User talk:Regina Buenaobra/Archive Product Information/Sept 2008

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Is this true?

Just read on one of Swedens biggest gaming magazine that the Company behind Guild Wars and Tabula Rasa had to fire 21 ppl beacuse your economy is bad. Does this have any impact on maintaining GW1 or future production of GW2? Source (In Swedish): http://superplay.se/nyhetsarkiv/?id=26891 Shmutt 11:52, 16 August 2008 (UTC)

NCSoft laid off workers in its Austin location, as per the following article on Gamasutra: http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19834 The issue is not the U.S. economy. NCSoft has had a bump in its sales, but also lost money on its recent MMO, Tabula Rasa, which has suffered from indifferent sales (see http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2008/02/123_19134.html). Dungeon Runners, NCSoft's free MMO with a nominal subscriber opt-in that got decent reviews, also faces the axe, and its team is now released. This is pretty sad for the Austin employees, and I feel particularly bad for the Austin staffers, both those who were released and those who have watched their friends be released. As an alpha tester for GW, I would see posts from NCSoft Austin staff working on GW, and thus feel a bit of a connection with the Austin operation. I am saddened that hardworking people who give so much to their jobs lose their livelihood!

The only impact that the situation in Austin could have on GW2 depends on whether there's any truth to the rumor surfaced in joystiq (http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/rumor-ncsoft-to-shutter-austin-studio-reassign-tabula-rasa-to/) that Tabula Rasa would be reassigned to Arenanet. AN is pretty busy with 1)developing GW2 and 2)maintaining GW1. The latter is probably a larger priority than it was about 6 months ago, since it looks as if GW2 will be in development a bit longer before we see it in testing. It's in both AN's and NCSoft's best interest to maintain and perhaps add some kind of bonus content to GW1 in order to retain player interest, especially since we're approaching the 1-year anniversary of Eye of the North and even casual players have started to max out all the titles they can get save the ones that are most associated with grind (Kurzick/Luxon, for example). In this sense, I can't see the loss of NCSoft's Austin staff affecting the development of GW2 at all, save if the rumors of AN getting TR are true. In this case, a 3D engine would be dumped on AN's doorstep, though whether the AN team would want that engine is a different question altogether. Just my speculation and opinion, which means it's worth considerably less than $0.02 US, which, due to our economy, is a LOT less than it used to be! ceolstan 16:32, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

I would hope that if Tabula Rasa did in fact get dumped on Anet's doorstep, they'd be sensible and hire some more people for that game. 75.146.48.190 16:44, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

I've actually backtracked through the sources cited from the joystiq article (and the sources cited in its sources, etc) and it appears to just be speculation and not actually stated by NCSoft that it'd be ArenaNet maintaining it. One article simply states that "development would be moved to the west coast", which is home to more than one NCSoft-affiliated studio, not just ArenaNet, and the others don't even reference ArenaNet at all except to mention that it's one of NCSoft's subsidiaries. (Aiiane - talk - contribs) 18:17, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, it didn't sound more than speculatory to me. And I'm not sure if Anet would want to work with a subscriber based MMO anyways. But of course, pages like this are magnets for speculation. 75.146.48.190 20:35, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

True, hence the use of the phrase, "if there's any truth to the rumor." I agree that AN has enough on its plate with maintaining GW1 and developing GW2. Still, the layoffs at Austin shouldn't have an impact on GW2, and in fact it's been reiterated in the different sources that there would be no impact. ceolstan 21:01, 19 August 2008 (UTC)

Anyone who has actually played Tabula Rasa wont be surprised by its dismal sales. It's one of the worst games I've ever had the misfortune of playing. If it does get given to anet they should just scrap it as a bad job. -- Salome 01:00, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

You clearly haven't played some of the Korean Free MMORPGs out there. They make ET for the Atari look like Diablo. 122.104.161.96 22:55, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

Even if I had not been too busy with PAX work to answer this, I wouldn't have been cleared to do so. You'd have to talk to one of NCsoft's PR people to get a comment on that. --Regina Buenaobra 01:57, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Paypal

Hi Regina,
I have a message to the GW team :

Thanks you a lot to have added Paypal support in the shop... Not sure if it's you or PlayNC, but i wanted to thank you because after my friend told me about this i immediatly used my Paypal account to add the Bonus mission pack to my main GW account.

