Give the devs a chance, and stop insulting them.

[Kam.4092]

Just because some big names left doesn’t mean the game will just implode. The constant talk of GW2 being dead now is just insulting who is left. We have 300 employees still working on our game. That’s still a lot, and we should encourage them. Stop acting like they will kill the game. Just wait, and calm down already.

[Loosmaster.8263]

> @"Kam.4092" said:

> Just because some big names left doesn’t mean the game will just implode. The constant talk of GW2 being dead now is just insulting who is left. We have 300 employees still working on our game. That’s still a lot, and we should encourage them. Stop acting like they will kill the game. Just wait, and calm down already.

 

**"Soon™"**....

[Trollocks.5084]

Nobody's insulting them. They're just wondering WTF is going on. And they've left us without a shred of communication beyond "Everything's fine! Don't look behind the curtain!"

[Zok.4956]

> @"Kam.4092" said:

> Just because some big names left doesn’t mean the game will just implode. The constant talk of GW2 being dead now is just insulting who is left. We have 300 employees still working on our game.

 

Actually, we do not know how many Anet employees worked on GW2 the last few years and we do not know how much of the remaining employees will be working on GW2.

 

[InvaGir.9158]

> @"Trollocks.5084" said:

> Nobody's insulting them. They're just wondering kitten is going on. And they've left us without a shred of communication beyond "Everything's fine! Don't look behind the curtain!"

 

Exactly

No one is insulting anyone. People are worried and if they didn't care about the game, the community or ArenaNet they wouldn't make threads asking for answers.

OP some of us want to continue to support this game, We as consumers need to be satisfied with the product(GW2) the company gives us(ArenaNet)

And considering the recent occurrence silent isn't the best thing to help us understand what is going on especially that we know that Anet is known for having a terrible communication skills with the community.

 

They need to shed some light on us and give us an update, Yes yes terrible times but this is exactly the time to inform us on what is going on and not later

We understand they grieve for the layoffs of their colleagues. But shuting down services since day one of this incident will only increase the anger and concern of the community.

 

Even I feel hopeless about this game and I'm thinking about finding a replacement

But because I love this game so much and I love the content Anet is providing I don't want to leave so soon and I want to continue supporting them for many years to come.

 

[SkyShroud.2865]

Oh. I get where OP is coming from.

Given that 100 has to go, people are like gw2 dead, rip, etc etc. It is like saying the 300 people who remain are not good enough to keep gw2 alive therefore insulting them.

Sure, people might argue they don't have that intention but those actions do imply an insult to those who remain.

One doesn't need to know what they doing are wrong, inorder to do wrong things.

[battledrone.8315]

> @"Zok.4956" said:

> > @"Kam.4092" said:

> > Just because some big names left doesn’t mean the game will just implode. The constant talk of GW2 being dead now is just insulting who is left. We have 300 employees still working on our game.

>

> Actually, we do not know how many Anet employees worked on GW2 the last few years and we do not know how much of the remaining employees will be working on GW2.

>

 

yep, if there ever was a time to reach out to to the players, this is it. im surprised that theyre not doing anything, going full turtle now will hurt them a lot more

just a short statement , like "we did a fooohbah, and now were trying to fix it"

silence at this point is the worst decision

[Terter.4125]

In my opinion the new content in the future will slow down after 1/4 of the employees are cut and there will be more responsibilities to the other 3/4 who are staying in the studio. There will be more work for the ones who stay but in my opinion that means promotions for the extra work, and cutting some of the communications around the employees. What I mean by cutting some of the communications is that when 4 people work on a project there are 4 different opinions, now there will be 3. That means faster decisions. 1 employee maybe is not enough but imagine 10 people out of 40, imagine 100 out of 400. This has a plus and a minus, more heads more different opinions, more ideas but that doesn't mean 300 employees aren't capable of doing the same job as 400, they just need to tighten their pants in the future and not working on other game projects that do not include GW2's future.

