Clayton Kisko.5207

LOL this was so much fun! Thanks for posting this!

> @"Boogiepop Void.6473" said:

> I tired to complete the map today and have been unable to. As an experiment, I hung out in the map waiting to see if I could get a port. In over 3 hours, not a single port was to be found. We are already reaching the level of map population where trying to get a port into the consul's tomb is becoming non-viable. People are no longer hanging around the map in high enough concentration for it to be "worth it" (via tips) to stand around porting people. As such, getting lucky with plates is starting to become the ONLY way to get the poi. Given another few weeks it will probably be the only way period, making the map uncompletable without running the metas a large number of times trying to luck into a purple plate.

>

> MAP COMPLETION SHOULD NEVER DEPEND ON LUCK OR RNG.

Just as a note, Chapter 2 directs you and gets you into the Consuler's Tomb - https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Dragonsblood

> @"Etria.3642" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> > > @"Urud.4925" said:

> > > Thank you @"Clayton Kisko.5207" for fixing this issue and thank you to your colleagues as well for changing a bit the Thunderhead Peak's meta (both not so critical issues, but now they're better). You guys are simply great :)

> >

> > Our pleasure! Thanks for everyone's** patients** and understanding! You all are the best!

>

> I can't help it. I can't. How many patients were donated to the cause to fix this issue? Sorry, Friday morning and I needed that. Did both metas got both lights, and circumnavigated the puzzle just fine, so for all those patients, it worked! A shame I do not have more patience!

Oh man, for shame on my part. Sorry about that! I tend to type very quickly as I hop between meetings. Mental note the next time I use the word **patience**! XD

> @"Urud.4925" said:

> Thank you @"Clayton Kisko.5207" for fixing this issue and thank you to your colleagues as well for changing a bit the Thunderhead Peak's meta (both not so critical issues, but now they're better). You guys are simply great :)

Our pleasure! Thanks for everyone's patients and understanding! You all are the best!

> @"Sindariel.2354" said:

> It's NOT fixed.

Could you elaborate a bit more? The patch that went out today fixed this issue. I'd love to hear what you experienced :)

> @"PseudoNewb.5468" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> > > @"Kraggy.4169" said:

> > > > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> > > >I think we could look at the broadcast radius of some of these and increase them slightly to give better visibility of them. It could be that players are missing them when they are kicked off. It is a huge map so I wouldn't be surprised.

> > > Why make it a pain at all?

> > >

> > > Why not make zone events visible all over the zone, just what purpose do you think it serves not to?

> >

> > There is a limit of events we would want on screen at one time. I think after 4, the UI gets all wonky. This would be for players who have dailies up, and tracking achievements, ect.

>

> Sometimes, on any map, I can get frustrated by not being able to find events, getting to events at a point in time past being able to succeed (? timers...), and (if using the content guide) getting to events just after they complete (or watching the content guide bounce around unpredictably).

> Is there any ideas, beyond the content guide, and radius visibility changes, to make events more coherent in following them? Such as using more event chains or strategically scheduling them so that players, can move from one to another more seamlessly?

> Right now scouts exist to point out hearts. But, when we first got mounts, I had the thought, wouldn't it be great if scouts mounted up and chased down events, with some sort of icon on the map, acting as players sometimes do with commander tags.

> Not sure what is feasible, but I have always felt that map events are somewhat unpredictable and can be hard to find.

I think what you described above are great ideas that are incorporated in maps currently, even in Thunderhead Peaks itself. I think learning the those cycles would be the important part and once that cycle is known it will feel more predictable. The other mechanic we have used in the past that could also help is the idea of an event crier. These NPCs call out to the player and let them know the status of events and where they are.

> @"Aaralyna.3104" said:

> @"Clayton Kisko.5207" Can you also look into the bug of graveling dropping a plate for only 1 person (which seems to be last person entering the room)? Everyone that attacks the graveling should get their plate so players don't hate each other for stealing "their" plate and the intense wait for finally getting a plate (not to mention afk trolls that stay in the room and players that refuse to wait outside of the room). Most complains are about this issue ;)

Yes of course! What you are describing is what we had mentioned in the original post :) We're on it!

