Originally posted by Colin Johanson (Source)

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Hey guys,

Just a quick update on where the whole scavenger hunt system stands since I know that’s a topic many of you have brought up recently. We’re not currently actively working on building any sort of legendary precursor scavenger hunt, this is something we want to do in the future and we’re in the midst of designing how this would function, but no one is actively building this feature and you should not expect in the Jan/Feb/March releases at this point.
We are however working on expanding reward systems to make them more re-rewarding across all parts of the game, making the open world more rewarding, and adding new ways you can earn precursors as rewards via new reward systems taking advantage of our open persistent world.

Some of these additions will come as early as the January release, and will get covered in more detail in the next week or two as well release all the details about this release once testing has signed off it’s all ready to go in January. (we’ll also provide a high level summary of our goals with reward systems, etc. in our 2013 blog post, which should be out next week)

ArenaNet has quite a bit in store for Guild Wars 2 fans in 2013. The team has already began discussing their plans for updates we’ll be seeing early on in the year, including custom arenas, leaderboards, and 1 team vs. 1 team PvP matches for tournaments. On the PvE front, we also received an update from Colin Johanson who talked about the January and February game updates as well as some future plans to make fighting mobs out in the world a little more interesting. Here’s the first bit of news:

Originally posted by ColinJohanson (Source)

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There will be a blog post in around week or so that summarizes the high level plan for the first 6 months of 2013 for Gw2.

Then each of the individual releases for January, February, etc. will have their own release pages on our website, as well as blog posts describing specific important new features where appropriate.

More info coming in about a week once it’s all edited and localized!

Keep reading to see the other dev tracker announcements.

Originally posted by Colin Johanson (Source)

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Hey guys,
Just to help provide some clarity on this, we’ll be releasing within the next couple of weeks a high level summary of our big plans for the first half of 2013 to help provide more transparency into our plans with the game going forward. This will include providing more details about our goals for the game, information about the stories and features that you’ll see in the Jan/Feb/March releases.

To set expectations accordingly, the January release will be a relatively small release that sets the table for the stories and features we plan to roll out with the Feb/March releases and beyond. Also, there will be no new race, profession, or new region with these larger Feb/March releases. One of our major goals with these releases is making our existing world as strong as possible, ensuring there are reasons to go to all the locations in the world we’ve already built, and strengthening the core game we’ve provided. In saying this will be an expansions worth of stuff in these releases, we’re talking about the number of new features that will be rolled out across PvE, WvW, and PvP in early 2013, which usually you’d only find in an expansion for a traditional MMORPG.

More details and specifics to come in the next couple of weeks, but I hope that helps provide some more insight into what to expect at a very high level.

Originally posted by Habib Loew (Source)

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Thank you, Grit, for posting that link. It points to a post in which I describe the culling issue in some detail and discuss a few of the issues involved with changing culling. An even more in depth explanation of what culling is can be found here https://forum-en.guildwars2.com/forum/pvp/wuvwuv/The-real-problem-here-is-invisible-enemies-Give-their-algorithms-time-to-match-servers-properly/page/4#post356817 (be sure to read both that post and the next – my description exceeded the post size limit).

As you know we’ve been working on this problem for a while but what I think we haven’t ever said before is that our goal is to remove culling completely from WvW. In order to remove culling completely we have to address three issues:

1) Bandwidth out of our servers/datacenter (traffic would increase without culling)
2) Bandwidth in to each client (traffic to each client would also increase without culling)
3) Client performance issues related to rendering (potentially) all the players on a map at once. (Note that we base our performance requirements in this case on min-spec clients. We don’t want to stop anybody being able to play the game after all.)

Until all three of those issues have been dealt with we can’t turn culling off because doing so would cause something to break or perform poorly.

Ok, now let’s talk about what progress we’ve made!

