Gaile Gray, where are you?

[Arsenic Ravensknell.7963]

Guys, can we all agree to set up a NEW Farewell to Gaile? (https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Farewell_to_Gaile) She's been family since before the Searing.

[Zet.9130]

With a sad heart I say good-bye. In the good old days of GW1, you became the face of Anet to me. You cordially weathered the onslaughts from the dregs of humanity and kept on topic all the while answering valid questions. Best wishes to you and your future - be well. Ah for one more Conga line with or without the Frog.

[Thea Cherry.6327]

> @"Arsenic Ravensknell.7963" said:

> Guys, can we all agree to set up a NEW Farewell to Gaile? (https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Farewell_to_Gaile) She's been family since before the Searing.

 

Yeah we should definetly do that.

[Ayakaru.6583]

The sad thing is, Gaile Gray was the only living proof that at least 1 anet employee reads the forums. With them gone, we no longer have any way of knowing anyone else working at anet knows there’s a forum

[Arsenic Ravensknell.7963]

> @"Thea Cherry.6327" said:

> > @"Arsenic Ravensknell.7963" said:

> > Guys, can we all agree to set up a NEW Farewell to Gaile? (https://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Farewell_to_Gaile) She's been family since before the Searing.

>

> Yeah we should definetly do that.

 

I've never been great at networking. Any ideas how we get the word out? Also- when should we do it? I'm thinking LA for the city. Maybe we could reach out to guilds, see if anyone would like to host?

[Zeivu.3615]

Gaile deserves so much more. She cared about the customer. She cared about the community. She helped me personally in gw1. I don't know about you guys, but I am whipping out my hlyek cap in mourning.

[Menadena.7482]

> @"Gaile Gray.6029" said:

> Goodbye, beloved Guild Wars 2 Community. I love you all and wish you well in the future.

 

*sigh* I know it sounds pithy but add me to the list of people who started crying when they read that (and this after I already heard the news and read your tweet).

[artemis.6781]

How the hell do you get rid of an icon? Thanks for all the memories in GW1 & GW2. Wishing you the best Gaile!

[DrMORO.4627]

Sad :'(

Thank you so much, and Good Luck, Gaile!

[Sondergaard.8469]

If I were to think of ArenaNet as a body, Gaile would be the heart, and Mike would be the brain. The rest of the company makes up the body and all of the vital pieces that make it function. Yet if Gaile is gone, that means ArenaNet is now heartless. I cannot see a future where this community thrives in all the ways that it has without her. @"Gaile Gray.6029" ... you will be missed. You have been such an important part of the community around ArenaNet as a whole, that your absence is going to leave a void greater than if all the elder dragons were slain at once. I hope that wherever you find yourself in the future, they will treat you with all the love, respect, and adoration that you deserve. Thank you for being a part of my life for the last 14~ years. You have truly been inspiring.

[Darlgon.9273]

> @"Gaile Gray.6029" said:

> Goodbye, beloved Guild Wars 2 Community. I love you all and wish you well in the future.

 

Guys,

 

Its rather ironic, but.. Gaile would be the first to tell us:

Please

PLEASE

**PLEASE**

 

Dont forget that the public persona "Gaile Grey" just became the private person, Gaile Grey. She can read your posts, but likely cannot comment on them, without risk to her severance package. As she is no longer an employee of NCSoft/ANet, she lost all her corporate accounts.

 

Respect her privacy as she mourns the end of 18 years of work. It stings, a lot. Do not try to reach out to her personally, in the "real" world, as some have implied in previous posts. She knows those players she would want to contact, at the proper time, and is likely waiting until she can private message those ones. (Personally, I would probably spend 2 days in bed, without wanting to get up.)

 

Thanks. We can now continue our mourning.

 

(I kinda doubt we will hear anything officially from NCSoft.)

[Judah Rahab.5716]

WTF! Is NCSoft mentally ill?! I am long time player and I rarely get into the forums but even I know how much Gaile has done for our community. Holy shit they just lost someone that enhanced their product to a high degree. This is crazy, the amount of good devs being taken out. This just makes it clear as day NCSoft has no clue what they have with GW2 and its potential if it was actually marketed correctly. NCSoft you just lost some of the best kind of employees from your sloppy cuts. I'm also a business owner; I fracking wish, fracking wish I had employees like Gaile! Gaile you will be missed. Thank you for all the awesomeness you gave us throughout the years. It is heart breaking to see you leave.

 

Also lying to us about GW2 not being affected. We can clearly see it already has been. Classic corporate ignorance leading to shit show in an attempt to gain the almighty won. Please, so called big wigs do your market research and not just jump to assumptions. Mobile games aren't the money maker you think they are. It's PvP and accessibility. Putting all your eggs in one basket will just lead you to a complete fail. Why is Fortnight so popular? Because it is across platforms, has low spec requirements, is controller ready, is balanced and is PvP. Not because it's mobile.

