Guild Wars 2

in sanctum sprint,
some people are saying the short cut behind the finishing line is:

- a bug
- cheating
- not intended
- etc

i say, it is legit, and working as intended.
why would they put a jumping boost right in front of there?

well, unless the officials tell me otherwise.

so, what do you think?

i think it is legit, working as intended. not a cheat. bug exploit etc.

We’re abusing no mechanic or glitching by using that shortcut. It may not be intended, but until they change it to disallow it’s use it is a viable shortcut.

SynfulChaot.3169:

We’re abusing no mechanic or glitching by using that shortcut. It may not be intended, but until they change it to disallow it’s use it is a viable shortcut.

aye, i wanna see what other people think.

if it gets “fixed” in a patch then we will know it is not intended.

Deimos Tel Arin.7391:

SynfulChaot.3169:

We’re abusing no mechanic or glitching by using that shortcut. It may not be intended, but until they change it to disallow it’s use it is a viable shortcut.

aye, i wanna see what other people think.

if it gets “fixed” in a patch then we will know it is not intended.

I only use the shortcut anymore so I can sit on the chest as competitors arrive and cheer them on as they win first place. ^.^

Wait, what?
I don’t know of any shortcut
Why didn’t anybody tell me that before I finally got the freaking achievement for first place? That was hard T.T
So… Where is it exactly?

Gabby.3205:

Wait, what?
I don’t know of any shortcut
Why didn’t anybody tell me that before I finally got the freaking achievement for first place? That was hard T.T
So… Where is it exactly?

the jumping boost:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1072249_10201507724113677_1464580787_o.jpg

the finishing line in sight:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1048187_10201507725513712_1954790108_o.jpg

jumped up there:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1065101_10201507724233680_421581578_o.jpg

Thanks!
Hm… Since it gets you to a point that is AFTER the finishing line, I’m pretty sure it was not intended (if it was just before it, it would be different).
It must be hard to build a map where players can use a super high jump and not to overlook this kind of stuff. Implementing new mechanics like these can be tricky.
Still, I don’t think it should be considered an exploit. Actually, there should be more shortcuts like that one to make players think outside the box and experiment with the new mechanics.

There are several gaps that you can use the 1 → 2 skill combo to cross as well. Saves precious seconds.

quick question, does the boost respawn? or does it get “eaten up” so only the first person who gets it and uses it first can use it?

akamon.2769:

quick question, does the boost respawn? or does it get “eaten up” so only the first person who gets it and uses it first can use it?

It doesn’t despawn in the first place. Everyone gets it when the cross the point.

akamon.2769:

quick question, does the boost respawn? or does it get “eaten up” so only the first person who gets it and uses it first can use it?

i think the boost respawns.

so, eat the boost, then use fake power up!

Feels a little cheaty to me. But races aren’t usually won by such narrow a margin, so it rarely matter.

Probably just wasn’t intended. An easy fix would be to put a fence around that area. It should probably have one anyway considering how many people I’ve seen take a flying leap off the ledge crossing the finish.

Coldin.2840:

Feels a little cheaty to me. But races aren’t usually won by such narrow a margin, so it rarely matter.

Probably just wasn’t intended. An easy fix would be to put a fence around that area. It should probably have one anyway considering how many people I’ve seen take a flying leap off the ledge crossing the finish.

Heh. That’s always fun to watch.

“Yay! I woooooooooooh sh***************” *splat*

Coldin.2840:

Feels a little cheaty to me. But races aren’t usually won by such narrow a margin, so it rarely matter.

Probably just wasn’t intended. An easy fix would be to put a fence around that area. It should probably have one anyway considering how many people I’ve seen take a flying leap off the ledge crossing the finish.

Oh my, I do that ALL THE TIME. Luckily it still counts as finishing the race, even though we have to go back to the checkpoint just before the finishing line and walk all the way back to the chest. If it didn’t count, I would be placed 10º to 12º many, many times. People probably get confused when they see me crossing the line after them but still getting more points.

thanks, folk. reason i asked is cause i’ve gotten there and haven’t seen the boost.
at the same time, i go through other powerups that others have just gotten (i assume cause they ran through it) or when no one was around and id on’t get the power ups, nor other upgrades / skills sometimes. so i think it might be lag on my end though (lots of rubberbands and over/under shooting anyways ://) so just wanted to see if i’m doing sth wrong.

though i will say, it almost seems its intentional cause there is a #1 powerup right there. but again, like OP said, we’ll see if ANet reacts to this.

akamon.2769:

though i will say, it almost seems its intentional cause there is a #1 powerup right there. but again, like OP said, we’ll see if ANet reacts to this.

Yeah. Though there’s actually one of each type of powerup right there, which makes me more think it was just someone placing them in a line.

I mean, there’s all those 3 powerups in the course, and I don’t think those really do anything.

ahh, true true.

maybe that’s what they WANTED us to think. that they were jsut placed there “randomly”. ; ))

hmmm no one from the officials yet.

i say this is intended.

