Archive for the Interviews Category

Regina Interview

Posted 13/04/13 by

Regina Buenaobra, as most of you know, is the community manager at ArenaNet and there’s a nice interview with here online here in which discusses her role at the company and of course Guild Wars 2.

Given the behind the scenes access Regina has, being part of ArenaNet, we were wondering how much, if at all, it has changed her perspective of the game and if she had familiarized with the content pre-launch.

I think working in the company gives me insight into design decisions, and being a community manager gives me insight into how those decisions may be perceived or received by fans. Because of those two factors, we’re often able to have responses in mind or are able to give the development team a heads-up about these issues.

The Community Team was already familiar with the game before launch. In preparation for showing the game at various conventions, we got acquainted with the content. In some cases we had to give presentations, so it was important to have a good working knowledge of the game. I mentioned earlier about the all-company play sessions; we had a lot of those before launch, and we still have them to familiarize ourselves with the new content and to provide feedback to the teams working on upcoming content.

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Guild Wars 2 Reddit AMA with Chris Whiteside on Monday

Posted 22/11/12 by

Following the update from Chris Whitside yesterday on the Lost Shores and future plans, Chris has decided to hold an AMA on Reddit this Monday to answer queries on the game moving forward.

Thanks for your feedback we really appreciate it. I would like to take the opportunity to answer your questions in an AMA on Reddit on Monday 26th (12pm PST- More details to follow) to talk about recent updates to the game and our philosophy for Guild Wars 2 moving forward.

Please keep in mind that there we are about to begin the Thanksgiving holiday in the US and are out of the office (and likely in game) until Monday. Happy Holidays everyone!

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Jeff Grubb Interview

Posted 22/08/12 by

The guys over at TopoftheGames.com recently caught up with ArenaNet’s Jeff Grubb to find what’s in store now the game is just around the corner. Click and watch!

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Matt Wuerffel’s Interview in the New York Post

Posted 21/08/12 by

Guild Wars 2 developer Matt Wuerffel was interviewed by William Vitka of the New York Post. The lengthy piece provides some in-depth insights into many of the aspects which we have experienced during the BWE’s and stress tests. It also gives us a brief view into the life of the alpha testers and their close relationship to the developers.

Check out the interview in it’s entirety here.

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ArenaNet Global Brand Manager Chris Lye talks Subscription Models

Posted 02/08/12 by

Many of you will have heard this week that EA and Bioware are to move Star Wars: The Old Republic over to a free to play model this autumn which was not exactly surprising news. In an inrerview  on the Verghe, ArenaNet global brand manager Chris Lye discusses how the world of MMOs and subscription models are changing.

“If you’re an up and coming business I would definitely advise you don’t naturally assume that subscription model is your business model,” says Lye. “Two years ago [developers] were all like ‘of course it’s going to be a subscription game, why would we think of anything else?’ and now they’re backpedalling like ‘No, no, it’s not necessarily a subscription game, we haven’t decided our business model.’ Now there’s an awareness in the industry that requires a serious amount of thought as to whether you will support the subscription business model. The notion of the AAA launch-and-leave type game is declining. There’s much more emphasis on building a long term relationship with the community.

There is no doubt we have seen a massive shift in what players are willing to pay for their MMO game time in the past  six months, and with the market becoming more competitive and with even more high quality titles being released, it is making more sense to keep and build the relationship with the players and let them support the product through options like microtransactions. Innovation is also key, and most MMOs are failing to bring anything new to the table which causes high drop-off rates after launch. Thankfully Guild Wars 2 is a one time purchase, so it’s easier for players to keep playing and puts less pressure on ArenaNet post launch to keep piling out new content.

 

 

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FANtastic Friday – SageLikeOne Interview

Posted 20/07/12 by

For this weeks FANtastic Friday we have the very special guest SageLikeOne on for an interview about himself and his youtube channel. Without further ado, here it is:

[GWOnline] Hi Sage, last time we had you on you were doing a guest blog about starting your own youtube channel. You said you started with the question “What sort of YouTube-channel would I like to watch when it comes to Guild Wars 2?”. Now that we are just over a month away from Guild Wars 2′s release, would you answer that question any differently?
[SageLikeOne] I don’t think so. I think that if I were to watch Guild Wars 2 clips regularly it would have to be truly regularly, that is – contents that is spaced with an even and quick frequency, not something that might come out every fortnight, and it would have to be informative, fun and not ranting and raving constantly. There are a lot of game-review channels that fail on one, some, or all of those counts (which is why I do not watch them) and there are some that try to be better. Those I gladly support.

[GWO] Currently you are one of the biggest Guild Wars 2 youtuber’s out there. During your journey to this point what would be the most important thing you’ve learned along the way?
[Sage] I would not say that I am one of the biggest, and as I cater mostly to the same people who are now playing the beta I have seen a lot of viewers spend their time playing rather than watching – and rightly so! I could never be a substitute for the game, but I hope to be something people might watch when they are not playing, and enjoy it for what it is. This is probably one of the more important aspects of this that I initially overlooked – to make sure you are doing this for the right reasons. I am not in this to get millions of views, make buckets of money or earn some sort of fame. I am doing this because it is fun, and because some people enjoy it. As far as motivation goes I feel it is a lot healthier than “I hope to make a million dollars” or “I hope to turn this into a professional acting/gamereviewer/editor/[insert other profession here]-career”, at least for me. I do this for fun, and that’s important.

