Originally posted by elocke I thought you said this was a "hate-fee" summary? Sure sounded like bitching to me. Funny, I'm level 67 and haven't had these issues you are whining about except the obvious one of the Trading Post being down. I never crash, I never find content I can't complete, I'm always able to PVP, make characters and so forth. Maybe...you entered the twilight zone or something when you hit 80. Take a break, come back later, or just go play something else and leave those of us who don't mind these roadbumps in peace. Isn't like it's the first great MMO to have issues at it's birth.
It is not bitching, just an observation. Please do not try to tell me, that during last 48 hours mail system was working fine for you, guild chat had no 5-minute delays and that you are able to enter any pvp mode right now.
Yesterday I couldn't access any of the dungeons, because for some reason whenever we tried to enter, we were getting separated on different instances of the same zone, and for 2 or 3 days already I am unable to clear 3 maps due to waypoint contest events being stuck/bugged, resulting in unaccessible skill points/no task spawns.
And while definitely it is not the first mmo to have issues, it's one of the biggest launch flops I can remember. AoC obviously comes to mind, but in Age of Conan the content was simply missing - all the stuff that was already implemented in the game worked fine, in Guild Wars 2 everything seems to be bugged.
It is still a great game however, and I'd recommend it anyway. It's strange, really.
Just an FYI a lot of people ran into no issues besides the AH being down and new builds.
Not even kidding... last Saturday morning I was playing too (dunno how though...)
First do some research, there are people who are getting banned for no reason, there are threads about it on THIS forum.
Before talking about something, you should know what you are talking about.
Saying "LOL NO" is just... well.... pointless.
You think 'research' means reading random posts from random people on the internet using fake tags instead of their real name with no discernible authority governing whether or not the information they give is truthful or even fact? I think you are the one that should figure out what you are talking about, do you just take everything you read on the internet as truth? You definately wouldn't get a job as a researcher.
Vannor, he's actually right about it.
You don't have to believe him (or me for that matter), but it's a pretty big issue right now. There's also a bunch of posts about it on reddit.
Sadly I am one of the people caught up in the mess. Basically what happened was they ran a banning script on all acounts. Accounts were flagged for various reasons. One of those being 'suspicious login attempts'. Meaning that, even if your account wasn't hacked, if a hacker got your email address and was trying to login to your account, you're account got banned / terminated until they can resolve the issue on a later date.
I don't think I need to explain the problems with such an approach. It's been almost 3days since I submitted my ticket, and no response from Anet yet (and yes I double checked to make sure I submitted it according to Anet's new guidelines for how they want them to be submitted).
Most of the things that are broken, or have been broken, fixed and sometimes broke again, were working during the last BWE and and during some of the stress tests. It's clear that most of these issues are load related. I know at least a couple AAA MMOs since WoW have limited sales for the first month, because of the issues that load creates. Arenanet should obviously have done the same here. It's not a subscription game, so no need to rush to maximize sales.
It's also clear that some of us were right in that the testing schedule the last two months before release made no real sense. There should have been a BWE a few weeks before launch that distributed enough free keys to actually provide the same load expected at launch. Then, maybe we could have ironed out these issues before launch.
We hear that the programmers are working overtime to fix the various issues. Well, that's good and fine, but I think a lot of these issues will only be fixed with some serious upgrades to their servers and additional infrastructure. The Trading Post issues, in particular, are probably not going to be solved via programming, (though the search filters seem extremely inefficient at helping people find what they are looking for, which seems like it would be putting further strain on the database). I think it's clearly time for them to contract with a firm that sets up and programs commerce applications for major banks and hign volume businesses and have them come in and sort out the database issues on the hardware and software side of things.
They probably should also set up a datacenter seperate from the game servers, in a different state, to handle the official forums and hire or contract programmers with experience handling very high volume message boards to program and run the technicals of the forums, so that they can get forums up, with out putting additional load on their in house programming staff.
I know they try to do everything in house, but I think it's time to spend a little of the capital they earned to bring in outside help to sort these issues out, where it makes sense to do so. Someone experienced in programming and managing real life commodities markets would probably have a lot of insight on how to fix the Market Place issues and the same for the forums. Once things are in order, they can go back to doing things in house, with a better understanding of what expertise the company may require and what services are best handled by outside contractors.
Bugs with in the game proper are pretty rare, below my normal expectations for such a massive game. It's the infrastructure issues that have me a little worried.
I don't disagree with anything the OP said, partly because I haven't played enough to know anything about the problems you are talking about at higher levels.
One thing came to mind though. I remember hearing that higher levels can go back to any other quest hubs in the game and play them within that level range because the game reduces your skills to that area's level bracket instead of letting you faceroll all content at level 80. Have you tried that, just to enjoy in the short term till things get better?
The devs definitely need to fix these things though. From the sound of it, they are doing their best to fix things as quickly as they can.
