We here at GWI love a good conspiracy theory; especially when it’s this good. For many months this image, taken by Massively’s Rubi Bayer during a tour of ArenaNet’s studio, has spawned several conspiracy theories around whether or not the developers planted an Easter egg for it’s visitors: a possible hint at the game’s launch date.
ArenaNet obviously has some of the most enthusiastic fans in it’s community, which is why recent posts made by Founder Mike O’Brien made the idea of this pic far more plausible. But still, to pull June, 28th 2012 as a release date for Guild Wars 2 off a couple of jerseys hanging on a wall? That takes an eye for detail.
Unfortunately, a recent post by Lead Designer Eric Flannum brings storm clouds and sad times to Conspiracy Land…
Those jersey’s are actually a tradition we’ve had in our design department where if a member of our design team who had been there for a while leaves, we’d hang a “retired” jersey on the wall for them. They used to be really crude t-shirts with names and numbers drawn on in pen but when our soccer team had cooler jerseys made we decided to order some for them. The number is their last work day. Sorry to ruin any fun conspiracy theories but any relation between those numbers and any kind of date is entirely coincidental at best.
I hear rain.
[...] release date. (Update, January 24, 2011: Nope. Coincidence, but no hint at a release date, says Guild Wars Insider) Distilled Willpower isn’t exactly surprised and he lists other dragon-y things for this [...]
[...] three months from now — would be a fitting target for launch. If nothing else, we know it won’t be June 28. /* [...]
[...] Originally Posted by Ukerric The rumor got started from three sports jerseys, photographed in ArenaNet's offices, arrayed in that order: 6, 28, 12. With additional conspiracies, since when a bunch of european press got a tour a few months later, those jerseys were still on the wall, but in the 28, 6, 12 order (european date order). Developers Weigh In On Release Date Conspiracy | Guild Wars 2 Beta News Source – Guild Wars Insider [...]
[...] TweetGuild Wars 2 est indéniablement le MMO le plus attendu de 2012. Mais les développeurs tardent à donner une date. UNE FOUTUE DATE§. Une communication toute pourrie à la Blizzard histoire de bien casser les pieds des joueurs. Du coup ces derniers tentent de se nourrir en information comme ils le peuvent. De nouvelles photos sont apparues sur la page Facebook du jeu. Elles ont été prises le 18 juin lors d’une visite des locaux des développeurs. Des t-shirt de foot sont accrochés au mur et forment une date au format US : Le 28 juin 2012. Une autre photo montre les numéros 14 et 30. Comme 14h30 ! Les joueurs n’en peuvent plus. Les joueurs y croient. Les joueurs ont faim. Le jeu sortira le 28 juin 2012 à 14h30. C’est un signe et ça ne date pas d’hier. [...]
[...] Ein ähnliches Gerücht machte bereits Anfang Januar die Runde, als ebenfalls ein Foto der besagten drei Trikots die Runde machte – damals noch in der Reihenfolge 28-6-12. Ruhe in die Gerüchteküche brachte damals Lead Designer Eric Flannum, der erklärte, dass es sich bei den Trikots um eine Tradition in der Design-Abteilung handele. Verlasse ein Mitarbeiter das Team, würde man ein “Im Ruhestand”-Trikot für ihn an die Wand hängen. Die Zahl symbolisiere dabei den letzten Arbeitstag. “Sorry, dass ich damit alle lustigen Verschwörungstheorien zunichte mache, aber eine Verbindung zwischen diesen Zahlen und irgendeiner Art von Datum ist komplett zufällig”, so Flannum Anfang des Jahres. Über das Foto und die Antwort Flannums berichtete im Januar GuildWarsInsider. [...]
[...] infamous June 28 came and went, but it finally brought us a release date. Do I need to even repeat it? I’m [...]
[...] be laughable, once the game was confirmed for 2012, all sorts of dates seemed to pop up. There were the jerseys (6/28), GameStop’s overeager promotions (6/26), and [...]