[GWO] You’ve made a few pieces about how to make great clips, most recently your top 10 video in the last FANtastic Friday. For all the aspiring youtuber’s out there, what is the single most important piece of advice you can give them?
[Sage] Mind your contents. If you have contents the rest sorts itself, but if you produce shoddy, ill-informed, ranting or in-frequent clips then you will struggle every step of the way. If you make sure the contents it good, then following, opportunities and more will be a lot easier.

[GWO] The Guild Wars 2 community has had a lot of ups and downs on the road to release. What advice would you give to our readers going into release?
[Sage] Take your time. If you rush this game you will miss out on a lot. This is not going to be like a lot of other MMOs out there, where the good stuff is hidden at the crest of the levelling curve. This game will be paced very differently, and so should you be, or you will be cheapening it for yourself. Unless, of course, you are a hardcore structured-PvP player, in which case it is full steam ahead from day one!

[GWO] Lastly, what are you looking forward to most coming into Guild Wars 2′s release?
[Sage] Two things actually.
1. Guesting. I can’t wait to come visit all of you guys, and let you show off your guilds, activities, and events. I am so looking forward to making clips promoting you by your works, not just by websites and forums.
2. The Sylvari. As the race my viewers voted me to play on launch I have stayed away from any spoilers regarding them, and in the BWE3 I will play Asura, and leave the Grove and its inhabitants all pristine and unspoiled for release! I will make every other selection on the “playthrough-character” (if such a term can be used for an MMO) random; profession, background, looks, but Sylvari was decided by vote and I will happily abide by it.

Thank you SageLikeOne for joining us this week, and hopefully you the readers enjoyed learning more about this prominent youtuber.
Until next time!

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RPGamer Interviews Chris Whiteside and Eric Flannum

Posted 22/06/12 by

ArenaNet

In a new interview by RPGamer’s Becky Cunningham, ArenaNet’s Chris Whiteside and Eric Flannum talked about the feedback ArenaNet has been getting from the beta weekend events, and changes fans can expect to see in the future beta event(s) and at launch. The interview covers a large range of topics from combat, mini-games, to dyes.

Be sure to read the entire article for all the details. However, the biggest takeaway seems to be upcoming changes to both Melee combat and Telegraphing as detailed by Chris Whiteside.

Much of the feedback we are looking into now surrounds balancing, accessibility, tutorials, and a number of “nice to have” requests from the community.

Aside from the areas listed above, we are doing some work on melee vs. ranged balancing (across the game) as well as finishing off a handful of core systems and features, based on the feedback we received from the previous event. We also have a few new things to show off!

When asked about the difficulty of the Ascalonian Catacombs:

We felt that the difficulty shouldn’t be lowered, however, as we don’t believe this to be the issue.

Instead, we isolated two key areas that we will be working on to ensure that all players have more of an equal footing based on the diversity of their previous game experiences. First, we are going to do some work on melee combat to give players more time to react to enemy attacks and behaviors. Second, we will be putting in systems that telegraph changes in the game states and behaviors of enemies and bosses dependent on how the group is interacting with them. A good example of this is the lack of perceivable telegraphs when the Spider Queen spawns her spiders.

They also comment that the feedback between the two beta events has shift from what they call “macro” changes, to “micro” changes. They also thank fans for their continued feedback and support.

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Game On: Interview with Daniel Dociu

Posted 15/06/12 by

Daniel Dociu, Studio Art Director for ArenaNet, speaks about the development of the final production of Guild Wars 2 through concept art in this recent podcast episode of Game On with MMORPG.

Of particular interest was his views on having much of his artwork rejected and how he prepares the newer members of the team to expect such rejection. They push the envelope of what could be before drawing back to the reality of what is.

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Guild Spotlight – The Order of Dii [Dii]

Posted 14/06/12 by

We take our GWO Alliance tour now to the Frozen Isles were hell may have actually frozen over as we meet and greet with The Order of [Dii].  Guild Leader Lensor and crew threw in a collective potluck of answers to our questions and intrigue…

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MMO Reviews Interviews Eric Flannum

Posted 30/05/12 by

MMO Reviews sat down with Eric Flannum to talk PvP, PvE, and WvW.  Check the interview here.

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Guild Spotlight – Blade and Rose [BaR]

Posted 24/05/12 by

Continuing our trek through the GWO Alliance we talk to Guild Leader Arcanum of Blade and Rose [BaR] — settled on the lovely Imperial Isle.  Arcanum was kind enough to sit down and talk about the guild…

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GW2 on Rifts, Waterworld and the Nail in the Coffin of Quests

Posted 21/05/12 by

An article on the Verge by Emily Gera looks into Guild Wars 2 with ANet Systems Designer Jon Peters and Global Brand Director Chris Lye.  The familiar and new of MMO gaming are discussed in relation to some core mechanics which make GW2 the game it is.

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