See ya. TulipVorlax 08:20, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

To bad it doesn't include most European countries :( But that's an issue for NCSoft. HeavenMonkey 18:33, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the message, TulipVorlax. --Regina Buenaobra 01:49, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

NC West

Hello, Regina. With the announcement of NC West, could we have some information about what is going to change for Arena Net? I would guess most of this cannot be shared with the public, but it would be good to know if the Arena Net team is going to be kept, if the already strained resources you guys have will be shared with the development team of other games, if there's some kind of financial independence between the old studios (so a flop like Auto Assault made by NC West would not compromise Guild Wars 2), if we will have to change all notes about Arena Net here in the wiki to NC West, and so on. Thanks for whatever bit of info you may share with us. Erasculio 19:26, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

I am monitoring the discussion in the community, and I'll be meeting with people at the company to discuss how much and what I can tell you. I will post something before the end of the day. --Regina Buenaobra 19:36, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

The formation of NC West has raised a lot of questions and speculation about what this means for ArenaNet, Guild Wars, and Guild Wars 2.

As far as ArenaNet and Guild Wars are concerned, the creation of NC West ensures that we will get all the publishing support we will need to make Guild Wars 2 a success. ArenaNet remains a standalone studio focused on Guild Wars and Guild Wars 2. Mike O’Brien heads up the studio and is also the Executive Producer for Guild Wars 2. You may recall that Mike is one of the founders of ArenaNet and was also the Executive Producer for the original Guild Wars.

We’d like to congratulate ArenaNet alums Chris Chung, Jeff Strain and Pat Wyatt and we look forward to working closely with them (and kicking ass!) in their expanded roles at NC West. --Regina Buenaobra 22:34, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Will NC West do any developing, or will they be strictly publishing, support and such? — Wolf 22:46, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Yeah, I do wish all those well that rose to new levels, and I am very, very glad to hear ArenaNet will remain a studio unto itself. Hopefully this just means we get GW2 sooner! --Ravious 23:41, 10 September 2008 (UTC)

Well, it will probably not affect GW, or even actually make it stronger. But people will still wonder about it. So it would be wise to tell players what does this change mean for GW. MithTalk 13:32, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Mith: Please re-read what I posted above; this information addresses your concerns about what the formation of NC West means for Guild Wars.

Wolf: NC West will not develop games. As was stated in the press release, the purpose behind NC West is to unify NCsoft's subsidiaries under the leadership of one managing organization that in turn reports directly to NCsoft Korea. --Regina Buenaobra 15:56, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Aussie Gamer Recognition

As I'm sure you know, we have a rather large amount of Australian players in Guild Wars, split between the American and Europe districts. I was wondering when we were going to start getting some recognition in the community, such as our own district, events, giveaways, etc? Will this be a possability for Guild Wars 2 perhaps? Brimstone 02:46, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

I would say probably the same day African and Latin-american markets gain recognition: never. We are too small markets to gain the same treatment other places have, so is easier to ignore us. Even so, maybe Australia has better luck since they have less legal mumbo-jumbo to review.--Fighterdoken 20:06, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

they should give me my own New Zealand district. Yeah... Anywoo; they could rename the Polish district to "Oceania" or something and assign it that way, as I've never seen anyone in the Polish district. 000.00.00.00 23:12, 31 August 2008 (UTC)

There's been several posts by Gaile a very long time ago in response to this question, basically the answer was no and I don't see why that would've changed. I don't blame them, bandwidth is ridiculously expensive in this country. Check http://guildwarsguru.com/forum/showpost.php?p=2012460&postcount=82 218.214.126.215 02:06, 1 September 2008 (UTC)

They should make New Zealand districts and replace the rats and oozes with sheep. Lots and lots of sheep. 122.104.161.96 23:08, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

It's pretty sad that Australia has a time zone 12 hours or so away from Europe. A heap of Australian's call the US districts home because of that and that means the Australian population is spread thin at reasonable hours. We certainly do need some sort of Austral-Asia district, to help me regain a sleeping pattern at the very least. -- Spawn ‎ Legacy 09:13, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

2008 Upgrade?

When is that coming out, and what exactly is it? Does it just give access to the imp?--128.211.183.179 14:19, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Out now in the online store, Upgrades section at the very bottom, it's a summonable Fire Imp, that's it. This Update has more information and the attached Fire Imp announcement page 000.00.00.00 19:14, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

The announcement page [[1]] says "Purchase the Guild Wars 2008 Upgrade or the Game of the Year Upgrade, available in the in-game store or PlayNC.com," which makes it sound like the 2008 Upgrade is not the same as the GotY Upgrade. --Dunyas 20:16, 5 September 2008 (UTC)

Open World and Travel - Take III

As for the introduction of Japanese districts to the already merged European, American and Korean districts:

• "Restrictions on travel to Japanese and Taiwanese language districts will be removed in a subsequent build.", 17 January 2008
• "There is no set date for the expansion of the open travel element of the game.", 16 March 2008
• "There is no new news or information on this yet.", 23 June 2008
• "They are holding off on this transition for now. They don't want to introduce instability in the in-game economy by integrating these districts prematurely.", 14 August 2008

I'd like to remain persistent, as it is quite an important issue. Paitience is a virtue; however, some more detailed information would be interesting. For one, what form would this "instability in the in-game economy" be feared to take on? What time ranges are meant by "prematurely" and "for now"? Seemingly not pressing, the acuteness of this issue is there for some of us. Thank you for your kind attention. - Dantana 10:00, 14 September 2008 (UTC)

The instability relates to RMT activity.

