Guild Wars 2

Downloading the patch but I love you! This is so convenient… good thinking there Anet!!! I’m praying its somewhat affordable in gems. LoL

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

^ there it is guys

They also lowered the gem price for the 2 week passes for the airship to 150 gems compared to 300 gems for the 2 week royal terrace pass.

Alot of people propably gonna get the permanent pass, so i am quite content with my permanent royal terrace pass.

Visited LA today after a long time and couldnt bear the map chat for more than 2 minutes. Air Ship is gonna be crowded, i think.

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

Could the first person to buy this report back if it has the same functionality as the terrace, i.e. gate travel?

First off, does this pass only give one character access to the air ship or when I buy it do all of my 8 characters get to go up there? Also will I have to transfer the pass around to my other characters or does my entire account just have access? If the answer is “Your whole account has access without having to transfer around an item” then a-net, you just made yourself some money. If not, then, is this some kind of joke?

If it is like the Royal Terrace it is per character.

trait reset? fotm entrance? craft stations?

JustTrogdor.7892:

If it is like the Royal Terrace it is per character.

As if it wasn’t a complete rip-off to begin with.

The air ship got a daily activity NPC, the terrace doesnt. Is this another hidden upgrade to make previous gem shop investments worse?

I just checked out the place with a temporary pass drop and compared it with the Royal terrace.

First off, it looks great. I mean, you’re really up there, in the air. It’s beautiful.

The downside is that the placement of all the NPC’s is far more apart than in the Royal Terrace. And that the Trade Post is looking is deep inside the ship, where the view is not as pretty. An additional upside is that it holds two additional NPC’S: a southsun survival NPC and a trait resetter. A trait resetter is of course great. Maybe there is more but I’m heading off to bed now.

The royal terrace got a trait resetter. But the daily activity NPC is new.

They added a trait resetter to the RT as well.

Where is the quick travel to towns? All I saw is the exit and that popped me to the refugee camp.

I imagine the asura gate function will be added soon enough. I’m definetly getting a pass for this one.

Is the Air Ship only available in LA or can it be accessed from anywhere in the world?

Wanze.8410:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

digitalruse.9085:

Where is the quick travel to towns? All I saw is the exit and that popped me to the refugee camp.

Iarkrad.8415:

I imagine the asura gate function will be added soon enough. I’m definetly getting a pass for this one.

Quick travel is through the NPC near the helm of the airship.

morrolan.9608:

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

Exactly what services unique to Lions Arch were removed or placed behind a pay wall by this patch? None. How is what is currently at Vigil keep far less convenient than LA? (or another racial city?). The only thing that I can possibly think of has to do with crafting stations, however, I would argue that Grove and/or Rata Sum are better laid out for crafting than LA ever was.

Edit: not to mention WvW has free crafting stations behind a single button from anywhere in the world (and back), not that I encourage anyone to take slots on the maps solely for crafting :P

morrolan.9608:

Wanze.8410:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

I dont get your point honestly, is there any convenience from LA that they didnt add to the Vigil Keep?
At 150 gems for 2 weeks (until LA is restored), this sounds like a good deal and i would have bought it, if i wouldnt have a permanent royal pass already.

Wanze.8410:

morrolan.9608:

Wanze.8410:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

I dont get your point honestly, is there any convenience from LA that they didnt add to the Vigil Keep?
At 150 gems for 2 weeks (until LA is restored), this sounds like a good deal and i would have bought it, if i wouldnt have a permanent royal pass already.

the crafting stations from LA didn’t make it out of the city, they got destroyed.

but besides that, there is currently an npc or two that are only in the airship, and not the terrace, making the terrace obsolete, and making the airship the better place.

this may not sound bad, but think of it this way. you bought a permanent pass to one place for the same price they are selling a permanent pass to another place that is BETTER.

does that sound fair to you?

Hofulu.7325:

there is currently an npc or two that are only in the airship, and not the terrace, making the terrace obsolete, and making the airship the better place.

This seems like an oversight. I take it you are referring to the activity and trait NPC’s, afaik the latter was added to the terrace (according to a post on these forums, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Trait-Reset-in-Royal-Terrace/first#post3656156).