Issue #1 was the easiest to deal with because we can basically just throw money at the problem. When we first started down the road toward removing culling from WvW I took a bunch of bandwidth measurements and then went to the executives and said, essentially, “Hey, if we disable culling our network traffic will increase by X%. Are we ok with that?”. The answer I got was a clear and unambiguous “yes!” So issue #1 isn’t a problem after all.
Issue #2 is a little harder. We need to ensure that folks with a min-spec network connection won’t be overwhelmed by the data we send them and we obviously can’t just buy a better connection for all of our players. So we put our heads together and came up with a plan to reduce the bandwidth required for WvW (and Gw2 in general) as much as possible. Those changes are in testing now and will be rolled out as soon as we’re convinced that they’re solid. Assuming we’re able to get everything working the way we’d like (and I’m fairly confident that we will) then this will address issue #2.

So that leaves us with issue #3: client performance. Some time ago the WvW team acquired an engine programmer who is focused 100% on this issue (and he is being assisted by another engine programmer who isn’t officially on the WvW team). They’re working on some really fantastic optimizations and engine modifications which we hope will allow even min-spec clients to render all the players on a WvW map. We’ll be talking in more detail about the specific changes they’re making when things get just a little more nailed down, but I can say right now that I’m very impressed with the work they’ve done already.

So that’s where we are. Engine programmers are working their magic even now and we’re testing the networking changes that will be required. I believe that our goal of removing culling from WvW is achievable and I’m looking forward to the day that I can announce to you all that we’ve pulled it off!

One of the largest issues for WvW players currently is the problematic culling effect that happens more often than not when large groups of players collide. Culling essentially throttles the amount of players that a person can see on the screen (no matter their hardware, connection, etc.), yet it doesn’t stop attacks from firing off, which can understandably create quite a bit of frustration during a hectic battle. If you haven’t experienced much WvW, this screenshot represents the issue well.

ArenaNet has been hard at work on a solution to this issue, but it’s not one that comes easily. Yesterday, Habib Loew, Gameplay Programmer, took the time to tell players exactly where the team stands on fixing the culling issues. He also went into some details about what the fix requires, exactly. Quite an interesting read.

Here’s a snippet:

Originally posted by Habib Loew (Source)

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As you know we’ve been working on this problem for a while but what I think we haven’t ever said before is that our goal is to remove culling completely from WvW. In order to remove culling completely we have to address three issues:

1) Bandwidth out of our servers/datacenter (traffic would increase without culling)
2) Bandwidth in to each client (traffic to each client would also increase without culling)
3) Client performance issues related to rendering (potentially) all the players on a map at once. (Note that we base our performance requirements in this case on min-spec clients. We don’t want to stop anybody being able to play the game after all.)

Until all three of those issues have been dealt with we can’t turn culling off because doing so would cause something to break or perform poorly.

Ok, now let’s talk about what progress we’ve made!

Keep reading to see that progress.

While the official Guild Wars 2 forums have been understandably a little quiet over the holiday break, one ArenaNet staff member took some time yesterday to give players a bit of insight on developer time and how it is used. The subject at hand was camera inertia in GW2, which is basically the “rebound” effect sometimes noticeable when quickly spinning your character or camera around. Most MMOs feature a camera option with no inertia, which makes it easy for practiced gamers to move and turn using the mouse. On the other hand, having no camera inertia can sometimes make camera motions too sudden.

Staff member Evan Lesh posted in a forum topic regarding the possibility of a toggle feature for camera inertia in GW2, stating that a toggle would be ideal, but unfortunately not very likely anytime soon since it would take quite a decent chunk of developer time. Keep reading to see the detailed explanation, which is an interesting read for those curious about behind the scenes MMO development.

Originally posted by Gaile Gray (Source)

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I’ve seen the numbers, and the damage to the economy could have been substantial, if the exploit wasn’t closed down and if these people were allowed to use their ill-gotten gains. People whose accounts were terminated were the worst offenders. I’m talking a lot of ill gotten gains, and a significant risk to the economy.

Any time you take one thing and can make two, and then four, and then sixteen… ya gotta know that’s just wrong. (I won’t quibble on the odds, overall, doubling was not outside the rules of probability.) And to perform that action hundreds and hundreds of times? That’s call “exploitation,” my friend, and that’s against the User Agreement, the Rules of Conduct, and all that is holy.

I know the OP will disagree. But we’ve been more than kind, in the past, and everyone needs to own up to his/her errors and recognize: We all are part of the game economy, and those who exploit it are hurting the rest of us.

