Feedback talk:User/Karate Jesus/Better In-Game Communication

I just sorta recently discovered that this type of info was on the wiki and wondered why it hasn't been on the log-in screen too. Great suggestions from a kick-ass savior. Rypofalem 01:56, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Gracias. Any tips on making it better? Karate Jesus 01:58, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Great idea. I can't think of any ways it could be improved, it seems pretty straight forward. --MushaTalk 04:42, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

I also think this is an amazing idea. If I might add something to this, I would add that the best way would be for ArenaNet to incorporate RSS into the updates for the login screen. All of the sources they have branched to have RSS support, so why not just use those things to their advantage. If they wanted to just have an announcement RSS, that would work too. This would mean they could use an industry standard technology in their login. This would mean no effort in adding information into the login screen pop-up if all it did was scrub and retrieve the RSS feed(s) for information. Hence, they could publish all of their information on these "alternative sources", while still making it accessible to the common player. Sorry, this may be too technical, but it seems that it could be done and it's something I know works well for these kinds of information sources. And aside, once more, I fully second, third, and fourth this idea. Saraphimknight 23:02, 20 October 2009 (UTC)

Per request:

As mentioned on the main page;

1. Expand the usage of the Login screen. - The player base appears quite often to be out of the loop, many players don't take part in the wiki or the forums, or don't go to the Guild Wars website, so they are uninformed or misinformed by players. Noticable updates, such as the skill updates, or developers update, especially when adding or removing from the game, or a change in stance; such as with the bi-monthly updates, are important things that the community should be aware of and quite often aren't. Though the community can help with disseminating information there is no good reason Arenanet can't help this process in a more direct manner.
2. News Window at Character Selection Screen. - Introduce a window with relevant information to the account holder, as mentioned above, in a pop-up window form. Personally I rarely log in by typing, I have multiple accounts so I have a shortcut for each, so I can often miss the login screen altogether. Putting a window in that can't be missed, would draw more attention to the important information that can often be missed, even though it is foreseeable that people may just click away.
3. In-Game Scribe/Noticeboard. - Basically expanding on the above. Though it requires work and upkeep by Arenanet it would function within the same realms as above, giving the players access to more update game events/news without necessarily having to leave the game; even providing links to the official website, or to the official wiki as a secondary means. Often, I have found that a lot of people don't know what's going on with Arenanet and Guild Wars, with the change in skill updates, for example, I had personally directed friends and allies to places like the website and wiki after informing them of a change in how things are going, simply because they didn't know. They don't go to the official website, they don't use the forums or the wikis. Being able to say "Go check the noticeboard in LA." or "Go see the Scribe." is simple, in-game and doesn't distract too much from general-gameplay.

Having a centralised in-game means of disseminating information is something I was surprised hasn't been introduced, instead Arenanet has moved into spreading itself out; information is posted on the website, the wiki, the various forums and now places like Twitter, which isn't actually a positive when things get confused or misread; such as the recent Guild Wars 2 legal feedback/Twitter situation. Also, information releases are often missed because people don't venture on to the various websites, as Arenanet should be able to see.

With the RR-Days that have happened, as example, had Arenanet had such systems like this in place they could have been able to spread the word that it was cheating/match manipulation and that players are at risk of being banned in a far more direct, in your face, kind of way. There were many who knew such an thing was against the rules, some were ignorant to it - not caring either way, or were caught up in the whole; "my friends said it was ok", "Why would so many people be doing it if it was a cheat", though these are simply excuses having the hard word out there "RR is consider cheating" would have stopped many.

Having in-game, and such as my second point, in-our-faces means of getting information to us is a positive, with minimal interference to the players. It also helps Support deal with situations: we are provided with direct information, such as RR being a cheat, and if we choose to ignore everything when it's right there ingame, in front of us, then we can't say "we didn't know.". Not everyone can remember absolutely everything in the legal documents we agreed to, but when something such as RR happens this would greatly help with making sure people do know what's what.

All of this is something Arenanet has control over, again I am surprised how Arenanet isn't using the most core medium it has of getting information to us - the game itself. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 09:14, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Ok, I thought I updated this page, clicked the Save Page, I don't know what happened there.

Another hugely positive tool I would love to see, which I would love to see become a standard, is an Eve Online-style In-game browser. A massively powerful tool giving you everything the developer has released at the touch of a button, and ingame. Ingame access to information such as news, dev blog, patch notes, new player guides, the support site ... stunning, it was a tool I didn't care for in the beginning but become something I checked every day. ~~000.00.00.00~~ 21:03, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

A.net's communication with the player base has decreased significantly lately. Those who are active on the wiki have vented their frustrations with how difficult it has become to communicate with the player base, in part largely because of the response they'll get from it, as well as how decentralized the game sites are. Since A.net has no forum of their own (and the wiki is a poor substitute for that kind of communication), the best thing they have is the game logon screen. I've always wanted that it'd link to the game updates page when there was an update, better announce events, etc. This does pose one problem, however: whatever they post has to go through localization to every language before it can go there.

I do want to say that I, too, greatly miss the Scribe. --Emkyooess 14:33, 31 October 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for your comments Emkyooess. Sorry, I kind of forgot I had this page. As far as I'm aware, Anet has no intentions of using the log-in screen for more communication. I tried to contact Regina about it (and Joe to see if it was possible), and although I didn't get a specific answer, it seems clear that they don't intend on doing any more in-game communication.