Originally posted by elocke I thought you said this was a "hate-fee" summary? Sure sounded like bitching to me. Funny, I'm level 67 and haven't had these issues you are whining about except the obvious one of the Trading Post being down. I never crash, I never find content I can't complete, I'm always able to PVP, make characters and so forth. Maybe...you entered the twilight zone or something when you hit 80. Take a break, come back later, or just go play something else and leave those of us who don't mind these roadbumps in peace. Isn't like it's the first great MMO to have issues at it's birth.
Gotta love the honeymoon phase.
I mean you can call me blinded by fanboism as well just because the only problem I've had was the TO being down, nothing else..but thats a fact, and judging by your post history kol56 you seem to spend your free time hating on a video game( Hmm I wonder which one), most likely nothing better to do. Anyway OP not sure why you can't do any content like everyone else, its really unfortunate that your in this situation ( that is if your telling the truth).
My brother in law has dynamic IP, and on friday after a hard week of work he throught he had earned some Guild Wars 2 time, launched the game and got locked out by the new "authenticating" feature. He went to check his email - nothing. He tried again and again, nothing, no mail, no authentication, no play.
He tried to contact the customer service, and it's not avaialable. Tried to check the Guild Wars forums, but they're also taken down, and today he's off to work at 6 am for another work week and he hasn't been able to play the game he paid 55€ for because of a fail feature to protect his account that he did not ask for. To protect his account from himself, apparently.
Objectively speaking, this is easily the worst game launch in the history of mmo's. At least as far as I've played, and that includes Conan and other aberrations that at least allowed you to log in and play the game you had paid for.
Originally posted by elocke I thought you said this was a "hate-fee" summary? Sure sounded like bitching to me. Funny, I'm level 67 and haven't had these issues you are whining about except the obvious one of the Trading Post being down. I never crash, I never find content I can't complete, I'm always able to PVP, make characters and so forth. Maybe...you entered the twilight zone or something when you hit 80. Take a break, come back later, or just go play something else and leave those of us who don't mind these roadbumps in peace. Isn't like it's the first great MMO to have issues at it's birth.
Gotta love the honeymoon phase.
I mean you can call me blinded by fanboism as well just because the only problem I've had was the TO being down, nothing else..but thats a fact, and judging by your post history kol56 you seem to spend your free time hating on a video game( Hmm I wonder which one), most likely nothing better to do. Anyway OP not sure why you can't do any content like everyone else, its really unfortunate that your in this situation ( that is if your telling the truth).
You seem a bit upset.
Calm down and go find something better to do than attacking random posters.
If it didn't happened to you... it doesn't matter, the issues are real.
If you actually readed what i quoted, elocky was basically saying "shut up, stop crying, play the game and don't say anything bad about it", even when he admits a few "roadbumps", TLDR, "don't say bad things about my shiny precious" = Honeymoon in full force.
At least im not checking the post history of other users, unlike you, i could care less, and by the looks of it, im not the one who doesn't have anything to do.
"Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge."
"The idea behind the tuxedo is the woman's point of view that men are all the same; so we might as well dress them that way. That's why a wedding is like the joining together of a beautiful, glowing bride and some guy" -Seinfeld
Originally posted by elocke I thought you said this was a "hate-fee" summary? Sure sounded like bitching to me. Funny, I'm level 67 and haven't had these issues you are whining about except the obvious one of the Trading Post being down. I never crash, I never find content I can't complete, I'm always able to PVP, make characters and so forth. Maybe...you entered the twilight zone or something when you hit 80. Take a break, come back later, or just go play something else and leave those of us who don't mind these roadbumps in peace. Isn't like it's the first great MMO to have issues at it's birth.
Gotta love the honeymoon phase.
I mean you can call me blinded by fanboism as well just because the only problem I've had was the TO being down, nothing else..but thats a fact, and judging by your post history kol56 you seem to spend your free time hating on a video game( Hmm I wonder which one), most likely nothing better to do. Anyway OP not sure why you can't do any content like everyone else, its really unfortunate that your in this situation ( that is if your telling the truth).
You seem a bit upset.
Calm down and go find something better to do than attacking random posters.
If it didn't happened to you... it doesn't matter, the issues are real.
If you actually readed what i quoted, elocky was basically saying "shut up, stop crying, play the game and don't say anything bad about it", even when he admits a few "roadbumps", TLDR, "don't say bad things about my shiny precious" = Honeymoon in full force.
At least im not checking the post history of other users, unlike you, i could care less, and by the looks of it, im not the one who doesn't have anything to do.
You should practice what you preach. Attacking random posters....isnt' that what you did to me or did you just purposely single me out. My issue is with the griping. I'm sick of hearing it. No one can do anything good these days. Everyone has an issue with something even if that something is well received and popular. It's almost like it's a FAD to hate on anything. I'm just pointing this out. I love the game, it has a few issues, but nothing worse than a few other great games had at launch. Honeymoon my ass. I didn't feel this way with SWTOR, nor Rift nor TSW, but I did feel it back when WoW launched. Same with SWG and FFXI before that. Not like I'm a honeymoon gamer only. But since you like to assume you know everything about everyone, this whole rant probably lost you at the first sentence. Cheers.
