Guild Wars 2

Lots of people missed out on getting the dragon helm from the ‘Big Boom in the Big City’ achievement over the weekend, myself included. While I have mixed feelings about temporary content in general, I feel that this particular achievement/reward was poorly executed and has left many people unable to obtain this great looking helm for no real reason other than not being able to log in on three arbitrarily selected dates.

ArenaNet in the past has mentioned that they can never please everyone when it comes to “one time” events in-game and there will always be people who miss out. I can understand this fully when it comes to things like the Karka event – it wouldn’t make sense to repeatedly run a world-impacting event.

However, in this case, it’s a festival-themed cosmetic item and “pleasing everyone” would be very easy – simply make the achievement obtainable for the rest of the event. Have the finale fireworks display happen every night – it wouldn’t be any less of a finale than having it happen in the middle of the event, as it did, but then still have the hologram and fireworks around the city afterwards.

Of course, this is the internet, and people will doubtlessly jump in and act like somehow having real life commitments means you don’t “deserve” the achievement and reward. My personal opinion is that in this case, it’s simply exclusivity for the sake of exclusivity. There was no skill, effort or even a grind involved. You didn’t earn your achievement and helm by not being busy that weekend. You were given it. Hell, lots of people got it before the finale even happened because of bugs and were allowed to keep them. Many people also got them just by being in LA without even planning for it.

Then there are other factors, like the fact that there was no in-game timer, no mail indicating when it would happen (correct me if I’m wrong on that one, but I couldn’t see any in my mailbox), the official wiki showed the incorrect dates, and as I mentioned – a lot of people got the achievement and helm due to a bug long before the finale, yet were allowed to keep it.

Anyway, ArenaNet – please consider making this achievement obtainable again. There is no reason not to. It not an epic or exciting form of exclusivity – it’s more a case of “I wasn’t busy IRL, so I got this helm” or “I benefited from a bug” or “I was just standing in LA and suddenly got an achievement and helm for doing nothing”. Let’s keep it fair – maybe you also afk’d in LA for a couple of hours to get it.

Please see the following posts from people who missed the event and would no doubt be overjoyed if the event would repeat before Dragon Bash ends:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Fireworks-Who-did-not-get-credit

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Fireworks-Thread-Overflow-and-Achievement-issues

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Apparently-I-missed-the-fireworks-display

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Wiki-screwed-me-out-of-the-helmet-and-achiev

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/The-big-boom-in-the-big-city-2

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Where-are-the-fireworks

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Big-Boom

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Dragon-Bash-Fireworks

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/The-Big-Boom-in-the-Big-City-1

If they do it for one event then they set a precedent that they will have to for all others that a handful of players happen to miss.

To be honest if you really wanted the helm you would of made sure you could come on for like 15 mins during 3 days, it is not like it was miss leading. Both the launcher and the website both stated the days it would be possible to get well in advance (about 6 days). You missed it oh well, the helm is horrible and it is just wasting bank space atm, wish I could sell them.

Luna.8603:

To be honest if you really wanted the helm you would of made sure you could come on for like 15 mins during 3 days, it is not like it was miss leading. Both the launcher and the website both stated the days it would be possible to get well in advance (about 6 days). You missed it oh well, the helm is horrible and it is just wasting bank space atm, wish I could sell them.

Unfortunately people have real life commitments that make it impossible to log in at all sometimes, as has been the case for a fair few people. Not everybody has the luxury of saying “yes, I will definitely log in on Saturday, Sunday or Monday at one of the 2 hourly event times”. Then even if they did, they might get into overflow with messed up timings on the fireworks (as happened to many).

Since it’s not a dynamic world event or anything of that nature, it seems stupid to have had such a short window of time to get it. It’s just an achievement for doing nothing, with a nice reward. Why penalise those who can’t log in on those days when the event lasts all month? I just don’t get it.

I understand your frustration but I think making exceptions like this would start a slippery slope of people asking for extensions or exceptions. Also where would you draw the line? Would people that missed the entire event have a reason to ask for a do over so they could get the helmets as well? I imagine there are many players that would have liked to partake in the entire event but due to real world obligations of their own have to miss it.

Then you have to consider the players that did go out of their way to make the event, especially the ones that had to keep trying because of overflow. Some might be a bit peeved that they went to the effort, maybe out of their way, and now suddenly that effort/inconvenience seems less significant.