So, for now, we'll have to continue to put up with people being uninformed or misinformed when updates like the TA/HB removal happen, the Halloween quest updates happen, the Codex update, the henchmen update (I'll admit, people screaming "WHY CAN'T I ADD HEROES IN MY GUILD HALL?!!" in all chat was pretty funny), etc. Hopefully, they'll reconsider, but for now it looks like this is a dead issue. Karate Jesus 15:38, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

Anyone else have any ideas for this?

^ I think it's become pretty apparent that the current model of communication is failing miserably and angering players (wait 'til the update this week). With the last few MAJOR failures of the CR team (the Henchmen contest and RR day), we obviously need a better method of communicating with players.
I'd also like to challenge someone to come up with ideas for the community itself to do in-game communication. Let's face it, Anet probably wont do this, so what are some ways for us to help players get all the communication in an unbiased format inside the game itself? Karate Jesus 15:09, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Joe Kimmes has made it sound on multiple occasions that it is easier to add NPCs, and Linsey has made it clear on multiple occasions that editing the character selection screen would be difficult, so I think, of 000's suggestions, 1 and 3 are the most likely, 2 is the least likely. You know what else Anet has, though? The email addresses of every player... Just saying. -- FreedomBound 15:13, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I didn't actually read your post, just the header. O_O So, more in line with what you're asking, ever been to pre-searing Fort Ranik and had the Nick's item of the day show up in Party Search? Something similar could be done in the major port cities, by an organized group of people. -- FreedomBound 15:16, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Actually, that's a good point. Although spamming players is probably not the way to go, but letting them sign up for a weekly (or more likely, monthly/bi-monthly) newsletter would be a great idea! I'm giving you credit for that, just so you know. Karate Jesus 15:17, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Newsletter http://www.guildwars.com/newsletter/default.php but sadly not updated/issued very often, I've yet to receive one informing me about Halloween2009 even though it was setup to inform players about events etc. --BramStoker (talk, contribs) 17:16, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Add a "newspaper" that people can subscribe to, which will place an item (read: birthday present) into the player's inventory on a fixed schedule. When used, this item could open a window similar to the books used in EotN, but with realtime information instead of lore. Of course, "amg storage :(" might be a concern, to which I say: trash after reading; there'd really be no reason to keep them for extended periods of time.

This mode of communication would be direct and global, with the added benefits of allowing players who were away for extended periods to see what they've missed. This would also allow a way to put update notes into the game directly ("So what did the update change? Anyone have wiki open? Oh, what? They're not up yet? Did you check the offi-- oh, not there, either?"), since this medium would allow a lot more space than, say, the current login announcements box. is for Raine, etc. 16:10, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Those are great points, but I'm not really sure how you want them worded in the suggestion. Would you mind adding them yourself? Karate Jesus 16:12, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Bring back The Scribe. elix Omni 16:13, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

The scribe was weekly, if I remember right, I think they'd have to make him monthly or they probably wouldn't do it. And he wasn't in-game (although he could be). Anyone have any ideas about how players could personally do this yet? I have no idea, myself, but I'd like some. I have a strong feeling that Anet wont do this. Karate Jesus 16:15, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Just so you know, Arena Net has a newsletter for both GW and GW2, but it is simply not used. I am subscribed to both, and the only comunication I've gotten is A) When EotN was live, and B) When the GW2 trailer appeared. So, yes, in principle that's a great idea, but just as the FB and Twitter accounts, the tools are not being used.

PS: Rumor has it (In my alliance, at least), that Anet is actually in the making of a new expansion bridging GW:EotN and GW2, and that the lack of communication is just a part of some sort of marketing strategy, like all of a sudden BOOM, new content. I just don't believe it, so I wouldn't touch this with a 10 ft pole. -- Large 16:42, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

That would make so much sense, it'll never happen. -- FreedomBound 16:43, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

I think it makes more sense that the lack of communication is due to negligence. Btw, if the CR team ever reads this, saying you're going to communicate more and actually communicating more are actually 2 separate things. Learn the difference. Karate Jesus 16:47, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

This section is for suggestions on how Anet could do this better.

...

This section is for suggestions on how players could help do this.

• Everyone takes a half-hour shift standing in Kamadan spamming "TA AND HB WILL BE REMOVED TOMORROW. THE END IS NIGH." elix Omni 17:02, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

LOL. Karate Jesus 17:03, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

• A player or community of players could write the words for an in-game NPC, just like a player used to the write the Scribe (I think). Karate Jesus 17:03, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

The scribe was written by Andrew Patrick, an anet employee. D: elix Omni 17:05, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

Damn...well, still the point remains. Allow a player (or community of players) to write it so Anet doesn't feel compelled to waste time on it. Karate Jesus 17:23, 21 October 2009 (UTC)

...

Holy crap...

They used the log-in screen to announce the update 0.0 Karate Jesus 21:36, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

KJ wins an internets! And a . -- FreedomBound 21:43, 20 November 2009 (UTC)

Yes, they did. Now lets see if it was a fluke or not. Oh and another idea, they need to promote this feedback area more often. Everybody I talk to has ideas for Guild Wars but NONE of them know about this feedback section where you can post things. There must be something they can do to get the word out. Previously Unsigned 00:47, 21 November 2009 (UTC)