I'd also like to add the that dungeon complaint has a work around if you bothered to try. Have someone enter the dungeon and invite the members from inside. The game has a lot of problems, although many I can overlook conciddering the fun I am having. I can't speak on the end game comments because after all the hours I have put in I am nowhere near it. I do have a guildmate who is 77 as of today and hasnt had the issues you had because I asked him. Doesn't mean they dont exist, just not experienced by all.
Oh why didn't I think of such an obvious solution... Honestly, are you trying to tell me that such issues are nothing important, because you can overcome them by doing something random?
As I already said, I had a great time playing the game and I do not regret buying it. I just wish I could play it the way I want. And the way I was, well, supposed to.
Slow down scooter... I actually said the game had problems so no I wasn't saying the issues are nothing important, only that had you asked rather than stated they were broken and unplayable, you could have been told how to fix some of the issues you were experiencing. Also it wasn't something random, we had the same issue in AC and figured it out as a group and have since then told others how to get around the issue untill it is corrected. Feel free to keep responding with sarcasm though because it makes your points come across so much better. Also half or your problems mentioned were repaired before I typed the message. Nowhere did I state that this was ok, but it must have really been bothering you to write such a hate free summary about it.
I also never claimed you weren't enjoying the game and regretted buying it, only that you make it sound worse than it is and for some reason you edited that part out when responding but it's there.
Totally agree with OP. It's and excellent game when it works. But it doesn't. It has had a terrible launch IMO. Login issues, Trading post down after a week of launch, events get bugged, dungeons unplayable the list goes on. It's just sad that it launched like this, it feels like it came a month or 2 too soon. It's even more sad when I get mass-flamed in-game for saying the above. It's almost if the blinded fanbois try to blame me for the issues since they "only had 1-2 bugs".
No offense but you liked the game enough to power through to 80th level for some reason expecting to experience the end game in a brand new game the first week it came out. You know what that reminds me of ? The movie Misery where the psychotic beeotch has crippled the author and is constantly threatening, whining to know the end of the book wanting to rush things.
Do you think the game company is going to stop everything for the probable less then 1% of the game population who rushed through content to complain about the lack of end game ?
No offense but you liked the game enough to power through to 80th level for some reason expecting to experience the end game in a brand new game the first week it came out. You know what that reminds me of ? The movie Misery where the psychotic beeotch has crippled the author and is constantly threatening, whining to know the end of the book wanting to rush things.
Do you think the game company is going to stop everything for the probable less then 1% of the game population who rushed through content to complain about the lack of end game ?
What this guy said. I started playing a couple days before launch and didn't play any of the betas. I've played around with 3 characters, done a ton of WvW and crafting. My guild has nearly 100 people in it and nobody has had any serious issues, but then again none of us are level 80 yet. I think the problem with levelling so quickly is that anything can get pretty boring or you can get burned out if you spend 20 hours a day doing it. I hate to say what you advised us not to, but you should probably walk your dog or get some sunlight dude.
Having said that I agree with you to a certain extent. There are a number of issues that need to resolved sooner rather then later. Arena seem like a very dedicated team and I have confidence they will get it done. Not opening the forums was a brilliant strategic move in my opinion. WoW forums are full of some of the vilest angry people I've ever seen, and the longer GW2 resists becoming another Barrens chat the better.
Grats on 80 though. :-D
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks ~ WC
Well, with no monthly sub I'd say you've got your money's worth with 96 hours of play time. How can you complain about a game that gave you 96 hours of entertainment? Sure they're still working out the kinks but i dont think your going to find a better bang for your buck entertainment wise ever again. I think GW2 is a little unique in that you have less ground to stand on when it comes to complaints because they're not charging you anymore. They gave you an awesome gameplay experience, far more then most games, and will continue to free of charge. Sounds harsh but you got your $60 and then some, the rest is gravy, and oh what free delicious gravy it will be.
This is not to say that noone can complain about problems with the game, it's just that your post had the tone that you've somehow been screwed over by ANet which doesnt seem to be the case.
Originally posted by Stryx74 Well, with no monthly sub I'd say you've got your money's worth with 96 hours of play time. How can you complain about a game that gave you 96 hours of entertainment? Sure they're still working out the kinks but i dont think your going to find a better bang for your buck entertainment wise ever again. I think GW2 is a little unique in that you have less ground to stand on when it comes to complaints because they're not charging you anymore. They gave you an awesome gameplay experience, far more then most games, and will continue to free of charge. Sounds harsh but you got your $60 and then some, the rest is gravy, and oh what free delicious gravy it will be.
I appreciate this perspective but I think it's incorrect simply because you didn't get what you paid for. It's not finished no matter how much 'playtime' you got out of it.
Got a small problem out there guys. I really enjoy the game and I do want it to succeed, but it feels like I am certainly missing something.