I actually do have some news on this front. The restrictions on travel for Japanese districts will be lifted in the coming months. An announcement will be made on the Japanese website in the coming weeks. --Regina Buenaobra 02:16, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Yay! Hurray! Yippie! Ya-hoo! ... I ran out of joy exclamations. I can't wait to test my Japanese districts! MithTalk 15:56, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

Thank you! That's all I wanted to know. Even though I did not feel all cozy around my stomach in the last eight month, I still understand our concerns. Just don't leave me neither in the dark, nor standing in the rain. Thanks. - Dantana 20:22, 25 September 2008 (UTC)

NC West

In reference to this news post, I'm kind of curious what Impact this has on Guildwars. Does Jeff and Patrick's new job at NC West trigger a whole lot of reorganization within Arenanet? It's great that they will be at the top of NC West but since Arenanet and parts of NC Soft are merging together now, does that mean more people get a new job assignment in Arenanet? Will this be a good or bad influence on GW and GW2? Would be very nice if we could have some more information about this important news =) If you're allowed to release that kind of information though ;-) grtz! -- (Tribina / talk) 06:57, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Trib, I think this has been answered. Just let me try and find it as I'm nearly sure it was on this page too. Regina may have archived it already. I'll go have a look. -- Salome 14:11, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

(EC) There's some information about NC West on Regina's archives, here (last section in that page). Erasculio 14:11, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

here it is! -- Salome 14:13, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Bugger! Didnt notice Eras had posted. Erasculio you are way too fast at finding stuff like that. LOL :) -- Salome 14:14, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

I can't remember what I have eaten for breakfast, but I have good memory for this wiki stuff : D Erasculio 14:15, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks a lot guys ;-) and sorry to fill up your page with things that have already been discussed Regina ;-) Was archived before I saw it and that doesn't happen a lot! ^^ -- (Tribina / talk) 21:32, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Skill generator

During PAX you'll be having a 2vs2 tournament with Sealed Deck (or Limited Play, whatever you want to call it :P) rules, and you'll be selecting skills via a "random skill generator". I take it that it'll be a computer program. Would it be possible for us (the community) to download that program from your website? I've been hosting minor Sealed Deck tournaments in my guild for a while now, but skill generation was always a bit tedious and this would be helpful. — Poki#3 23:21, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

Team Love has a generator at http://sealeddeck.teamlove.us/sealed.php. I think they've used it / are planning on using it for some upcoming tournaments. --JonTheMon 16:35, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

My guild has a more advanced version with updated skills (i tried yours, however you can't edit: number of builds, number of elites, and the skill descrips are outdated.) This one is very nice and we use it alot. http://www.the-spearmen.com/spearmen/ranpack.php--'ÑöẊĭƑý 18:05, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Nice. I knew one generator that Servants of Fortuna has, but that one wasn't updates since Nightfall. One thing I liked about it though, is limiting professions and campaigns. In any case, I'd like to know a little more about the tournament drawings. If a pack can contain skills from 10 different professions, then 2 on 2 tournaments participants will potentially find themselves with very limited options (Essentially, choosing 2 professions and taking all the skills they have from those professions.) I take it you got around that by bending the rules a little bit. — Poki#3 21:57, 18 August 2008 (UTC)

Just to let you guys know, the kiSu sealed deck generator has been updated. The comment Noxify made spurred me to finally finish basic product. There's more on the way, including profession exclusion and more sort options. One step at a time, as they say. It may be found here: http://sealeddeck.teamlove.us/index.php Jacobbs 22:47, 4 September 2008 (UTC)

FMOD Sound Library Update

I LOVE YOU ANET!!!! I couldn't ever figure out why I was crashing!!!! Now it makes sense. :3 By god, that made that update epic. 70.144.96.227 07:36, 12 September 2008 (UTC)

Lolz..a bit less enthousiastically i can call that update...way-ok. Since i do have dual-core and still have Lagg issues (together with world wide fellow players). --Silverleaf 09:14, 12 September 2008 (UTC)