[Bast.7253]

> @"Gopaka.7839" said:

> In my opinion the new content in the future will slow down after 1/4 of the employees are cut and there will be more responsibilities to the other 3/4 who are staying in the studio. There will be more work for the ones who stay but in my opinion that means promotions for the extra work, and cutting some of the communications around the employees. What I mean by cutting some of the communications is that when 4 people work on a project there are 4 different opinions, now there will be 3. That means faster decisions. 1 employee maybe is not enough but imagine 10 people out of 40, imagine 100 out of 400. This has a plus and a minus, more heads more different opinions, more ideas but that doesn't mean 300 employees aren't capable of doing the same job as 400, they just need to tighten their pants in the future and not working on other game projects that do not include GW2's future.

 

I definitely think it will slow down, unfortunately. If not come to a grinding halt for quite some time. They mentioned we would still get continuation of season 4 and 5, but not when or how the timeline will be affected. But as they restructure and inform what's left, and attempt to incorporate the ones remaining into the current workflow and teams, it's going to most likely drastically impact the game at least in the short term. Which is unfortunate.

 

I don't really follow the rest of your statement, to be honest.

 

But I think it could go one of two ways, if the people remaining are passionate about the franchise and have good leadership, then I think the game could see a boost from the number and focus increase. If they just have more people than before, but a lack of morale and passion for the game, then they probably won't produce the same quality as the smaller teams. And if they don't have good leadership and people are just tossed into areas where they shouldn't be or aren't be as productive as they could be, you just have an excessive amount of people producing less than they could because there's just too many cooks in the kitchen.

 

And if I follow any of that last bit, are you assuming that there were 400 people and now 300 are going to be attempting to do the work of 300? Those 400 were dispersed among multiple projects, and arguably, most of that 400 may have been working on something other than Guild Wars 2. So, for all we know, we could be going from 100 or less working on Guild Wars 2, to 300 working solely on Guild Wars 2 and a plus 200 increase in staff devoted to it. So with that, it could go either way. It's going to take a lot of great leadership to ensure that the influx of 200 people are being efficient and not liabilities that lead to disorganization and pipeline or workflow chaos. And even in the best possible scenario where we see a benefit from this staff increase and an increased amount of content in all areas of the game, it's going to be a huge upset with what's presumably small tight-knit teams that have been used to conditions forcing them to work at 200% efficiency.

 

I'm not sure your logic about opinions is sound here. Two or three of those 4 people may have the same opinion? They're not ALWAYS going to have a different opinion about every decision. And in most cases, a team is going to reach a general census on the best approach, or it's going to be left up to the lead in charge of the team to make that decision and delegate in whatever way they need to see that decision come to fruition.

 

Thus the influx, in relation to your statement, could lead to 15 people working in a team that used to be 5, and now we have 15 people attempting to reach a census which... not really applicable either way.. but theoretically could take longer. Because now you can go from 5 people, and 3 people having the same opinion shifting the vote, to 15 people, with 4 people having one opinion, 4 people having another opinion, 4 people having another opinion, and 3 people having another opinion. Then all of a sudden you have a three-way tie on the same decision and have to go through another iteration to narrow it down. Thus, slower in the end.

 

To add to that, you now have leads now trying to manage or.. well... lead... 15 people versus 5, which is when it can start to get chaotic. Of course then the solution would probably be to have three team leads instead of 1.

 

 

 

[casualkenny.9817]

Actually, everything depends on what ncsoft has planned for the next 1-3-5 years:

1) this is the start of the eventual winding up of gw2, and they intend to layoff more staff gradually as projects finish

2) they are forcing Anet to drop all side projects (non-gw2) and focus on gw2 with the right number of staff, and they intend to keep the franchise running

 

It really has nothing to do with what Anet intends, and the hard work of their developers and various staff.

 

Anet's statement's phrasing is vague because of their choice of words, and lack of commitment beyond the next year.

 

And Ncsoft has said nothing. And it is their words that is most crucial. (though they are not bound to their words)

 

I believe that a gw2 expansion fully qualifies as an unnanounced project, and that the promise of unaffected, continued service of gw2 does not include either a future expansion or lw6.