Hello Krewe!

We’ve heard about the bug in the Dwarven Catacombs in Thunderhead Peaks were some players are not getting the purple plate from the Graveling. We are actively working on this complicated issue and should have a fix soon. The team is also looking into improving the experience for players who have started the Catacombs plate puzzle but have to log out for long periods of time and come back unable to continue their progress. We apologize for the inconvenience! We're also working to address feedback about the lack of visibility of events in Thunderhead Peaks, as well as the communication of Pepperseed's event chain. Thank you for your patience.

> @"Moonless.9470" said:

> > @"Lily Yu.9467" said:

> > We count them as one of our KPIs, measured in cc's. An episode isn't considered successful until we reach a particular global volumetric threshold. If you've got a better index for emotional impact, let us know.

> Wow, dev's responses are cruel, detached, and fitting. Anet is clearly run by creative sociopaths xD

> Thank the gods they use their abilities in such a limited manner as making a video game, imagine what they could do if they were a criminal organization.

Who says we don't have one.....

> @"MattTheWarrior.1236" said:

> So I made a previous post to this AFC, my first, actually, and all of my questions were about story, the world, and the future of the franchise. I spent well over an hour putting a lot of thought into these questions, to be (politely) told that my questions can’t be answered. I’m sure that’s happened to many fans before, and I’m sure there’s some good reasoning for this, but this leads me to a few other, more serious questions.

>

> 1. Why can’t we actually ask any question, within reason, and get at least a vague answer to it?

>

> When asking this, I’m thinking of the player’s interest in the game long-term.

> New content for GW2 comes at a significantly slower pace than GW1, which my next question will go into more, but this is a problem because it’s hard to keep a persons interest in a single game for several years. You want the playerbase to be constantly excited for something new, whilst having consistent content to keep them entertained, which I’m sure is beyond difficult.

> But one or the things that helps players with this is excitement.

> Currently, we have regular patches, updates, and some festivals, but the real content comes from Living World and expansions. Each episode is 2-4 months apart with little to no information on any of its upcoming content or when it’ll actually be released. So after this good size of content, which most players can play through in a week or less, things go back to the norm with us having nothing specific to look forward to.

> And I guess my main point here is that, _the specifics matter_.

> I’m not saying we need tons of info. I’m not saying we need to know exact details in advance. I’m just saying that if we had some minor hints, like maybe Easter eggs hinting at the next location for the upcoming LW episode or expansion, or anything really, it would help to keep more players interested for longer.

> Of course, we don’t want HUGE spoilers. But sometimes a small one here or there would be nice to give us something to look forward to.

>

> 2. Why IS GW2 progressing at such a slow pace?

>

> Consider GW1. In the original game, we got the base campaign, followed by the next two campaigns, which were both an entire continent filled with lore and rich detail, all within the first two years of the games initial release.

> I know GW2 is much more advanced in some ways, with its updated art style, larger scale, and open world, so that makes development slower. But still, when you think back to the first game and fast forward to now, you see that in 6ish years, we are just beginning to accomplish the same amount we did with the first games base expansions, and we even have one less continent to explore.

> Not only that, but the time between killing Elder Dragons has been about 3 years each. I get wanting to give the game longevity, but that is so incredibly slow. People lose interest in the months and years between.

>

>

> I hope none of this comes as overly negative or hating on the devs. I love ArenaNet and I love the Guild Wars franchise, and that’s why I’m asking these questions. Because I know these are pretty big issues for a portion of the community, and like I said, I am new to these sorts of forum posts, but I haven’t seen these topics covered before, so I genuinely hope there is some good insight that you, as developers, may have on this stuff,

>

> And as always, thank you for all of your hard work on Guild Wars 2. Without ArenaNet, one of my favorite fictional worlds wouldn’t even exist.