Also you have to keep in mind long term ramifications if issues like this were responded to. I can see the gem store as an example. A player misses out on an item or an item that is on sale because of real world obligations. In that case they may express frustration and feel like the items should be given to them at the discount or brought back for them to have a chance to purchase. This has affected me as I have missed out on a few items I would have liked to have had the chance to buy.

You also have to look at it from a programing point of view. Perhaps it isn’t as easy to program back in the show with the hat rewards as some may think. When I see posts on other topics stating stuff like, “It wouldn’t be a big deal if they just did this” I feel that some don’t understand that unlike a desk top things like this are not just point and click. This takes resources and time from staff that could be working on bugs and other issues.

I’m saying this sincerely, if the helmets were not account bound I would mail mine to you. While it was nice that I received them I don’t find them particularly appealing and seeing most everyone wearing them right now kind of takes away novelty of the item to me.

I know what you mean, and frankly I don’t expect that ArenaNet will do anything about it, likely for some of the reasons you listed. It would indeed set the precedent that whining about things in forums might actually accomplish something. And yes, many people made effort to witness the finale, no doubt.

However, I just feel that in this case ArenaNet made a very poor decision in making it only last three days without any proper reasoning. It’s just artificial exclusivity. It’s one thing to have a souvenir to show you were at the first Dragon Bash like the achievement-awarded holographic wings – why take it to the extreme and have a souvenir to show you were online on some trivial dates during the first Dragon Bash? And even if you’re a dedicated player who goes and grinds out all the other festival achievements, and logs in plenty of times throughout Dragon Bash, and participates in everything in-game, and jumps through hoops pressing F next to pinatas and fireworks – because you weren’t online during those arbitrary dates you still don’t get the hat.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, anyway. My main hope is that ArenaNet doesn’t do this kind of thing in future events – one of the reasons I came to GW2 was because I’m an adult gamer who doesn’t want to have to schedule my life around gaming (as was the case in WoW), and while some cosmetic helm is obvious “optional content”, I’m a collector in MMOs and it’s not nice to miss out on things because ArenaNet is enforcing totally artificial exclusivity by doing temporary events within temporary events.

For the reasons stated above, I’m doubtful that we’ll get any sort of recourse. But perhaps we can at least petition strongly that there not be more achievements like this. What sort of achievements do I mean?

1) Tiny window. Not the 3-4 day window (although I personally find it to short, I think its debatable), I mean the 5 minutes itself, repeated on fairly long intervals. It created a host of problems. First, people would flood to lions arch at those times, meaning many people would be stuck in overflows which were on different clocks. Also, if anything happened during that small, 5 minute window (a crash or connection issue), the fireworks would be over by the time you got back in game. Well, just wait another two hours. Two hours? Who says I’ll be playing in two hours? Come back tomorrow? In the hopes that the small time on fathers day I have set aside to play corresponds to that tiny 5 minute window? And I better spend a good chunk of that time sitting in lions arch instead of actually playing, so I don’t get in an overflow? No, not good.

2) Vague objective. “Watch the fireworks”. It took me around 20 minutes of hunting online to figure out exactly what I needed to do, where I needed to stand, and how long I needed to stand there, and I still didn’t get it right the first time. This information should be provided clearly in game. If that cannot be done, the the achievement should be reconsidered.

Solutions?

1) Instanced event. This is the least preferable option for me, because it ruins the communal aspect of the fireworks. But it would allow people to do it on their own time, and if you are going to offer and exclusive item as an achievement reward people should be able to do it on their own time. Which leads me to my other solution

2) DO NOT give item rewards for this kind of achievement. A few achievement points? Sure, very few people are going to be bothered missing 5-10 of those. But any achievement that rewards items or titles should not be timed events with tiny, five minute windows over a holiday weekend. There is a place for these kind of casual social events, but they should not be associated with big rewards.

Asking for some sort of compensation is just going to get us ignored by anet, because there is nothing they can do that will not set a dangerous precedent. All we can do is explain exactly what was wrong, and offer solutions for future events.

ozma.3498:

Thanks for the thoughtful reply, anyway. My main hope is that ArenaNet doesn’t do this kind of thing in future events – one of the reasons I came to GW2 was because I’m an adult gamer who doesn’t want to have to schedule my life around gaming (as was the case in WoW), and while some cosmetic helm is obvious “optional content”, I’m a collector in MMOs and it’s not nice to miss out on things because ArenaNet is enforcing totally artificial exclusivity by doing temporary events within temporary events.