 

 

Edit: not forgetting that staff morale will tank, as will their corporate loyalty to their employer, ncsoft (not Anet)

[Aerlen.5326]

Edit: Was a reply to a now deleted comment

 

Yet you didn't bold this: **those of us who are shocked and grieving those we lost and who are concerned for the future of this world**

 

Everything is not fine. Things are in a confusing, distressing, and chaotic state right now. No where did I say everything is okay.

 

How does flailing, threatening to quit, crying about the game being dead, moping around, encouraging others to leave, shooting down every last even slightly optimistic opinion, writing "rip GW2", "REEEEEEEEEEE CHANGE", "Only THESE devs mattered, GAME DEAD", and other over dramatic angsty teenager drama fits help achieve the goal of getting a clear and transparent answer about the future of GW2 or the remaining devs working on the game?

 

Hint: It doesn't. Stop it.

[yefluke.3168]

Just to be realistic...

Anet not gonna tell us frankly that ' hey, we are in bad situation now, gw2 is doom'.. no they won't. will they?

They just try to 'keep' everything ok and inform us that there is no problem at all , don't worry..

 

if not, they gonna lose the us. This is business tho.

They might release some expac... within these 2 years to prove that the situation now is really ok..

 

We can wait and see.

 

[Ninutra.7926]

> @"Loosmaster.8263" said:

> **"Soon™"**....

 

Don't.

 

> @"Trollocks.5084" said:

> Nobody's insulting them. They're just wondering kitten is going on. And they've left us without a shred of communication beyond "Everything's fine! Don't look behind the curtain!"

 

I think it's just bad word choice from OP. Not insulting literally, but devaluing them as SkyShroud pointed out.

But so far life has not been easy for them. Pulling back to sort things out and regroup without having to inform about each step can be necessary. At least from their point of view. It's obvious they think of us, the players, as a separate group, so whatever news there are, will go through a rhetorical lens, when they'll get some perspective on the issue and _get time to choose words._ You don't wanna cause panic (even though they paradoxically also do that by staying silent), when you are in this position. Maybe telling truth right away might scare us away, they think. It's still a customer - producer relationship at its core. You gotta settle for one tactic in order to keep the customers still with you. Not saying it's good, or even right to keep so many things from us, since we care about the them and game as well, but you know. A thousand different views, none of them correct.

 

Personally, I would worry about communication issues if this kind of behaviour continues past the shock state they are in.

 

_Then again_, people are feeling like they are being lied to, when they discovered that apparently the money they have given Anet went to side projects (now cancelled). I paid for an item in game to support the devs, the humans behind it. Transaction is finished, and I cannot control what the money goes to, but at least I gave the money willingly. What they will do, is their thing. I can be mad about them choosing their focus badly, and triggering Daddy NcSoon into action, but I cannot be mad for actual people wanting to do something else besides one game (you know, another product that you might be interested in). The fact that it failed, though, wasn't decided by them.

 

That being said, I would prefer transparency, as anyone else. The thing is, unproductive whining or being angry doesn't help, in any degree, ever. And I think most of the community knows this, just that there is always this vocal minority of edgelords. And those people are best ignored.

[kharmin.7683]

> @"Gopaka.7839" said:

> In my opinion the new content in the future will slow down after 1/4 of the employees are cut and there will be more responsibilities to the other 3/4 who are staying in the studio.

But we already know that many of the resources had already been diverted to other projects within Anet which have now been closed down. That would bring those employees back to working on GW2 which ought to increase the number of people working on it more than prior (excluding those who were let go). Right?

 

 

[Aerlen.5326]

I feel I need to say it's not white knighting to remind everyone that they delayed their own WvW release and closed the offices so they themselves could process this. Flailing about expecting answers right this instant is really disrespecting Anet and the people behind the game. I seriously doubt they're having a party and prancing around happily ignoring the crapstorm on the forum to drink wine and serve cake. It's not unreasonable to believe that they are also working on finding the right words to tell us what's going on and what to expect from this point forward as they adjust and restructure teams. I'm real sure they know that no matter what they say, it's going to be ripped apart, forced into certain narratives, and closely examined so I'd honestly rather have a thought out statement than .. well... the hot mess I've seen from a certain other company that jumped to please players and shut them up.