Hello! I'm sorry we couldn't get you more specifics on your previous answers. I'll try to find those and see if I can add anything to them, but for your comments above:

I think what you are describing, if I understand correctly, is just having a clear road map or some breadcrumbs that can help you stay interested and excited between major patches. I would like to note that some players do that with fractals and festivals and long term goals like legendaries. I do understand that if those things don't interest you then it can feel a bit barren. I will say ArenaNet loves feedback from fans and we take as much as we can into consideration. I don't have specifics on their plans to address the feedback you're describing but I do think it's in our interest, I just think it can be hard to do. That's also not to say we don't either. We have given out teases to new and upcoming maps and we've run some fun promotions to get individuals excited about future content. There is also something to be said about theory crafting and letting players breathe a bit and give them time to discuss and speculate. I know myself went NUTS with Metal Gear 3 on the forums when everyone was trying to figure if we were playing Solid Snake or Big Boss. Stuff like that holds a lot of weight and builds investment into the game as well.

Sorry, it isn't lost on me that I gave you another vague answer, I just don't want you to think we don't see it and I appreciate you taking the time to write a thoughtful question!

2. I don't think we can compare GW1 to GW2, honestly. They really are apples and oranges. They are built and content is made differently. We have different standards and conventions. We are also killing Elder Dragons which are huuuuuuge undertakings from a development stand point. It may feel like we are taking our time, but that may not be a bad thing either. We don't want to rush things in terms of story and we want specific moments to have the time and build up it deserves. I don't want to come off defensive because I love feedback, but if you look at this episode we took on a Lich and an Elder Dragon. That's pretty big :)

> @"Blaeys.3102" said:

> Thank you for the logical answer.

>

> In case it wasn't evident (and matters for the future on maps where the parameters you describe do not exist) - my guild loves (LOVES LOVES LOVES) doing bounties together.

Noted! :)

> @"Darlgon.9273" said:

> > @"Andrew Gray.5816" said:

> > Similar to why we avoided races and certain types of adventures, it felt thematically inappropriate to go off on one-off monster hunts when the focus of the episode/map are very "make these spears ASAP" oriented. Bounty Boards are also ran by the Order of Shadows in Elona, who don't have a presence in the Shiverpeaks.

> >

> > That is not to say we will never add bounty bosses again, we just try to be mindful about what types of content are appropriate for the region/story of a map.

>

> Yeah. I was actually surprised to see the masteries tied to PoF, with this being more core Tyria. But, I guess its kinda like Lake Doric.

This is spot on! Twas a fun day in the office looking into the code to make this happen. There are a handful of checkboxes and links that you have to do when an episode like this is released that designers don't normally have to do. :)

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Zychuu.7294" said:

> > Ikr. Camera work and cutscenes in this episode were great.

>

> As they were in the Joko episode. This season is truly awesome in that and other regards. :)

Thank you so much! You all are the best part! We love sharing these experiences with you.

> @"Randulf.7614" said:

> > @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > > @"Merlus.1843" said:

> > > imho - rainy gray weather - this it not the best season of the year,

> > > - to let aurene die,

> > > - to lose Blish,

> > > - to get the information about Taimi's illness and its uncertain course

> > > ... leave the gamer with this unhappy end alone.

> >

> > Which might be the actual reason why they did not release this episode before/during the holidays. ;)

> >

> > > @"Andrew Gray.5816" said:

> > > We're all glad you're enjoying it so much! Playing along side everyone once it goes live and getting to watch you all experience everything for the first time is seriously my favorite part of the job.

> >

> > Kudos to all your hard work. :) Even though the story missions (except maybe for the last one) were a huge disappointment this time (especially compared to the ones from the previous episodes), the map itself as well as the meta events, exploration aspect, ambiente, music, and dialogue all deserve a round of applause. I love going on this map every day and doing the hearts etc. It is so enjoyable. <3

>

> Ha! It hasn't occurred to me the ending might be a legit factor in not releasing over Xmas. If so, that's good thinking by them

;)

> @"Donari.5237" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

>

> > Frodak was originally Kilroy, actually. However, we didn't have his voice actor and so we chose Frodak ...