So with that in mind the activity NPC being unique to airship seems like an oversight. If people make noise about it it will certainly get fixed.

Wanze.8410:

morrolan.9608:

Wanze.8410:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

I dont get your point honestly, is there any convenience from LA that they didnt add to the Vigil Keep?

Crafting stations and laurel vendor

Crise.9401:

Exactly what services unique to Lions Arch were removed or placed behind a pay wall by this patch? None. How is what is currently at Vigil keep far less convenient than LA? (or another racial city?).

Because I could do everything I wanted in LA, now I can do some in Vigils Keep then have to go through the gate to another city or map to WvW. It cannot be denied that this is less convenient. Convenience has been removed and put behind a pay wall.

morrolan.9608:

Convenience has been removed and put behind a pay wall.

You used the word functionality before. Regardless the arrangement in Vigil Keep is temporary anyways. That much should be obvious. Most likely by next Dragon Bash LA will be back, probably a bit sooner.

Your perceived pay wall is also pretty iffy, considering you can exchange gold for gems, I got my airship pass for 90g, which to me was a justifiable price. I am almost certain you could use the two week passes until LA comes back and not have spent as much gold as I did. Yes there is added cost, but conversely there is also added convenience over good old LA.

And I can’t say I agree with your definition of “far less convenient for those who don’t pay”, because apparently that equates to a single load screen, at most two (which is an inconvenience you have to deal with regardless of whether you have one of the two passes or not, since they come with a load screen as well, so in regards to that pay or don’t pay you are on the same line as everyone else).

Hofulu.7325:

Wanze.8410:

morrolan.9608:

Wanze.8410:

ZudetGambeous.9573:

woot another blatant cash grab! thank you!

I disagree, the Airship is one of those convenience items, i would like to see more of in the gem store.

That would be fine if in the same breath they didn’t remove functionality to make it far less convenient for those who don’t pay.

I dont get your point honestly, is there any convenience from LA that they didnt add to the Vigil Keep?
At 150 gems for 2 weeks (until LA is restored), this sounds like a good deal and i would have bought it, if i wouldnt have a permanent royal pass already.

the crafting stations from LA didn’t make it out of the city, they got destroyed.

but besides that, there is currently an npc or two that are only in the airship, and not the terrace, making the terrace obsolete, and making the airship the better place.

this may not sound bad, but think of it this way. you bought a permanent pass to one place for the same price they are selling a permanent pass to another place that is BETTER.

does that sound fair to you?

Can you tell me which npcs you are referring to? A trait resetter has been added to the royal terrace with the latest patch and i still like it. The Sound if Silence…….

Wanze.8410:

Can you tell me which npcs you are referring to? A trait resetter has been added to the royal terrace with the latest patch and i still like it. The Sound if Silence…….

Most likely:
Black Lion Ticket merchant (how high is this on anyone’s priority list)
Activity NPC.

To me both of these seem like oversights, rather than deliberate “upgrades” considering they went and added the Trait reset NPC to the terrace.

So basically Yesterday i had a city where i could craft, use services etc for free,

This patch removed something i had for free and put in the gemstore?
unless of course i don t lose time and money running back and forth to various cities…

LordByron.8369:

So basically Yesterday i had a city where i could craft, use services etc for free,

This patch removed something i had for free and put in the gemstore?
unless of course i don t lose time and money running back and forth to various cities…

You are mixing up the Vigil Keep with the Airship.

Wanze.8410:

LordByron.8369:

So basically Yesterday i had a city where i could craft, use services etc for free,

This patch removed something i had for free and put in the gemstore?
unless of course i don t lose time and money running back and forth to various cities…

You are mixing up the Vigil Keep with the Airship.

I can t understand…

I read that in vigil there aren t crafting stations…..
And they put this airship …..

What am i missing?

LordByron.8369:

What am i missing?

You are treating the airship as Lions Arch replacement.

They did not put the airship in as replacement to LA. Vigil Keep is LA’s replacement in terms of services. The fact that it has no crafting stations is a bummer, but there are plenty of crafting access that is just as convenient if not more so than LA and plenty of these are but an Asura Gate away from Vigil Keep (I personally prefer Rata Sum).

Every city had 99% of what was in LA (there’s probably something I don’t use that I’m not missing in the cities).