 

Man, I wanna rage so hard! This is just such an awesome brand and game yet it's being treated like a fail. When the marketing is just not up to pare. When I talk to the gaming community no one even knows about GW2. It's so freaking sad. GW2 Community we need to get the word out and act before it's too late. We need to be more vocal about the awesomeness of this game we love or we can lose it forever. We need to ease up on only doing the community dialog and start an out reach attempt. Since NCSoft doesn't seem to know what to do. My goal is to get at least 10-20 players onto GW2 this coming month. Please guys try to do the same. #TheBestMMORPG #GW2

[DKShang.8792]

Wow, this is just... I just can't believe this. :'(

[Tolmos.8395]

I'm still promptly in the denial phase, where I'm hoping MO will scrape together some budget money and offer to bring her back on as a 1099 "Community PR Expert Consultant" or some such, if she were so inclined. =D

 

As a workaholic who is used to having to dance around corporate bureaucratic nonsense, I embrace the idea that Malicious Compliance is still compliance.

[Loboling.5293]

While not a Gw1 player. (couldn't jump... couldn't play... ;P) I'm disheartened to see how this massive layoff was conducted. Sad to see you go Gaile. Even though I have very little faith right now, I hope this somehow turns into something good for the game. I did feel like the game was heading in a strange direction for a few years. Not completely wrong direction, just some things were quite strange. (Like some of the elite spec balance decisions, which require years of patches to reach a near balance state)

[Grampybone.3716]

Getting rid of Gaile is the most fkn (because this is beyond kitten) stupid decision NCSoft could make atm. Community is shocked, we need a familiar face to lean on. This is almost like a coup done by NCSoft, like Darth Vader suddenly took over telling us in his heavy breathing sound 'everything is going to be fine (and btw I'm your father)'.

 

I feel sorry for every employee they fired and I wish them the very best, but imo losing Gaile is only adding to the impact to community.

 

NCSoft, bring back Gaile (and the rest!), and fire some people from your own team, I'm pretty sure there's a few who do their job earning a big fat salary, feeling incredibly important while picking their nose instead. ANet is a family, NCSoft is cold hearted business.

[robertfordaol.1589]

We shouldn't forget that Gaile got very many of us back in game when the previous security head honcho instigated the unwarranted ban wave three years ago. I wouldn't be still playing if it wasn't for Gaile.

[maelys ashe.9017]

Also cried when I heard...Gaile entered into the game and to me personified what the interface between business and consumers should be. She will be greatly, greatly missed, along with all of those going, who made GW2 my world, and brought me friends and much joy. This is devastating news.

[Ashen.2907]

I have a great deal of respect for the way she handled herself and the job. I didnt always agree with her but understood her point of view and never felt that she was being intentionally unfair.

 

To ms Grey, I am sorry to see you go and wish all the best for you.

[HypnoticEyes.2683]

Such a shame to see such a dedicated and highly appreciated member of the staff, but most important the community, leave for a reason beyond Gaile's own choice.

All the best on your future endavours Gaile and thanks for 18 years of dedication to what has become one of the most beloved franchises around.

[phokus.8934]

Let’s be clear. ANet fired her and not NCSoft.

 

In almost every restructure the most tenured, most expensive, and non-essential employees are at the top of the list to be let go. She’s been with ANet for 18 years and was a community manager who was most likely making the very high end of that salary band. Yes she had a deep rooted history but that means nothing when it comes to dollars and cents. Someone else will fill her shoes and life will continue on.

 

After reading quite a few threads it’s as if the majority of people here have never had a job/career before. Welcome to the real world.

[Veryl.7861]

I will now apply for her job.

[Behellagh.1468]

Bye Gaile, best of luck.

[Randulf.7614]

> @"phokus.8934" said:

> Let’s be clear. ANet fired her and not NCSoft.

>

> In almost every restructure the most tenured, most expensive, and non-essential employees are at the top of the list to be let go. She’s been with ANet for 18 years and was a community manager who was most likely making the very high end of that salary band. Yes she had a deep rooted history but that means nothing when it comes to dollars and cents. Someone else will fill her shoes and life will continue on.

>

> After reading quite a few threads it’s as if the majority of people here have never had a job/career before. Welcome to the real world.

 

I disagree this is "clear"

 

We don't know she was fired. She could have volunteered as a few did. She could have been offered something different and not accepted it. Also her salary band is not necs relevant given as a non developer she had no real input and direction in the day to day development or running of the game, I can't imagine her pay was significantly high compared to those who did. She liaised with the community and helped with support and moderation. The decision could have been because they simply do not want that role any more or maybe NCSoft want to handle all community liaisons directly from themselves and they recommended/demanded lay offs in this area.

 

Having experienced mass lay offs in the "real world" what actually happens behind the scenes is often completely different to what people expect/speculate/are led to believe, especially when the majority of the info comes from media outlets who usually are misinformed or report only on what they wish to.

 

Basically, nothing is clear and everything is guess work and speculation. We know extremely little

[rdfaye.4368]

Many, many thanks for your years of hard work. It is very appreciated, and I wish you all the best.