It’s funny coming in first not using this “shortcut” and then watching as all the people run over to the chest and cross the finish line in 3rd or 4th place from behind it.

What else are you going to use that power-up for? I’d say it’s probably intended.

I say it’s not intended, considering you arrive past the finish line. It’s not like you need it anyways. I’ve gotten first on about 80-90% of my Sanctum Sprint runs and I’ve never used that “shortcut” ever.

Personally I feel it’s not intended, as that would negate the feeling of doing that final, nail-biting rush up the spiral path towards the goal, but if people want to use that shortcut, so be it.

After hours of trying i finally made it to the finish the legit way only to get beaten by some lame kitten that abused this shortcut. Personally I believe it’s intended, but most players are unware of it so in all fairness i believe it should get fixed/ removed.

Absolutely, 100%, fully intended, IMO

Taking advantage of it requires understanding the mechanics of the game. Then again so does using Aspect Master. And figuring out which crystals are fake and which are real. I think it’s intended. I sincerely doubt that the person who designed the map layout and the person who placed the power-ups didn’t work together. Besides it’s easy to save up a power-up from before that section of the race.

So I say, if they didn’t want people to eventually learn to jump up there, they would have made the cliff steeper. Or they would have patched something by now.

Intended or not, I don’t think it’s really that big of a deal. I mean you’re already almost to the end, and by using that shortcut, most of the time you’re probably not going to beat someone that you wouldn’t have otherwise beat. I mean it saves time getting to the finish line, but unless someone was just barely in front of you, it’s probably not going to change how you place in the race.

And tbh if we get technical about cheating and taking advantage in a race, asking other people to let you win (and stopping to let other get first) is technically NOT how races work. It’s not exactly cheating, but it’s not exactly doing the race as intended. So, y’know.

I wouldnt use it, what fun is it to win or finish like that.

I really don’t care, myself. I get to the line first and wait – if somebody wants to try and pop up the cliffside to snatch first it’s no skin off my nose, but I’ve seen it backfire more often than not. In the time it takes them to finally nail the jump just right a second placer or Light Stepper might make it around the bend.

aspirine.6852:

I wouldnt use it, what fun is it to win or finish like that.

Tbh every time I’ve used it, it wasn’t to help me just beat someone..There wasn’t really anyone close enough to me to make a difference. It was just kinda a nice way to change things up in the race, and I think ending the race with a jump is a little more fun than running up that spiral cliff.

I don’t use the shortcut; it seems obvious to me that it wasn’t intended, and Iit feels exploity and lame to me.

You go ahead though, I’m not judging.

The one time I used it I couldn’t loot the chest (and I got that “this is a practice round” message you sometimes get when joining a nearly-finished race), so I think it’s an oversight.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

The one time I used it I couldn’t loot the chest (and I got that “this is a practice round” message you sometimes get when joining a nearly-finished race), so I think it’s an oversight.

You only get that dialogue if you try to open the chest before crossing the line, BTW.

SynfulChaot.3169:

Hyper Cutter.9376:

The one time I used it I couldn’t loot the chest (and I got that “this is a practice round” message you sometimes get when joining a nearly-finished race), so I think it’s an oversight.

You only get that dialogue if you try to open the chest before crossing the line, BTW.

The practice round dialogue? I get that as soon as I join a race, if the race is already pretty far in. Like if you join in a race that’s already started, they make it a practice round for you since you basically aren’t getting the same chance as everyone else. Plus sometimes it starts you at one of the later checkpoints (possibly the last one the last person passed?) so then you’re not even doing the whole race. I don’t think the practice round has anything at all to do with the shortcut.

Genavelle.9516:

SynfulChaot.3169:

Hyper Cutter.9376:

The one time I used it I couldn’t loot the chest (and I got that “this is a practice round” message you sometimes get when joining a nearly-finished race), so I think it’s an oversight.

You only get that dialogue if you try to open the chest before crossing the line, BTW.

The practice round dialogue? I get that as soon as I join a race, if the race is already pretty far in. Like if you join in a race that’s already started, they make it a practice round for you since you basically aren’t getting the same chance as everyone else. Plus sometimes it starts you at one of the later checkpoints (possibly the last one the last person passed?) so then you’re not even doing the whole race. I don’t think the practice round has anything at all to do with the shortcut.

It does, though. You get the same line when you try to open the chest before crossing the finish line, which tried once (for science). I’d been in that game from the start.

In order to use the shortcut, you have to run backwards and cross the finish line, and then open the chest afterwards.

This is why I’m convinced that the shortcut wasn’t intended – if it was, it would place you before the finish line and allow you to cross it on your way to the chest, not backwards.

I’m not sure about it but it does seem that it may have been planned. I have never used it and have several first place finishes, some by several seconds. I don’t even try for first anymore because I figure there are still a lot of people out there still trying to get the achievement. While I don’t just let them win I don’t go out of my way to try to win to give them a better chance.