I stopped going to LA months ago, other than using it to go from city to city, even before I bought the pass to the RT.

What’s missing?

Crafting? All cities have it.
Bank? All cities have it.
TP? All cities have it.
Laurel Vendor? All cities have it.
Guild support? All cities have it.
BL Ticket Venders? All cities have it.

This sounds like a case of not bothering to explore the various home cities and simply rush off to the forums to register your misplaced outrage.

Consider position of crafting, Myiani, mystic forge and TP …..
They need to be reasonably near since while crafting you have to go back and forth….

Now i don t know if there is any other city with that as near as LA and in a central position (see TP costs)…..

I can still feel it as a move to push people to buy something they had for free….

See at no time have I ever wanted to include the MF in my bank/tp/crafting station loop. I only use the MF to get a daily or use it as a slot machine for item quality promotion.

Behellagh.1468:

See at no time have I ever wanted to include the MF in my bank/tp/crafting station loop. I only use the MF to get a daily or use it as a slot machine for item quality promotion.

1) ..miyani near the forge has materials
2) tier promotion
3) when your bank is filled with T5 craft some rares to put in forge

The fact people is buying access to the ship proves quite undeniably this move is removing commodities we had and puttting them in the gemstore.

I mean the new P2W method is making the game unnecessarily grindy and/or upractical and make it only fun for people getting stuff from the GemShop.

Is the stuff on the ground in gendarran fields permanent? I don’t want to drop money for the airship pass if the dungeon vendors, mystic forge, and the fotm/wvw portals are going to move in a month.

Behellagh.1468:

Every city had 99% of what was in LA (there’s probably something I don’t use that I’m not missing in the cities).

I stopped going to LA months ago, other than using it to go from city to city, even before I bought the pass to the RT.

What’s missing?

Crafting? All cities have it.
Bank? All cities have it.
TP? All cities have it.
Laurel Vendor? All cities have it.
Guild support? All cities have it.
BL Ticket Venders? All cities have it.

This sounds like a case of not bothering to explore the various home cities and simply rush off to the forums to register your misplaced outrage.

Mystic Forge Daily was the only reason i went to LA in the last months, else i simply go to Hoelbrak and to everything else there

Beldin.5498:

Behellagh.1468:

Every city had 99% of what was in LA (there’s probably something I don’t use that I’m not missing in the cities).

I stopped going to LA months ago, other than using it to go from city to city, even before I bought the pass to the RT.

What’s missing?

Crafting? All cities have it.
Bank? All cities have it.
TP? All cities have it.
Laurel Vendor? All cities have it.
Guild support? All cities have it.
BL Ticket Venders? All cities have it.

This sounds like a case of not bothering to explore the various home cities and simply rush off to the forums to register your misplaced outrage.

Mystic Forge Daily was the only reason i went to LA in the last months, else i simply go to Hoelbrak and to everything else there

And I went to Edge of the Mist to use it’s MF because you didn’t have as many hyped up, bored players who thinks it’s fun to set off their most annoying AoE attacks constantly around you.

For those of who own this ship, I have a question. Does “Quick travel to all the cities” mean we can travel to any WP’s or just like having Asuran gates to all the cities? How does this work?

Thanks,

It just takes you to the gates in the various home cities.

Behellagh.1468:

It just takes you to the gates in the various home cities.

Thanks a lot for quick reply… I was hoping this would take me to any WP’s…

Combat Mania.8517:

Behellagh.1468:

It just takes you to the gates in the various home cities.

Thanks a lot for quick reply… I was hoping this would take me to any WP’s…

Why would you think that? The WP system is a minor gold sink that you have to unlock each node first. Did such a thing exist before anywhere in the game? I know a lot of people ignore the story but with the destruction of LA, here’s a compact, one stop area with all your in game needs. That’s what you are paying for. 6 months ago that area was (still is) in DR. It’s existence was also tied to the story at the time.

They should make it so the pass goes to all characters in the mail… they do it with the banker/ring with the DD version of the game and the HoM stone if you played gw1.

Crise.9401:

So with that in mind the activity NPC being unique to airship seems like an oversight. If people make noise about it it will certainly get fixed.