After 97 hours I managed to get 80. As you may already know, the storyline is bugged at level 75 (and it's been like that since beta, some say), so the only way was to keep farming events for the last few levels. Hit the level cap, so obviously I wanted to try dungeons - however, getting some proper max level gear first seemed like a good idea.
The only affordable set is the storyline order armor, so obviously I went off to get it. To my surprise, the vendors had been taken offline today - without any explaination whatsoever. Whatever, stuff happens (not really...), I will try to get a decent weapon off the trading post.
Wait. What trading post? Offline, for maintenance, why. I guess I will try to buy some gear from people in LA - for the old times sake. However, there is no trading nor c.o.d mail system, so it looks like I will be forced to trust random strangers. So be it.
Dang! Mails are currently unavailable as well. Okay then, time for PvP I guess.
Whoa there, not so fast! Apparently, PvP Browser seems to be bugged as well - all the servers are down, 0/16, nothing seems to work. So are tournaments - and people say it's been this way for a couple of hours already.
I've got an idea! Let's create an alt and experience the story from a different perspective. Sure, why not...
I will tell you why not. Because - wait for it - apparently, the character creator got disabled again. So it looks like I am unable start over with a new toon, too.
What's left for me? I could try farming for a while, but there's been so much hassle about all the anti-farming game mechanics I doubt it's even possible. WvW? Awesome, 2-3 hours long queues, just to be kicked few minutes after due to "Invalid password." or some other purely random asscrap.
Just don't tell me to get a life, play other games, walk my dogs, comfort wife or call parents. I have already done all of that. Simply explain what's left for me in the game itself.
I just want to play what I paid so much for. Before everything hits the fan again and there's another login server crash and emergency maintenance. Or more mail verification issues.
Cheers.
YOU PLAYED THE GAME FOR ALMOST 100 HOURS.
You got your money's worth. Some people are never satisfied (
Dang things just turn to shit when you touch it doesnt it?
on another note, that really does suck and after reading that from you made me think if the game was TRULY ready for the entire audiance. Makes you think if they released the game earlier just to make the 500k+ that pre purchase happy, and keep them from getting refunds and shit because of delays to fixing the game
So my question to EVERYONE Is,
WOuld u rather have all things working and have GW2 Delayed for another month or 2 to fix the issues?
Or are you greatful that you are able to play the game and actually be able to hit level 80 with a few hours of downtime.
Well, with no monthly sub I'd say you've got your money's worth with 96 hours of play time. How can you complain about a game that gave you 96 hours of entertainment? Sure they're still working out the kinks but i dont think your going to find a better bang for your buck entertainment wise ever again. I think GW2 is a little unique in that you have less ground to stand on when it comes to complaints because they're not charging you anymore. They gave you an awesome gameplay experience, far more then most games, and will continue to free of charge. Sounds harsh but you got your $60 and then some, the rest is gravy, and oh what free delicious gravy it will be.
This is not to say that noone can complain about problems with the game, it's just that your post had the tone that you've somehow been screwed over by ANet which doesnt seem to be the case.
Not so fast.
The most common "measure of success" from an MMORPG is longevity - how long a player plays it. In this case, we're talking about the game lasting a player a week.
Games that only last a player a month or two (let alone a week) are routinely criticized for not retaining a player long term. In fact, lack of long-term retention is usually said to PROVE that an MMO is bad / a failure.
That's regardless of payment model. It seems that some think GW2 should be measured by it being B2P as if it was a stand-alone RPG, like Oblivion or Dragon Age. Not so, it's an MMORPG, and MMORPGs, whether they are subscription-based, B2P, or F2P, are graded heavily on longevity.
GW2 needs that retention, as it is heavily reliant on its cash shop. Unfortunately, this game levels VERY quickly, and so far appears to have little long-term draw to keep many players playing once they've hit level-cap with their main.
The fact that the game has a number of technical problems doesn't help, though they will likely be sorted out relatively soon.
Dang things just turn to shit when you touch it doesnt it?
on another note, that really does suck and after reading that from you made me think if the game was TRULY ready for the entire audiance. Makes you think if they released the game earlier just to make the 500k+ that pre purchase happy, and keep them from getting refunds and shit because of delays to fixing the game
So my question to EVERYONE Is,
WOuld u rather have all things working and have GW2 Delayed for another month or 2 to fix the issues?
Or are you greatful that you are able to play the game and actually be able to hit level 80 with a few hours of downtime.
No wipes shall i add?
I think they launched the game in a very acceptable state. Could it have been delayed a couple months and have been 100%? Maybe, but I've been having a lot of fun with 90-95% and would rather have the option to decide myself whether to play it now or shelve it for a couple weeks and then come back. I doubt this was a case of a publisher demanding that the game be kicked out the door early to start generating some cash and some of these issues may have required the high population levels of a live game to fully fix and make operational. I'm basing those last two ideas on total speculation and conjecture.
