ArenaNet: Linsey Murdock unveils High End Ascended Gear (2012-11-13)

[Vayne]

Yes people wanted something to work towards but there was no reason ithad to be a gear treadmill.

Not trying anything else first is why I call this greed. They know the skinner box will keep done people addicted so they went with the easy route.

Maybe pissed off was to strong of a term but can you honestly say you are happy with this new direction?

Not trying anything else first might be greed. It might be they discussed it and disagreed and some people thought this was the best solution and some didn't. That doesn't amount to greed.

What if other suggestions were brought up and the guys in charge really didn't think they'd work. Is that greedy or just disagreeing with what you think will work.

Everyone is a game designer...everyone knows what's best. Everyone knows what will work. Those guys at Anet, they have their heads up their ass. They didn't even discuss any other options. They decided this with a ouija board and a deck of tarot cards. What a bunch of cretins!

If you really believe they didn't examine different options and discuss them, I have no idea what to say to you. You weren't at those meetings and neither was I, but there could very well be other reasons besides greed for them not to try them. Maybe there's stuff you haven't thought of, or I haven't thought of. Maybe it has something to do with other content they're working on that we know nothing about, and some of the suggestions interfere with that content.

That's my point. We don't know. So the word greed, thrown about for the sake of saying it's all just about money, that they didn't actually think this was best for the game generally is the kind of hyperbole I speak out against all the time.

Edit: Am I happy with the new direction? Shrugs. IS it a new direction? They found a missing thing and filled the gap. This isn't really concerning me as much as it is other people. I can't say I'm happy about it. I can't say I'm unhappy. Want to know why? Because I don't know where it's going to go.

If it goes where I think it's going, I'm not going to be unhappy. If it goes where you think it's going I will be. lol

And now I need to crawl into bed. Respond when I wake up.

[frunk]

Or it could just be a coincidence. This is how rumors start.

It doesn't help that Fractal of the Mists acronyms to FotM or flavor of the month.

[Vayne]

It doesn't help that Fractal of the Mists acronyms to FotM or flavor of the month.

It doesn't add credence to the greed angle though. These are unrelated ideas.

[Centaur]

It doesn't add credence to the greed angle though. These are unrelated ideas.

I won't call it greed, but if you want something supporting the monetary angle, how about this:

In June 2012 it became known that Nexon had made huge investment in NCSoft, becoming its largest shareholder. Not long before that, Crystin Cox had made the transfer from Nexon to ArenaNet, where she is now "Monetization Producer".
According to the Q3 2012 financial reports from NCSoft and the NCSoft shares, ArenaNet isn't doing well at all. They needed to throw the wheel around and start earning more money, even at the expense of past promises and fans. Nexon will definitely be pushing for that.

[Vayne]

I won't call it greed, but if you want something supporting the monetary angle, how about this:

In June 2012 it became known that Nexon had made huge investment in NCSoft, becoming its largest shareholder. Not long before that, Crystin Cox had made the transfer from Nexon to ArenaNet, where she is now "Monetization Producer".
According to the Q3 2012 financial reports from NCSoft and the NCSoft shares, ArenaNet isn't doing well at all. They needed to throw the wheel around and start earning more money, even at the expense of past promises and fans. Nexon will definitely be pushing for that.

It's possible. It's not fact. Drawing conclusions from what we've said so far is just that. Drawing conclusions. But it's still not bad business to accomodate the bulk of your player base, either way.

[Centaur]

It's not bad business to lie to people and break promises if you can make money that way. Business people often step on corpses to get what they want. This may very well serve Nexon's short term business interests, but it won't do the ArenaNet fanbase and credibility any good. And whether or not this really serves the bulk of the player base, remains to be seen...

[frunk]

It doesn't add credence to the greed angle though. These are unrelated ideas.

Why would you introduce a mechanic to encourage gear grinding unless you want to pull in people who like to grind gear? They are trying to stretch the appeal to more groups of gamers. Like I said, I think ANet is doing their level best to minimize the damage of this change, but there's no question that it will distort it over the long term. Personally I've loved the game and gotten plenty out of it so I have no regrets. I probably won't be buying any more gems though until I see how this plays out.

[Ruse]

It's possible. It's not fact. Drawing conclusions from what we've said so far is just that. Drawing conclusions. But it's still not bad business to accomodate the bulk of your player base, either way.

Telling people who are drawing conclusions that they're drawing conclusions doesn't really contribute much to the conversation. Presumably, the people doing it understand what drawing conclusions is.

[Vayne]

Telling people who are drawing conclusions that they're drawing conclusions doesn't really contribute much to the conversation. Presumably, the people doing it understand what drawing conclusions is.

Something that is a drawn conclusion is being presented as something that is fact or likely is about as useful. I'm pointing out this is an opinion on what's happening not a fact. So far, what I see is panick based on feelings, not fact. As long as people continue to play the crystal ball card, I'll continue to point it out. If you don't like it, shrugs. Not much I can do about that.

[Vayne]

It's not bad business to lie to people and break promises if you can make money that way. Business people often step on corpses to get what they want. This may very well serve Nexon's short term business interests, but it won't do the ArenaNet fanbase and credibility any good. And whether or not this really serves the bulk of the player base, remains to be seen...

Lie to people. You keep repeating this. Making changes isn't lying. It's making changes. Hyperbole remains hyperbole. They are making changes to a game that some people didn't like. You don't like the changes.

It would be much much better to stick to their guns and piss other people off, because they said something that didn't work. People weren't interested in going after legendaries, they had their other gear and became bored. A lot of people. You don't know how many.

So you call it lying. When you say something, if it's your intent when you say it, and then you learn something new and change your mind, doesn't make you a liar.

Sticking with a non-working business plan makes much more sense. You're still arguing in a vacuum of knowledge and remember, I 'm not even saying you're wrong. I'm saying you might not be right. You don't know. I don't know. No one really knows.

You think you know. It's not the same thing as knowing.