 

 

[kasoki.5180]

> @"kharmin.7683" said:

> > @"Gopaka.7839" said:

> > In my opinion the new content in the future will slow down after 1/4 of the employees are cut and there will be more responsibilities to the other 3/4 who are staying in the studio.

> But we already know that many of the resources had already been diverted to other projects within Anet which have now been closed down. That would bring those employees back to working on GW2 which ought to increase the number of people working on it more than prior (excluding those who were let go). Right?

>

>

 

If this were the case people who worked on GW2 wouldn't be fired. Like members of narrative team or audio designers. It's really hard to say since we don't know who worked on what and for how long these side projects have been going on.

[Gehenna.3625]

> @"Ninutra.7926" said:

> > @"Loosmaster.8263" said:

> > **"Soon™"**....

>

> Don't.

NcSoon™ ?

[Trise.2865]

Spamming the forums with positivity is still spamming the forums, you know...

[Ayakaru.6583]

Which devs?

The only dev that knows there's a forum (Gaile) had been fired.

You can literally say whatever you want now, anet will never know

[Naxos.2503]

I think most of all, players feel hurt by the loss of many people they recognized for their work within the game. One player mentionned finding a little known area hidden in a map, that was designed by one of the developper laid off, and you can tell just how heartwrenching the news was to them. I think it's like that for many, some people express it differently, and perhaps in the wrong way.

[JDub.1530]

> @"InvaGir.9158" said:

> They need to shed some light on us and give us an update, Yes yes terrible times but this is exactly the time to inform us on what is going on and not later

 

> @"battledrone.8315" said:

> yep, if there ever was a time to reach out to to the players, this is it. im surprised that theyre not doing anything, going full turtle now will hurt them a lot more

> just a short statement , like "we did a fooohbah, and now were trying to fix it"

> silence at this point is the worst decision

 

The office has been closed the past two days. And it's pretty early in the day for them today. I'd imagine the rest of this week will entail a lot of staff and department meetings so they can discuss where they stand and what their direction is going forward. It's very possible that THEY don't even know what's going on yet. If that's the case, what can they possibly tell us?

 

Two days seems like forever to people following it who want instant answers. But I bet ANet employees feel time is just zipping by as they try to get their feet back underneath them.

 

I'm sure some message is coming. Maybe in the remainder of this week, maybe next week. But I don't know if we're going to get much more than something to the effect of: "sad times, but we're still dedicated." The proof will be in the content going forward, not the words they can put out now. Any clear roadmap like "expansion in the works" or "WvW revamp coming forth quarter" will likely need time to plan out and determine feasibility. Not something they can toss out in a statement now as a band-aid to hopefully placate the player base.

[Ninutra.7926]

> @"Gehenna.3625" said:

> > @"Ninutra.7926" said:

> > > @"Loosmaster.8263" said:

> > > **"Soon™"**....

> >

> > Don't.

> NcSoon™ ?

 

Yes. Don't. I get too many flashbacks

[TheGrimm.5624]

A lot of people also keep missing the fact that there have been statements that a number of people were working on new projects and some of these layoffs were associated to these projects being cancelled. From some of the layoffed staff links there is also information that shows they were not working on GW2 when released. So we shouldn't jump to the conclusion that the end of days is here. Losing a core piece of your staff will impact those that remain and we should expect some impact as people have that sink in. But agree don't discount all the work that those that remain are doing and be little it. If anything show your support, step in and enjoy this world they and those that were let off have created.

[Gehenna.3625]

> @"Ninutra.7926" said:

> > @"Gehenna.3625" said:

> > > @"Ninutra.7926" said:

> > > > @"Loosmaster.8263" said:

> > > > **"Soon™"**....

> > >

> > > Don't.

> > NcSoon™ ?

>

> Yes. Don't. I get too many flashbacks

 

Ok, I won't do that then ;)

[Lilyanna.9361]

A message did come in, now people can stop acting like angry, squeaking bats and be satisfied.

 

Sheesh.