This is a good question for the OP as well. Would you rather have your 96 hours back (at least 12 hours a day for every day the game has been live, if he prepurchased) and wait another 2 months for release, or would you rather have the current release state and hope that over the next two months the game goes to 100% and you can play it throughout at your leisure. Which scenario would allow you to play the game you paid so much for?
$60, 100 hours of gameplay so far and max level, with much, much more to look forward to once the bugs are fixed (and they are fixing them, I'm sure), and you're ready to complain about "wasting all that money". Makes me wonder how you would have felt playing the Playstation Skryim. Which, BTW, is another awesome game (IMO) even with all the bugs.
I really wish people would get off the entitlement train. If you think games should be perfect at launch before you're willing to spend your hard-earned $60, maybe you should stick to board games.
Yes, there are many problems with the game atm. There are with any other launch of this magnitude as well. If these problems persist for an inordinate amount of time (remember, it's less than a week since official launch!), then I can understand the complaints. Before that, though, I say it's just a feeling of entitlement, which is crap, IMO.
You want me to pay to play a game I already paid for???
It's been a long time since an MMO had such a horrible launch.
Haha, nice try. Pretty smooth actually. Atleast I've been able to play the game and enjoy it and be able to log on despite the issues with the log in server.
Atleast I didn't spend hours on quests only to get told they are bugged *cough* TSW *cough*, atleast I didn't have to wait in a queue to play the game for more than 2 hours *cough* SWToR *cough*.
No the launch is good and they are communicating alot aswell, something that can't be said about other devs. And don't forget, no subscription fee.
Well, with no monthly sub I'd say you've got your money's worth with 96 hours of play time. How can you complain about a game that gave you 96 hours of entertainment? Sure they're still working out the kinks but i dont think your going to find a better bang for your buck entertainment wise ever again. I think GW2 is a little unique in that you have less ground to stand on when it comes to complaints because they're not charging you anymore. They gave you an awesome gameplay experience, far more then most games, and will continue to free of charge. Sounds harsh but you got your $60 and then some, the rest is gravy, and oh what free delicious gravy it will be.
This is not to say that noone can complain about problems with the game, it's just that your post had the tone that you've somehow been screwed over by ANet which doesnt seem to be the case.
Not so fast.
The most common "measure of success" from an MMORPG is longevity - how long a player plays it.
Games that only last a player a month or two are routinely criticized for not retaining a player long term. In fact, lack of long-term retention is usually said to PROVE that an MMO is bad / a failure.
That's regardless of payment model. It seems that some think GW2 should be measured by it being B2P as if it was a stand-alone RPG, like Oblivion or Dragon Age. Not so, it's an MMORPG, and MMORPGs, whether they are subscription-based, B2P, or F2P, are graded heavily on longevity.
GW2 needs that retention, as it is heavily reliant on its cash shop.
This isnt a discussion on GW2's financial success or their ability to retain a player base. The question is at what point in a B2P game does the player get their money's worth? I put 90 hours into Skyrim and was completely satisfied. I bought Just Cause 2 on sale for $40, played it for 15 hours, didnt come close to finishing it, but still feel like I got what I paid for, and I could always go back and finish it if I wanted to. Personally, If I make it to lvl 80 through one of the storylines I'll feel that my money was very well spent.
Fortunately for us the actual gameplay and mechanic design is top notch.
I'll take bad launch, good game over good launch, bad game(e.g. Swtor)
So you are saying the game mechanic where if you play a support role you don't get any credit for DE cause everything is based off solely how much damage you do is top notch? Come-on this is a good game and all but everything in the OP post is pretty much a known issue. Stuff being down and not working is gameplay. Oh and noone cares if people like or hate SWTOR anymore, everyone has said their opinion on that matter and moved on...but you of course.
The OP brought up real examples of issues he is having. If you want to defend the game, cool, defend it with facts and examples of things you like or call him out if the bugs he says are there are not(which most of them are verified) but don't be a fanboy and just say it's cool nothing works cause GW2 is top notch.
It's been a long time since an MMO had such a horrible launch.
Haha, nice try. Pretty smooth actually. Atleast I've been able to play the game and enjoy it and be able to log on despite the issues with the log in server.
Atleast I didn't spend hours on quests only to get told they are bugged *cough* TSW *cough*, atleast I didn't have to wait in a queue to play the game for more than 2 hours *cough* SWToR *cough*.
No the launch is good and they are communicating alot aswell, something that can't be said about other devs. And don't forget, no subscription fee.
This really doesn't qualify as smooth with the various infrastructure systems so up and down. Sure, you can play the game as it is. Just play the game. No trading or guarantees you'll be in the same zone with your group, etc. I was grouped with a buddy and we entered a zone together. Both ended up in different overflow zones as you would expect. I was able to shift to the main zone, but it was over a half hour before he got to shift. Smooth all the way right.