Exploit closed.
Worst offenders terminated.
That’s what has to happen to make things right for all of us.

The originally exploit, if you haven’t paid attention, was that the original jewelry recipe called for one ecto to be used. When you salvaged the item you had the chance to get 0-3 back. Thus players using different levels of salvage kits were able to infinitely farm ectos, thus endangering the economy. Much like the Karma bannings a few months ago, Arenanet took a strong stance towards exploiters again.

Ever since early on during the launch of Guild Wars 2, players have randomly experienced a movement bug caused when trying to interact with an object while on the move. Instead of interacting, the character will take off in a straight line, unresponsive, and sometimes even plummet to their death. This bug can be caused by both using Auto-run and by moving manually. ArenaNet has finally taken notice of the bug on the official forums:

Originally posted by Jason King (Source)

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We’re currently working on a fix for this bug, but we don’t have an ETA yet. Thank you for your patience!

In the same thread this response was made, a few players have also came up with a few tips for players having difficulty with this bug. One suggestion made was to quickly press the movement keys in order to stop the unresponsive behavior. Another suggestion was to release the right mouse button if it is pressed while trying to interact with an object. Stopping movement while interacting may also do the trick, but some players have also reported the bug while not moving forward.

Wintersday’s Toypocalypse began yesterday, and with it, came a new way for players to instantly join in on the fun. The event activity comes with an automatic grouping feature, similar to the one used during the Bell Choir and Snowball Mayhem PvP holiday activities. This is good news for players who are looking to run the event with random players, but ArenaNet left out one very important ability– the ability to join as a preformed party.

Many players were quite surprised by the lack of such a feature, especially considering the fact that partying with friends is the best way to group for most of the dungeon content in the game. ArenaNet issued a response later in the day on the official forums:

Originally posted by ReginaBuenaobra (Source)

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Like Snowball Mayhem and the Bell Choior, the Toypocalypse is an activity. They are using the same systems, and these systems do not permit joining by party. Unfortunately due to technical limitations and time constraints before the holidays, we cannot change it. We understand that this is not ideal for people who wish to play in the same party and who are finding it difficult in random groups. We will be adjusting the “Toypocalypse Cancelled” achievement so that you will need to keep only one gift dolyak alive. We do not have an ETA on when this change will be live. Thank you for your feedback. We have been listening, and we will take your comments on board for future game updates.

As part of the Wintersday update, Lionguard Lyns, the Captain’s Council Commendation vendor that was added during The Lost Shores update, was disabled from allowing players to purchase items from her station in Lion’s Arch. Players were originally told that the vendor would be available during Wintersday, but it seems that the re-addition of this NPC will take place after the holiday comes to a close. Here is the dev tracker announcement, which was posted on the official forums yesterday:

Originally posted by ReginaBuenaobra (Source)

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We do not have an ETA on when Lyns will be accepting commendations. To clarify about timing: this will not happen during Wintersday, but in a future game update. Sorry about the confusion, everyone, and thank you for your patience.

For Wintersday participants who are opening gift box after gift box in hopes of unwrapping a shiny Unbreakable Bell or Endless Tonic, Anthony Ordin gave players a helpful hint on the forums yesterday. It seems the type of gift box doesn’t matter when it comes to hunting for super rare goodies.

Originally posted by AnthonyOrdon (Source)

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The small, medium, large, giant, and personalized gift boxes all have an equal chance of dropping the endless tonic and the unbreakable bell. In fact, all of the boxes (excluding MTX) drop very similar things at very similar rates. The only reason there are different ones is largely related to crafting, so that lower level players can find and craft level-appropriate stuff from recipes and components.

Good to know! Also, in case you missed this developer update from early November, Magic Find isn’t helpful for opening these boxes, since it only works upon defeating mobs. Happy hunting, Unbreakable Bell seekers!

Out in the wilds of Tyria during Wintersday are Mysterious Presents. They show up on the map as little striped candy symbols, and like Shadow of the Mad King’s candy corn nodes, they can be looted by everyone. There’s also a twist, however. To get to the real present, one must first kill the mobs that pop out from the large box. They’re essentially presents-in-a-present. These mobs that pop out are random, and every day of Winstersday a new mob type will be featured in the boxes. The previous featured mobs still have a chance to pop out, as do bands of Skritt attackers.

