maybe just how the achievement panel works in general and things getting really long (story journal section, etc. . . .)
Will raids ever be a non-living world release? I'm not really asking about specific dates here, but moreso whether you're considering just releasing a raid when it's ready instead of holding for an episode release.
Are fractal reworks still a thing? Any info on this would be much appreciated.
I can at least answer #3:
Fractal reworks are still a thing for us, absolutely. For minor tweaks, we do them as there is time, then find a suitable window to bundle them up for shipping. The larger reworks take more time and effort to design and then get through the approvals process. Ben is working on a redesign for a couple fractals that need to be brought up to current standards right now, actually.
Read moreHi guys! Thanks for doing this AMA. I guess this is a Jason/Ben question related to Fractals and Raids.
I have over 5000 hours in this game as do a bunch of my friends and guildmates. We've definitely gotten our money's worth! But over the past year or so, we've been playing this game a lot less. It's not that we don't want to play, but it feels like the pace of content releases for grizzled vets like us has been lacking.
We're all okay with repeating content, we WANT to repeat content, but the pace of raid and fractal releases just isn't working for us. We've gradually gone from playing 3-4 hours/day to playing a couple hours a few times a week. It's getting harder and harder to keep people engaged in our raid statics. Guild and raid recruiting has slowed significantly.
Do you have any good news for those of us who desperately want to have more organized, instanced content to play? Do you think the current pace is representative of what we can expect moving...
We absolutely have content for you on the way. Obviously I can't commit to when, but I can say that the next raid is essentially done, and only waiting for late-stage development assets, like VO for example.
W3 is still bugged. Not only Xera, KC is behaving weirdly (more than usual). Like, we reached 66% and instead of starting orb phase, it started jumping, creating the donut...
There were some (much needed) QoL changes and bug fixes queued up to go out for a standard patch in July that were accidentally merged into this last Episode release, all of which were untested and not yet ready for Live. As you can see, that's introduced some new issues while also resolving some others. It's a shame because I was super excited to finally address all of that player feedback.
Presently we have disabled the Xera encounter entirely since that encounter is completely unbeatable. https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/45458/xera-raid-encounter-disabled
The plan now is to do ...
Read moreThe bewildering glory of content changes shipping early. We have a fix queued up. Same for the KC bugs regarding statue projections. Waiting game for hotfix. I'm not sure what else to say except sorry folks :(