>

> This has resonance with the whole where-is-Zojia line of inquiry. Are you able to give us any info on that? Just a very general yes/no on whether it's due to Felicia Day's availability would settle a lot of forum quibbling. (More details would of course be appreciated).

>

> You certainly have no problem attracting stellar VO talent, Frodak included, so if you needed a new Zojia VA I'm sure you could do it and even explain a voice change by her injuries affecting her vocal cords, as one forum person suggested.

>

>

I honestly don't have any information other than what is already out there. Day has expressed interest and said she would love to come back on twitter IIRC. I know she's really busy though. I wish I could be more helpful. I'm sorry :(

> @"Rhein.8197" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> > > @"Malediktus.9250" said:

> > > There is a collection for all exotic dragon blood weapons that gives the title "Journeyman of the Forge"

> > > doing one of the small achievements you unlock after that give "Master of the Forge"

> > > but there doesn't seem to be any collection for collecting all the ascended dragon blood weapons. I hope this is an oversight. The title should be called "Grandmaster of the Forge"

> >

> > I love that you would be willing to chase that down! As others have mentioned however, we decided against this due to the fact that we thought gating a title and achievement behind something so large would be painful to players. :)

>

> You technically could not get this achievement anyway, since the episode was launched with several of the ascended weapons collections being broken.

Yes which was an unfortunate issue, but we very quickly fixed that and the achievement is now unblocked. Yay game development! :)

> @"clbell.9215" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> > > @"DevisedDemise.2608" said:

> > > i thought it was amazing how you get to feel that you're part of what's happening with player animated scenes, it was the first thing i liked in POF and iv seen it used again in the latest episode, not saying the pre rendered scenes aren't good, they are, but ones where you get to see your commander/character talk and or interact with the story just feels immersive so i was just wondering and i realize that it takes alot of effort so kudos to the people that create those scenes where we see our created characters do those things. thanks again for all the work.

> >

> > Thank you so much! This took a TON of time to create. I think we were all over joyed with the results and as such I expect us to keep this tool in our tool box for the future. :)

>

> I actually haven't made it to the end of the latest episode yet but as mentioned above the scene with Joko was really impactful and I just watched Cameron and yourself talk about the decision to use custom animations for the episode and I just wanted to voice my appreciation for that because it really does make the game feel more immersive so kudos for putting in the effort to put that in the game and kudos in general for the amazing animations throughout the game.

Thank you so much!

> @"dusanyu.4057" said:

> i will say everything about this last episode from the Animations and Cut scenes felt awesome some, of the best ever in the game to be honest, if the bar stays this hard we are in for some real treats in the future.

:) Stuff like this makes my day. Thank you!

> @"Kraggy.4169" said:

> > @"Clayton Kisko.5207" said:

> >I think we could look at the broadcast radius of some of these and increase them slightly to give better visibility of them. It could be that players are missing them when they are kicked off. It is a huge map so I wouldn't be surprised.

> Why make it a pain at all?

>

> Why not make zone events visible all over the zone, just what purpose do you think it serves not to?

There is a limit of events we would want on screen at one time. I think after 4, the UI gets all wonky. This would be for players who have dailies up, and tracking achievements, ect.

Oh my goodness where do I begin!

* Originally there was a third meta where you and Jalis would fight off gravelings but this turned into the Catacomb puzzles.

* Frodak was originally Kilroy but we didn't have access to the VO actor

* Dragonbloods spears didn't always pierce!

* The Wrathbringer was originally suppose to be in the final instance as well but he didn't play nice with the environment

* In the final instance there was this elaborate hallway part where you would start interacting with the dwarven halls defense mechanisms to take out brand and wound Kralk

* We originally had a concept that the Branded Djinn in the final instance would come back as a Death Branded Djinn but we just didn't have enough resources to get that model so we replaced with with Death Branded Centaurs.

* We originally wanted to create a fun collection where the player could take "photos" of creatures and store them in their "index" :) One of Charlie E's pet projects.

* Olaf and Elaf were originally the ones throwing artifacts around in the Priory Heart but narrative talked me off the edge and convinced me that it didn't make a lick of sense.

