anet when you are back from holidays please update us

[Chilli.2976]

Please update us on your situation with PvP: next season, balance, bots, match manipulation and new game modes? Don't leave it till the start of next season please.

[Ben Phongluangtham.1065]

I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

[ReaverKane.7598]

Thanks Ben!

[Falan.1839]

Next monthly AT [EU] is also currently scheduled for July, which probably isn't correct. It was set for a different date before.

[Devilman.1532]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

 

Ben,

 

Ok then well who handles these issues since they are two most important things that matter to the community and are crippling PvP as a mode in this game? Who do we need to talk/can we talk to since it isn't you? The ideas your team has are nice and all but if these two MAJOR issues are not addressed very soon this game mode will complete its long torturous death spiral. A lot more players will be quitting your game than I think you folks realize.

If you read the PvP forums you will be able to see with minimal effort that these two things are what have been killing PvP for a long time now.

 

So since its not you, who can we talk to?

 

[Devilman.1532]

> @"Chilli.2976" said:

> Please update us on your situation with PvP: next season, balance, bots, match manipulation and new game modes? Don't leave it till the start of next season please.

 

And this X one hundred billion

[shadowpass.4236]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

 

So who do we talk to about balance and player behavior?

 

Could the balance team have an AMA on the PvP forums as well?

[Devilman.1532]

> @"shadowpass.4236" said:

> > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

>

> So who do we talk to about balance and player behavior?

>

> Could the balance team have an AMA on the PvP forums as well?

 

we are so gonna get banned and censored for asking this stuff man lol ;)

[Rodzynald.5897]

Why is PvE taking care of PvP balance as well? This is how we got to this derelict state that we currently have in PvP mode in the first place. Many may not agree with me but it is the truth, that matchmaking works as it should, but it has to work with us, the people, and it cannot give us quality games if there are so little good players and so many silver/bronze and pseudo gold-platinum players (who are on silver level at best, but got carried by luck or strong builds).

Even if the PvP team tries their best, which is of course very good, the major issues mentioned above cannot be looked upon by them. I can understand that part with toxic players, but PvP balance? That is most ridiculous. PvE has awesome class ideas that work in PvE but not in PvP.

[Ben Phongluangtham.1065]

> @"Falan.1839" said:

> Next monthly AT [EU] is also currently scheduled for July, which probably isn't correct. It was set for a different date before.

 

Hah, yeah I saw that yesterday. We should have it fixed soon.

[sephiroth.4217]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

 

Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

 

I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

 

Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

 

You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

[Ben Phongluangtham.1065]

> @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

>

> Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

>

> I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

>

> Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

>

> You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

 

We actually talk to the skills guys regularly and even sit very close to them. They are aware of our feedback and we certainly pass on the concerns you guys have. But, generally speaking, we make it a policy not to talk too directly about things we're not specifically responsible for.

[sephiroth.4217]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

> >

> > Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

> >

> > I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

> >

> > Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

> >

> > You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

>

> We actually talk to the skills guys regularly and even sit very close to them. They are aware of our feedback and we certainly pass on the concerns you guys have. But, generally speaking, we make it a policy not to talk too directly about things we're not specifically responsible for.

 

Well that's fair enough.... Maybe you can bring it up daily until they break lol but thanks for the quick response.

[Devilman.1532]

Please stop evading and side stepping the questions. How much more clearly can myself and others ask over and over on these forums and even Reddit ask the same questions? Its not unreasonable to ask who we can ask to speak to if its not your team that handles these issues. You say there is a "Balance Team". Well is there anyone from that team we can talk to on here or in another forum section about these massive game breaking issues? As far as player behavior if its not you who can we talk to? Who handles it? Certainly not customer service or the report function as we all know that that serves literally little to no purpose as it has had virtually no impact on the rampant cheating such as match manipulation going on.

 

I think we have been courteous to you here and we haven't flamed you even though as a community most of that remain are pretty much disgusted and fed up.

 

Some simple answers would be great.

[shadowpass.4236]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

> >

> > Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

> >

> > I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

> >

> > Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

> >

> > You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

>

> We actually talk to the skills guys regularly and even sit very close to them. They are aware of our feedback and we certainly pass on the concerns you guys have. But, generally speaking, we make it a policy not to talk too directly about things we're not specifically responsible for.

 

Is there anyone on the balance team we could speak to?

[Toron.4856]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

> >

> > Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

> >

> > I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

> >

> > Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

> >

> > You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

>

> We actually talk to the skills guys regularly and even sit very close to them. They are aware of our feedback and we certainly pass on the concerns you guys have. But, generally speaking, we make it a policy not to talk too directly about things we're not specifically responsible for.

 

Sadly balance is definitely by FAR the biggest issue in pvp atm. You guys in the pvp section do a great job but tbh with you.. a good balance would have soo much more positive impact on the game than any other pvp changes or features that i caj possibly think of. If you really want to stop people from quitting pvp , fix the balance. No offense but the balance is as bad as never and the last patch was a terrible. Dont spend too much time on minor issues rather than fixing the main issue in the game.

 

[Dawdler.8521]

> @"shadowpass.4236" said:

> > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > > @"sephiroth.4217" said:

> > > > @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> > > > I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

> > >

> > > Can I ask why it appears your teams are so split?