I ran into 2 bugged quests in GW2 much faster than I encountered any of the approx 6 bugged quests that you would find on the whole of Solomon Island. So, I feel that evens out pretty well. I was in SWTOR from headstart and really never spent more than a half hour at most in a queue. I was lucky for sure on that, cause those long times were happening to people pretty often.
Comments
Just an FYI a lot of people ran into no issues besides the AH being down and new builds.
Not even kidding... last Saturday morning I was playing too (dunno how though...)
Vannor, he's actually right about it.
You don't have to believe him (or me for that matter), but it's a pretty big issue right now. There's also a bunch of posts about it on reddit.
Sadly I am one of the people caught up in the mess. Basically what happened was they ran a banning script on all acounts. Accounts were flagged for various reasons. One of those being 'suspicious login attempts'. Meaning that, even if your account wasn't hacked, if a hacker got your email address and was trying to login to your account, you're account got banned / terminated until they can resolve the issue on a later date.
I don't think I need to explain the problems with such an approach. It's been almost 3days since I submitted my ticket, and no response from Anet yet (and yes I double checked to make sure I submitted it according to Anet's new guidelines for how they want them to be submitted).
Most of the things that are broken, or have been broken, fixed and sometimes broke again, were working during the last BWE and and during some of the stress tests. It's clear that most of these issues are load related. I know at least a couple AAA MMOs since WoW have limited sales for the first month, because of the issues that load creates. Arenanet should obviously have done the same here. It's not a subscription game, so no need to rush to maximize sales.
It's also clear that some of us were right in that the testing schedule the last two months before release made no real sense. There should have been a BWE a few weeks before launch that distributed enough free keys to actually provide the same load expected at launch. Then, maybe we could have ironed out these issues before launch.
We hear that the programmers are working overtime to fix the various issues. Well, that's good and fine, but I think a lot of these issues will only be fixed with some serious upgrades to their servers and additional infrastructure. The Trading Post issues, in particular, are probably not going to be solved via programming, (though the search filters seem extremely inefficient at helping people find what they are looking for, which seems like it would be putting further strain on the database). I think it's clearly time for them to contract with a firm that sets up and programs commerce applications for major banks and hign volume businesses and have them come in and sort out the database issues on the hardware and software side of things.
They probably should also set up a datacenter seperate from the game servers, in a different state, to handle the official forums and hire or contract programmers with experience handling very high volume message boards to program and run the technicals of the forums, so that they can get forums up, with out putting additional load on their in house programming staff.
I know they try to do everything in house, but I think it's time to spend a little of the capital they earned to bring in outside help to sort these issues out, where it makes sense to do so. Someone experienced in programming and managing real life commodities markets would probably have a lot of insight on how to fix the Market Place issues and the same for the forums. Once things are in order, they can go back to doing things in house, with a better understanding of what expertise the company may require and what services are best handled by outside contractors.
Bugs with in the game proper are pretty rare, below my normal expectations for such a massive game. It's the infrastructure issues that have me a little worried.
Want to know more about GW2 and why there is so much buzz? Start here: Guild Wars 2 Mass Info for the Uninitiated
I don't disagree with anything the OP said, partly because I haven't played enough to know anything about the problems you are talking about at higher levels.
One thing came to mind though. I remember hearing that higher levels can go back to any other quest hubs in the game and play them within that level range because the game reduces your skills to that area's level bracket instead of letting you faceroll all content at level 80. Have you tried that, just to enjoy in the short term till things get better?
The devs definitely need to fix these things though. From the sound of it, they are doing their best to fix things as quickly as they can.
I mean you can call me blinded by fanboism as well just because the only problem I've had was the TO being down, nothing else..but thats a fact, and judging by your post history kol56 you seem to spend your free time hating on a video game( Hmm I wonder which one), most likely nothing better to do. Anyway OP not sure why you can't do any content like everyone else, its really unfortunate that your in this situation ( that is if your telling the truth).
Played-Everything
Playing-LoL
At least you can play OP.
My brother in law has dynamic IP, and on friday after a hard week of work he throught he had earned some Guild Wars 2 time, launched the game and got locked out by the new "authenticating" feature. He went to check his email - nothing. He tried again and again, nothing, no mail, no authentication, no play.
He tried to contact the customer service, and it's not avaialable. Tried to check the Guild Wars forums, but they're also taken down, and today he's off to work at 6 am for another work week and he hasn't been able to play the game he paid 55€ for because of a fail feature to protect his account that he did not ask for. To protect his account from himself, apparently.
Objectively speaking, this is easily the worst game launch in the history of mmo's. At least as far as I've played, and that includes Conan and other aberrations that at least allowed you to log in and play the game you had paid for.
You seem a bit upset.
Calm down and go find something better to do than attacking random posters.
If it didn't happened to you... it doesn't matter, the issues are real.
If you actually readed what i quoted, elocky was basically saying "shut up, stop crying, play the game and don't say anything bad about it", even when he admits a few "roadbumps", TLDR, "don't say bad things about my shiny precious" = Honeymoon in full force.