* I originally pitched the idea of a collection where we wanted to find the rest of the pieces of Rhoban because we already found the thumb but it didn't really fit thematically and it really didn't make sense for his pieces to be here.

* Caithe was originally suppose to be involved in the Keep meta but that would introduce major spoilers just from seeing her so we decided that we had to cut her from the open world.

That's just off the top of my head :)

We wanted to create a cycle for players in such a way that they focused on the metas when they were active, and in between them players had an opportunity to either explorer the area, get their chests from the dwarven tombs or participate in the events. We felt that the number of adventures, hearts, explorable areas, and events were plenty to do within the hour between metas.

1. Wrangle a Hydra

2. Help Sergei by collecting dredge weapons

3. Take volatile materials to the forge

2. Escort Pepperseed 1

3. Defend the Zephyrites

4. Escort Pepperseed 2

5. Defeat the Death Branded Forgotten

6. Defend the Skritt looking for Treasure

7. Defend Deldrimor Ruins of the Mist Rift

8. Take Back the Deldrimor Ruins

9. Gather shinies for the love lorn skritt

10. Help Rytlock, Logan, and Canach train Corsair soldiers

11. Kill the Graveling

12. Dredge Heart

13. Priory Heart

14. Zephyrite Heart

15. Forge Heart

This also allowed us to put more effort and polish into the events we had. I think we could look at the broadcast radius of some of these and increase them slightly to give better visibility of them. It could be that players are missing them when they are kicked off. It is a huge map so I wouldn't be surprised.

Either way, it's great feedback that I personally appreciate!

> @"hugo.4705" said:

> That side-achievement implying that flute and harmonizing crystals is awesome, and I wonder, why not making it bigger like 10 songs to play and rewarding at final step the said flute? Just like that chair achievement but for that flute? It sounds great, the symbols apparitions add a touch of magic. A nice chilling moment within a map that is already cold. :D

Ya know what? That was originally the plan :) But as we got deeper and deeper with how the Zephyrites were going to use music to help in the fight, we realized we couldn't really do a full song, but we could do specific notes. Did you find the one Zephyrite's brother?

> @"PsDh.2471" said:

> How could you leave this unanswered? Do we need to wait for LWS4 Episode 6 or Season 5 until we get to see this "book club"? Is this in fact a hint for an upcoming library feature added to Home instance/Sun's Refuge?

> The suspense is killing me!!! :s

>

> PS: Fantastic episode! 10/10! =)

> Did you intend for Frodak Steelstar to appear from the start due to his ties with the Brotherhood of the Dragon, or was there another dwarf on the table (for instance Master Armorer Kor, Brechnar Ironhammer, High Priest Alkar, or KILROOOOOOOOY STONEKIIIIIIIIN)?

LOL! Book Club! I would love to expand on the idea of a book club in the future. Like some NPCs sitting around with books on a table and some dialog back and forth about why they liked or disliked a particular part. But it was really just a joke line and nothing else.

Frodak was originally Kilroy, actually. However, we didn't have his voice actor and so we chose Frodak and my gawd, his lines are some of my favorite in the entire episode. When we had the first pass of VO in for that character, the whole team had to stop reviewing content because we were just laughing so hard. It was great!

> @"Darlgon.9273" said:

> Can you explain the reasoning behind making players have to fight thru two Meta events to get the big daily chest for the zone?

> Thanks

When designing content we want to make sure we are moving players around the map and encouraging them to play the content. We knew we wanted to give rewards for each meta, but we wanted to give extra incentive for doing both. :)

> @"DevisedDemise.2608" said:

> i thought it was amazing how you get to feel that you're part of what's happening with player animated scenes, it was the first thing i liked in POF and iv seen it used again in the latest episode, not saying the pre rendered scenes aren't good, they are, but ones where you get to see your commander/character talk and or interact with the story just feels immersive so i was just wondering and i realize that it takes alot of effort so kudos to the people that create those scenes where we see our created characters do those things. thanks again for all the work.

Thank you so much! This took a TON of time to create. I think we were all over joyed with the results and as such I expect us to keep this tool in our tool box for the future. :)