I feel like the shortcut is intended. It is weird having it get you to behind the finish line but the high jump power up is sitting in exactly the right place to make the jump. I would be surprised if no one thought about the fact that exactly where they put that power up is just low enough to be jumped over but only when using the power up.

Personally I prefer to skip it when running the race (I like that final run up to the top), but I like to show it to any people who haven’t heard about it yet once the race is over.

If it is intended, then please explain the error message… ? :p

Maybe I misread but I thought the error message is from trying to open the chest before crossing the finish line. You can still cross the line (though backwards) after using the shortcut and not see the message. As I said, it does seem strange to me that an intended shortcut would put you on the wrong side of the line and require you to cross it backwards (and it certainly does make it seem like it might not be intentional). However, I will still assume the shortcut is intended as long as it is so perfectly placed to allow it to be used and it hasn’t been patched for going on a week now. I would think that it wouldn’t be too hard to remove that one power up from the course if they wanted to.
Then again, maybe it was unintentional but they feel like enough people know about it now that if they remove that particular power up it would only stop someone else from discovering it and putting them on equal footing with someone who knew to hold an aspect master to make that shortcut. I have no idea, I’m just guessing.

There are no written rules on how Sanctum Sprint should be done.

I can see no other reason for that Air Crystal to be placed there than to use it and jump.

Players: “So if they didn’t want us to use food in Belcher’s Bluff then why are the belcher kits sold in taverns, right next to the food?”

ANet: “Dudes. This was obviously not intended. We have a history of forgetting this sort of thing when implementing mini-games. No more food buffs for you.”

Players: “Oh, okay. We should probably remember this next time.”

Isn’t it odd that ppl call it a bug/exploit but there is a jump booster RIGHT below it? Can’t get more intention than that…

I use it, most people don’t seem to use it so it’s helped me come first a couple of times when I wouldn’t have normally. However, if they got rid of it I probably wouldn’t mind -too- much.

Also, can’t see how ANet could miss it considering there’s a jump powerup -right- there. Then again, this -is- ANet we’re talking about.

Pixelpumpkin.4608:

Players: “So if they didn’t want us to use food in Belcher’s Bluff then why are the belcher kits sold in taverns, right next to the food?”

ANet: “Dudes. This was obviously not intended. We have a history of forgetting this sort of thing when implementing mini-games. No more food buffs for you.”

Players: “Oh, okay. We should probably remember this next time.”

Pretty much how I view it. There’s been enough of these oversights in the past that something like this could easily be viewed as another oversight.

Devilsmack.5736:

Isn’t it odd that ppl call it a bug/exploit but there is a jump booster RIGHT below it? Can’t get more intention than that…

Yes if you conveniantly forget that you jump up behind the finish line. It obvious this was an oversight. Changing it now would be more work than it is worth though. To me anyone using it doesn’t deserve their spot.

How can anybody call this intended?

There are crystal powerups all over the map, and many of them are in spots where it might not be ideal to use that particular power. Just because this one happens to be in a spot that gives you a shortcut it’s automatically intentional?

Not only that, but it puts you PAST the finish line.

And, most importantly, it negates the rest of the track. If you are neck-and-neck with someone else and you do not take the shortcut, you lose. Period. If they are even a few seconds behind you, they can still win with this shortcut. And it’s not a hard shortcut to use, so it’s not like there’s skill involved – all you need to do is KNOW about it.

Regular shortcuts do not become a required metagame. Regular shortcuts have a high risk high reward value to them that rewards skilled and experienced players for taking them with a fair, but not overwhelming, boost. This shortcut, however, is incredibly low risk and supremely high reward. And it’s definitely unfair to players who are unaware of its existence (who would even imagine you could get behind the finish line from another spot? In any other game, that’s cheating!).

There’s no reason to jump past the point of the powerup than to try to reach the finish faster. There’s also no reason to use the electric jump past that same point as well. Yet both of those powerups are right there.

Also, if you refuse to use it yourself, it’s a great place to put your fake powerup.c

Personally i use it as the explanation of the game is, “Dash, leap and …. yourself to the finish line”. That shortcut is leaping to the finish line. If Anet didn’t want it used they’d have made the back of the finish line completely the same height as the vista is sitting on, aka too high for the leap to even work.

So as long as Anet doesn’t reply to this topic (and sticky it) saying it’s abusing a bug, i’ll see it as a viable tactic since it does skim a few seconds to every farm run. Like someone said it rarely ever happens that this shortcut changes the ranking. In my 120+ races i’ve only ever had it affect the ranking thrice without even noticing it till i finished.

hmmm thanks for the feedback everyone!

keep them coming!

new patch coming soon, we will see if anything is done regarding this issue.

No wonder I keep getting top Checkpoint…. Doing it the legitimate way :P

And now everbody will use it so it’s no longer a shortcut.