Some of the mob types inside the boxes definitely hit harder than others, and players may even find that they need a little assistance in clearing the groups out. To make matters worse, there are a few presents that are currently bugged, and spawn mobs that are the incorrect level. These presents may spawn monsters as high as level 69 in a much lower area. Anthony Ordon, Game Designer, confirmed this over the weekend on the forums.

Originally posted by Habib Loew (Source)

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Wintersday is coming and along with all the other goodies there will be a few updates to WvW. Some of these changes are the result of forum feedback while others are part of our longer term plans for WvW. Here’s a quick preview of what WvW will get for Wintersday:

Advance notification of new builds
In order to allow WvW players to make good decions about siege placement, assault timing, etc. we’re adding a new build pre-announcement. This will be in the form of a message broadcast to all players some time before the current build expires. Because this notification is tied to one of the final steps in our build process, and those final steps take a variable amount of time, we won’t be able to say exactly when the current build will expire. Instead, the message will provide a window of time in which the new build will become available.

Alt+F4 is no escape
If someone that you’re fighting disconnects during combat (via Alt+F4, killing the client process, etc.) their character will be instantly killed, death penalties will be applied, and XP & loot will be handed out as usual.

No more insta-build walls & gates
Destroyed walls and gates will now rebuild when they reach 10% health rather than on the very first repair. This means that when attackers down a wall or gate defenders won’t be able to instantly rebuild it. Walls and gates which are destroyed can still be damaged if they have any health.

Breakout events
We’ve added a new event type to WvW called Breakout events which trigger when one or more teams have been pushed completely out of a map. They’re designed both to help players break out of severly camped portal keeps and to provide assistance in establishing a foothold in each map. Here’s what designer Matt Witter has to say about them:

Break Out Events are special WvW events that will happen when a team has lost control of all defensive structures, not counting supply camps. An NPC commander will appear in the team’s start area and an event will start that prompts players to gather around. Once enough players are in the commander’s presence he will summon his trusty dolyak to give all allies in the area full supply. He will then lead the charge to the nearby objective and give players protection and assist with building siege to assault the objective with. Those benefits, along with a defensive boon that he applies to all nearby allies, makes the attacking players a force to be reckoned with. Defenders will have their work cut out for them, as once the gate or wall piece is destroyed the commander will move to the tower lord inside and attack anyone in his path.

These changes are just a small part of what the WvW team has been up to lately. As you may have already heard, we’re hard at work on some larger updates that we plan to deliver in February. We’re not quite ready to talk about the details yet but as February gets closer we’ll start to reveal more of our secrets.

Happy Wintersday and we’ll see you on the battlefield!

For players affected by the bug-filled, final stages of The Lost Shores world event, ArenaNet has began distributing Karka Chest rewards through the mail to players who are coming up as qualified on their end. The team is using a script to figure out who exactly is eligible for this reward. Gaile Gray, ArenaNet Support Liaison, is currently asking for players who have not been mailed this reward, yet know they are eligible for one, to contact customer support.

For the full forum post, click “Continue Reading.”

After yesterday’s Guild Wars 2 Update, quite a number of items became broken due to the update. Jumping, for one, which was fixed in a quick hotfix later that same night. One other broken item currently affecting players is the last fight in the Cliffside Fractal. Robert Hrouda, Content Designer, made a post on the official forums warning players, and offering a possible workaround that sometimes does the trick to making the fight unbroken again. Here’s what he had to say:

Originally posted by Robert Hrouda (Source)

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Problem: The Novices aren’t spawning during the final boss fight, prohibiting players from charging the hammer and breaking the seal.

We’re aware of the problem and are working on it. It does not effect 100% of the players. If you engage/agro the Novices before the boss takes the hammer back from you at the start, that seems to cause the issue when it does happen.

Meanwhile we have found a workaround while we try to resolve the problem with a patch. If the entire party wipes and restarts from the checkpoint, it could fix the problem.

Players have since reported that the suggested workaround does not always work. With any luck, ArenaNet will fix this issue as soon as possible.