why was hildebrand so short this patch and when is the next one

[Roegadyn_Bear]

Preferably never. They could be injecting the time and resources into actual content instead.

>Plays on the unofficial role-playing server.
>Dislikes development time being put into more side story content despite playing on a story-heavy MMORPG.



Sorry, but I had to be That Guy here.

[Skivvy]

>Plays on the unofficial role-playing server.
>Dislikes development time being put into more side story content despite playing on a story-heavy MMORPG.
Sorry, but I had to be That Guy here.

Didn't realize he was on Balmung. I'll be sure to do my manderville dance for him if I spot him in town

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Didn't realize he was on Balmung. I'll be sure to do my manderville dance for him if I spot him in town

Change into a male character and do it naked for extra burn.

[Roegadyn_Bear]

Change into a male character and do it naked for extra burn.

He is playing a male Roegadyn, though.

Most of us tend to enjoy that kind of thing.

[TheFatHousecat]

>Plays on the unofficial role-playing server.
>Dislikes development time being put into more side story content despite playing on a story-heavy MMORPG.

Well, let's entertain that notion. If I was a roleplayer, and if I know anything about anything, I'd realize that the things that matter to me most (glamour, expansive and immersive zones, HOUSING!) are getting comparatively skimped on in order to fund other aspects of the game. Glamour costs the least overall of those 3 things, and so we still get a fair bit of it every patch (but people always want more, no?)... but what about zones and housing? I think it can be argued that the Heavensward zones are pretty pleasing in size and scope, especially compared to ARR zones, but there aren't very many. And then there's housing. Housing is a sham. People beg and beg for more of it, for greater affordability of it, for more variations of it, etc etc. And SE doesn't deliver.

Imagine, if you will, that SE is able to meet the demand for housing. How many more people would be convinced to come back to the game, or try the game for the first time, and stick around once they got their house? It's not hard to imagine this increasing their subscription numbers. Does Hildibrand really do that? Nahhh. Don't even kid yourself. Hildibrand occupies the hearts and minds of a particular niche and everyone else is either completely indifferent or hates it. When you look at the number of people playing other MMOs, perfectly happy without this kind of content, it's not difficult to ascertain that the ceiling for revenue Hildibrand can bring in isn't too high, and with current subscription numbers we're probably already pretty close to that ceiling.

So what if they cut Hildibrand out of the budget entirely and re-appropriated those funds toward bigger/better server infrastructure to handle more and larger housing wards? If I'm a roleplayer and I already pay to play this game, I'm that much more likely to stick around. If I'm a roleplayer and I don't play but I've been thinking about it, or I quit but can be convinced to comeback- well, that's just going to make me that much more likely to dive in.

Any way you look at it- objectively, the Hildibrand questline gives little more than fleeting enjoyment for a demographic notorious for fairweather subbing. I won't deny that people like it, and I won't tell them they're wrong for liking it... but I will say it's money that can objectively be better spent elsewhere in the short term. And then when you bring in even bigger numbers and have more money to play with, when you're not already being forced to make cuts for time and budget, understaffed and underfunded- then you can revisit the idea and throw some cash at it.

But right now? Not a good idea, simple as that.