At least im not checking the post history of other users, unlike you, i could care less, and by the looks of it, im not the one who doesn't have anything to do.
"Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge."
"The idea behind the tuxedo is the woman's point of view that men are all the same; so we might as well dress them that way. That's why a wedding is like the joining together of a beautiful, glowing bride and some guy"
-Seinfeld
I absolutely love this game. I am having more fun exploring this world than I have in any mmorpg launched since 2001.
With that said, it has some pretty big issues that are only getting bigger the longer they go unresolved.
I truly hope ANet can get it together soon because aside from those outstanding issues, it's an otherwise fantastic game imo.
You should practice what you preach. Attacking random posters....isnt' that what you did to me or did you just purposely single me out. My issue is with the griping. I'm sick of hearing it. No one can do anything good these days. Everyone has an issue with something even if that something is well received and popular. It's almost like it's a FAD to hate on anything. I'm just pointing this out. I love the game, it has a few issues, but nothing worse than a few other great games had at launch. Honeymoon my ass. I didn't feel this way with SWTOR, nor Rift nor TSW, but I did feel it back when WoW launched. Same with SWG and FFXI before that. Not like I'm a honeymoon gamer only. But since you like to assume you know everything about everyone, this whole rant probably lost you at the first sentence. Cheers.
Slow down scooter... I actually said the game had problems so no I wasn't saying the issues are nothing important, only that had you asked rather than stated they were broken and unplayable, you could have been told how to fix some of the issues you were experiencing. Also it wasn't something random, we had the same issue in AC and figured it out as a group and have since then told others how to get around the issue untill it is corrected. Feel free to keep responding with sarcasm though because it makes your points come across so much better. Also half or your problems mentioned were repaired before I typed the message. Nowhere did I state that this was ok, but it must have really been bothering you to write such a hate free summary about it.
I also never claimed you weren't enjoying the game and regretted buying it, only that you make it sound worse than it is and for some reason you edited that part out when responding but it's there.
RIP Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan and Paul Gray.
Totally agree with OP. It's and excellent game when it works. But it doesn't. It has had a terrible launch IMO. Login issues, Trading post down after a week of launch, events get bugged, dungeons unplayable the list goes on. It's just sad that it launched like this, it feels like it came a month or 2 too soon. It's even more sad when I get mass-flamed in-game for saying the above. It's almost if the blinded fanbois try to blame me for the issues since they "only had 1-2 bugs".
Stay realistic guys.
They see me lurkin' they hatin...
No offense but you liked the game enough to power through to 80th level for some reason expecting to experience the end game in a brand new game the first week it came out. You know what that reminds me of ? The movie Misery where the psychotic beeotch has crippled the author and is constantly threatening, whining to know the end of the book wanting to rush things.
Do you think the game company is going to stop everything for the probable less then 1% of the game population who rushed through content to complain about the lack of end game ?
What this guy said. I started playing a couple days before launch and didn't play any of the betas. I've played around with 3 characters, done a ton of WvW and crafting. My guild has nearly 100 people in it and nobody has had any serious issues, but then again none of us are level 80 yet. I think the problem with levelling so quickly is that anything can get pretty boring or you can get burned out if you spend 20 hours a day doing it. I hate to say what you advised us not to, but you should probably walk your dog or get some sunlight dude.
Having said that I agree with you to a certain extent. There are a number of issues that need to resolved sooner rather then later. Arena seem like a very dedicated team and I have confidence they will get it done. Not opening the forums was a brilliant strategic move in my opinion. WoW forums are full of some of the vilest angry people I've ever seen, and the longer GW2 resists becoming another Barrens chat the better.
Grats on 80 though. :-D
You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks
~ WC
Well, with no monthly sub I'd say you've got your money's worth with 96 hours of play time. How can you complain about a game that gave you 96 hours of entertainment? Sure they're still working out the kinks but i dont think your going to find a better bang for your buck entertainment wise ever again. I think GW2 is a little unique in that you have less ground to stand on when it comes to complaints because they're not charging you anymore. They gave you an awesome gameplay experience, far more then most games, and will continue to free of charge. Sounds harsh but you got your $60 and then some, the rest is gravy, and oh what free delicious gravy it will be.
This is not to say that noone can complain about problems with the game, it's just that your post had the tone that you've somehow been screwed over by ANet which doesnt seem to be the case.
I appreciate this perspective but I think it's incorrect simply because you didn't get what you paid for. It's not finished no matter how much 'playtime' you got out of it.
They see me lurkin' they hatin...
YOU PLAYED THE GAME FOR ALMOST 100 HOURS.
You got your money's worth. Some people are never satisfied
(
Dang things just turn to shit when you touch it doesnt it?
on another note, that really does suck and after reading that from you made me think if the game was TRULY ready for the entire audiance. Makes you think if they released the game earlier just to make the 500k+ that pre purchase happy, and keep them from getting refunds and shit because of delays to fixing the game
So my question to EVERYONE Is,
WOuld u rather have all things working and have GW2 Delayed for another month or 2 to fix the issues?