I wouldn’t take that as guaranteed. People were making lots of noise about the Watchwork Pick too, and ANet has never issued any clarifications about it.

Zaxares.5419:

Crise.9401:

So with that in mind the activity NPC being unique to airship seems like an oversight. If people make noise about it it will certainly get fixed.

I wouldn’t take that as guaranteed. People were making lots of noise about the Watchwork Pick too, and ANet has never issued any clarifications about it.

There is a difference between this and that, namely that with the pick, the difference between the two was an announced feature. Here it is not.

I won’t say what they did with the pick is smart, because hey internet. But really it is not like they made it poop out ascended materials, sprockets are not vital for the game and certainly not superior to other similar materials in any way (unless you happen to like the stuff tied to them, which is personal preference).

To be completely honest, I find it funny that people feel they are entitled to a guarantee that a gem purchase they made year ago (ie. Molten Pick for example) can never loose value. That is like saying that Samsung can not put out a cheaper model smartphone that is equivalent to my top of the line model from 2 years ago at less than half the price. Or that they can not release new models that make mine obsolete at least twice a year.

Why am I using smartphone as an example, surely that is an unfair comparison. Well the thing is it kinda isn’t — the hardware race between manufacturers makes it so that most of the model upgrades you see are non-essential, even with all the various ways of using smartphones (much like this upgrade to the terrace, or an upgrade to the pick) especially when in truth neither the operating system or the applications running on said phones can barely use a fraction of the phones power (Android in particular is a good example of this, poorly optimized and can barely use two cores efficiently).

In all honesty ArenaNet has gone above an beyond in terms of doing things that are obviously not in their best interest financially. Like making the infinite gathering tools account bound and then offering free exchange (and refunds) to the new variant, when in truth, when you bought your tool it was as advertised so no-one was entitled for a gem refund or a free upgrade, but they got it anyways. Yes, these are digital items in a controlled market, but the notion that they can not put out something that is “better than last years model”, without giving everyone a free upgrade, is laughable when that is happening everywhere around us on a daily basis.

What is even more funny is that they could come out with a standard priced expansion pack tomorrow and no-one would say a thing, and they can provide something like DD upgrade since launch (or the more recent Heroic edition) and people are fine with that too, even when they too are clear upgrades to the base product I purchased at launch. But they can not make improved versions of Royal Terrace or Infinite gathering tools without people going around screaming unfair and pay to win (and in this context using the term pay to win when there is no actual winning advantage).

The weird thing about the Watchwork Pick is that the in-game description doesn’t mention anything about the bonus chance to get sprockets though. It was mentioned only in the press release. You’d have thought such a big “hook” would have merited a mention in the game.

Perhaps ANet did shoot themselves in the foot by offering free upgrades to account bound. It DID give players the impression that their permanent tools would always remain “BiS” (which no matter how people try to argue it, the Watchwork Pick IS objectively better than any other unlimited pick). Likewise, the Airship Pass IS also objectively better than the Royal Terrace because the Airship can be accessed from anywhere in the world, while the Terrace requires the player to be in Divinity’s Reach first.

It may not be P2W in the traditional sense, but it IS a Pay-for-advantage. ANet has to tread a very careful balance that, over time, the advantages doesn’t become overt enough that it divides the player base into the haves and have-nots.

Crise.9401:

Hofulu.7325:

there is currently an npc or two that are only in the airship, and not the terrace, making the terrace obsolete, and making the airship the better place.

This seems like an oversight. I take it you are referring to the activity and trait NPC’s, afaik the latter was added to the terrace (according to a post on these forums, https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/bltc/Trait-Reset-in-Royal-Terrace/first#post3656156).

So with that in mind the activity NPC being unique to airship seems like an oversight. If people make noise about it it will certainly get fixed.

It is now confirmed that the Terrace doesn’t have a Black Lion Weapon Specialist as well as the Activity NPC.

I hope its an oversight as well, but with the way things have been going….

BLWS is in the DR TP area a free WP away. Before this patch you would have to go to LA anyway for the Activity NPC and now she’s in the camp outside of Vigil’s Keep. So no less annoying than it was before.

I agree that they were a little too enthusiastic with then made the airship EVERYTHING that was in LA instead of an equal alternative to the RT.