> > >

> > > I have this visual of you guys all working in the same office but refusing to speak to each other or refusing to work together as a team on your game, it's a constant "we don't handle that" response and yet these subjects such as player behaviour have a huge impact on your PvP scene.

> > >

> > > Assuming my visualisation is correct and there's not much communication going on in the office, I feel like these should be handled by the PvP team as you won't find much match manipulation in Open world PvE, logically speaking it should rightfully fall under PvP jurisdiction should it not?

> > >

> > > You guys do wonders with this game, but these are some serious issues that need to be looked into that can't be swept under the rug forever.

> >

> > We actually talk to the skills guys regularly and even sit very close to them. They are aware of our feedback and we certainly pass on the concerns you guys have. But, generally speaking, we make it a policy not to talk too directly about things we're not specifically responsible for.

>

> Is there anyone on the balance team we could speak to?

I dont really think that would be productive. It's like...

 

*knocks on door to have a talk to the balance team*

*door opens, you open your mouth to speak*

Anet: **"Purity of purpose!!!"**

*door is slammed shut in your face*

[bluri.2653]

> @"Ben Phongluangtham.1065" said:

> I have a post currently in localization that will list the PvP teams current "In Progress" list. Nothing on the list should be a surprise, since we talked about everything on it in the discussion threads. Also, it won't address balance and player behavior, since those issues are not currently handled by the PvP team. But it at least should be a quick reference for people.

 

Still very good to collect it all in one thread instead of having it spread in comments

[Allarius.5670]

It should come as no surprise to any forum veteran that the PvP team does not handle balance, that the skills and balance team has to cater to the disparate needs of the various aspects of the game including developing new ways to play, and that skill splits are kept to a minimum and are void of mechanical differences.

 

It is in the community's best interest to adapt to this state in their discussions rather than throw tantrums against immovable walls. To say that the PvP team has no real say on the balance of their mode is a misnomer considering they are the gatekeepers of sPvP map mechanics and accessible builds (amulets, runes, and sigils).

 

1) Identify whether a problem is really a problem beyond individual anecdotal experience and identify why and when it is a problem.

2) ‎Identify how the problem can be addressed realistically given the limited means by which balance in the mode can be handled.

 

For example, is scourge a problem because of its output, mechanics, and/or its synergy with firebrand support? They cannot address skill mechanics, but they can look at scourge skill output and firebrand skill output via amulet removal. If one isn't a problem but two are, they could look at flipping the switch on locked teams and builds at the cost of match finder time.

 

The key is you cannot have diversity of build options and balance simultaneously based on the state of this game and its development approach, it moves too slowly and in too many directions. You have to pick one or the other. Those are the conversations that should be happening.

[vesica tempestas.1563]

> @"Allarius.5670" said:

> It should come as no surprise to any forum veteran that the PvP team does not handle balance, that the skills and balance team has to cater to the disparate needs of the various aspects of the game including developing new ways to play, and that skill splits are kept to a minimum and are void of mechanical differences.

>

> It is in the community's best interest to adapt to this state in their discussions rather than throw tantrums against immovable walls. To say that the PvP team has no real say on the balance of their mode is a misnomer considering they are the gatekeepers of sPvP map mechanics and accessible builds (amulets, runes, and sigils).

>

> 1) Identify whether a problem is really a problem beyond individual anecdotal experience and identify why and when it is a problem.

> 2) ‎Identify how the problem can be addressed realistically given the limited means by which balance in the mode can be handled.

>

> For example, is scourge a problem because of its output, mechanics, and/or its synergy with firebrand support? They cannot address skill mechanics, but they can look at scourge skill output and firebrand skill output via amulet removal. If one isn't a problem but two are, they could look at flipping the switch on locked teams and builds at the cost of match finder time.

>

> The key is you cannot have diversity of build options and balance simultaneously based on the state of this game and its development approach, it moves too slowly and in too many directions. You have to pick one or the other. Those are the conversations that should be happening.

 

You can but it requires a change in deployment philosophy. Daily drops with tiny incremental changes (i.e +.1 % improvement today, and tomorrow etc) - then the game creeps forward in time with player strategy and eventually normalizes top a closer level of balance. 1+ month deployments lol, not a chance, chasing your tail to infinity.

[Ikki.7891]

> @"Devilman.1532" said:

> Please stop evading and side stepping the questions. How much more clearly can myself and others ask over and over on these forums and even Reddit ask the same questions? Its not unreasonable to ask who we can ask to speak to if its not your team that handles these issues. You say there is a "Balance Team". Well is there anyone from that team we can talk to on here or in another forum section about these massive game breaking issues? As far as player behavior if its not you who can we talk to? Who handles it? Certainly not customer service or the report function as we all know that that serves literally little to no purpose as it has had virtually no impact on the rampant cheating such as match manipulation going on.

>

> I think we have been courteous to you here and we haven't flamed you even though as a community most of that remain are pretty much disgusted and fed up.

>

> Some simple answers would be great.

 

He did say in one of the threads that they were going to try and have the balance team do something like what the pvp team did for us.