Or are you greatful that you are able to play the game and actually be able to hit level 80 with a few hours of downtime.
No wipes shall i add?
6 posts = same troll that keeps posting the same stuff trying to get people to agree with him.
Yawn.
Not so fast.
The most common "measure of success" from an MMORPG is longevity - how long a player plays it. In this case, we're talking about the game lasting a player a week.
Games that only last a player a month or two (let alone a week) are routinely criticized for not retaining a player long term. In fact, lack of long-term retention is usually said to PROVE that an MMO is bad / a failure.
That's regardless of payment model. It seems that some think GW2 should be measured by it being B2P as if it was a stand-alone RPG, like Oblivion or Dragon Age. Not so, it's an MMORPG, and MMORPGs, whether they are subscription-based, B2P, or F2P, are graded heavily on longevity.
GW2 needs that retention, as it is heavily reliant on its cash shop. Unfortunately, this game levels VERY quickly, and so far appears to have little long-term draw to keep many players playing once they've hit level-cap with their main.
The fact that the game has a number of technical problems doesn't help, though they will likely be sorted out relatively soon.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
I think they launched the game in a very acceptable state. Could it have been delayed a couple months and have been 100%? Maybe, but I've been having a lot of fun with 90-95% and would rather have the option to decide myself whether to play it now or shelve it for a couple weeks and then come back. I doubt this was a case of a publisher demanding that the game be kicked out the door early to start generating some cash and some of these issues may have required the high population levels of a live game to fully fix and make operational. I'm basing those last two ideas on total speculation and conjecture.
This is a good question for the OP as well. Would you rather have your 96 hours back (at least 12 hours a day for every day the game has been live, if he prepurchased) and wait another 2 months for release, or would you rather have the current release state and hope that over the next two months the game goes to 100% and you can play it throughout at your leisure. Which scenario would allow you to play the game you paid so much for?
$60, 100 hours of gameplay so far and max level, with much, much more to look forward to once the bugs are fixed (and they are fixing them, I'm sure), and you're ready to complain about "wasting all that money". Makes me wonder how you would have felt playing the Playstation Skryim. Which, BTW, is another awesome game (IMO) even with all the bugs.
I really wish people would get off the entitlement train. If you think games should be perfect at launch before you're willing to spend your hard-earned $60, maybe you should stick to board games.
Yes, there are many problems with the game atm. There are with any other launch of this magnitude as well. If these problems persist for an inordinate amount of time (remember, it's less than a week since official launch!), then I can understand the complaints. Before that, though, I say it's just a feeling of entitlement, which is crap, IMO.
You want me to pay to play a game I already paid for???
Be afraid.....The dragons are HERE!
Haha, nice try. Pretty smooth actually. Atleast I've been able to play the game and enjoy it and be able to log on despite the issues with the log in server.
Atleast I didn't spend hours on quests only to get told they are bugged *cough* TSW *cough*, atleast I didn't have to wait in a queue to play the game for more than 2 hours *cough* SWToR *cough*.
No the launch is good and they are communicating alot aswell, something that can't be said about other devs. And don't forget, no subscription fee.
This isnt a discussion on GW2's financial success or their ability to retain a player base. The question is at what point in a B2P game does the player get their money's worth? I put 90 hours into Skyrim and was completely satisfied. I bought Just Cause 2 on sale for $40, played it for 15 hours, didnt come close to finishing it, but still feel like I got what I paid for, and I could always go back and finish it if I wanted to. Personally, If I make it to lvl 80 through one of the storylines I'll feel that my money was very well spent.
So you are saying the game mechanic where if you play a support role you don't get any credit for DE cause everything is based off solely how much damage you do is top notch? Come-on this is a good game and all but everything in the OP post is pretty much a known issue. Stuff being down and not working is gameplay. Oh and noone cares if people like or hate SWTOR anymore, everyone has said their opinion on that matter and moved on...but you of course.
The OP brought up real examples of issues he is having. If you want to defend the game, cool, defend it with facts and examples of things you like or call him out if the bugs he says are there are not(which most of them are verified) but don't be a fanboy and just say it's cool nothing works cause GW2 is top notch.
This really doesn't qualify as smooth with the various infrastructure systems so up and down. Sure, you can play the game as it is. Just play the game. No trading or guarantees you'll be in the same zone with your group, etc. I was grouped with a buddy and we entered a zone together. Both ended up in different overflow zones as you would expect. I was able to shift to the main zone, but it was over a half hour before he got to shift. Smooth all the way right.
I ran into 2 bugged quests in GW2 much faster than I encountered any of the approx 6 bugged quests that you would find on the whole of Solomon Island. So, I feel that evens out pretty well. I was in SWTOR from headstart and really never spent more than a half hour at most in a queue. I was lucky for sure on that, cause those long times were happening to people pretty often.