I’m right there with you. I’m am also a very busy adult (some say old ) player that plays very casually and I was fortunate enough that I could incorporate the event into my limited playing time. I happened to be involved in RP with my guild at the time so it worked out for me and also made the event fun. Like you there are many items I like to collect aside from their functionality. So far I have the new horn, broomstick, several minis (even though I rarely use them because they move so slow), the new sickle (I missed out on the molten pick. I would have liked to have been able to have the whole set when the axe comes out), and the three skins that were on the store.

I agree that they could have made the fireworks event a bit longer. I think their reasoning was that it was over a weekend, which I agree, still excludes many people. I’m glad you didn’t see my message as condescending because I truly was not trying to be. By the way did you get the holo mini drop? The RNG spirits decided I needed abou 20 of them while they also decided I didn’t want a claim ticket Anyway if you did not as a fellow collector I’d be happy to send you one in game mail.

Ayrilana.1396:

If they do it for one event then they set a precedent that they will have to for all others that a handful of players happen to miss.

This wasn’t a handful of players. Part of the problem with this event or achievement was it did not work for many. Many people stood around the area in excess of 6 hours and it never even started. When the fireworks show did run for some, there were many that didn’t even get the achievement. I was in the boat where the event never even started. This happened across 3 days.

They already set a precedent with the Karka event. They gave everybody the chest after the event who missed it. I’m guessing because they finally realized it was a bad idea to have an event during a small window. For instance, not everyone is going to be around on the weekend, especially if it’s nice out.

They did it for the karka event, they can do it for this event, and give everyone the achievement while their at it. Then maybe next time they’ll learn not to do an event during a “window” of time, and one thats not bugged.

DeadlySynz.3471:

Ayrilana.1396:

If they do it for one event then they set a precedent that they will have to for all others that a handful of players happen to miss.

This wasn’t a handful of players. Part of the problem with this event or achievement was it did not work for many. Many people stood around the area in excess of 6 hours and it never even started. When the fireworks show did run for some, there were many that didn’t even get the achievement. I was in the boat where the event never even started. This happened across 3 days.

They already set a precedent with the Karka event. They gave everybody the chest after the event who missed it. I’m guessing because they finally realized it was a bad idea to have an event during a small window. For instance, not everyone is going to be around on the weekend, especially if it’s nice out.

They did it for the karka event, they can do it for this event, and give everyone the achievement while their at it. Then maybe next time they’ll learn not to do an event during a “window” of time, and one thats not bugged.

Totally agree. While 30-40% was user error and the rest was ANets mess up. I keep seeing responses popping up everywhere saying “We can’t reward achievements at this time.” How about just restarting the kitten event instead of making excuses? So much easier.

DeadlySynz.3471:

This wasn’t a handful of players. Part of the problem with this event or achievement was it did not work for many. Many people stood around the area in excess of 6 hours and it never even started. When the fireworks show did run for some, there were many that didn’t even get the achievement. I was in the boat where the event never even started. This happened across 3 days.

My use of “handful” was an exaggeration as the use of “a lot” was. People had to stay through the entire fireworks show; especially the ending. The boat was likely not part of the area that you needed to be to get credit.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Fireworks-Thread-Overflow-and-Achievement-issues/page/5#post2215620

DeadlySynz.3471:

They already set a precedent with the Karka event. They gave everybody the chest after the event who missed it. I’m guessing because they finally realized it was a bad idea to have an event during a small window. For instance, not everyone is going to be around on the weekend, especially if it’s nice out.

It’s not the same. There were log in issues and excessive lag causing the client to crash and such. It was also only a 3-4 hour event that occurred for ONE time only. I’ll also add that the fact people were able to exploit the overflow is irrelevant.

As I stated several times before, you could just log yourself into the game and set yourself to auto-run into a corner. You can then go off and do whatever you want and have the achievement when you come back. Many people did just that.

DeadlySynz.3471:

They did it for the karka event, they can do it for this event, and give everyone the achievement while their at it. Then maybe next time they’ll learn not to do an event during a “window” of time, and one thats not bugged.

Only that it was not bugged. People were just not meeting the conditions to receive credit for the achievement., Either they left before it was completely over or they were not in the correct area to witness it.

one big problem with the fireworks was that we didn’t know what time it was on. From what I understood, it was to be at odd o’clocks pacific time (1:00, 3:00, etc.) but it turned out to be the first dawn after the odd o’clocks (as far as I could tell). So there was much more than the “only necessary to log in for 5 minutes” .

For that reason, I believe Anet should have extended the fireworks a day or two. However, in general, I feel that if you miss it then too bad.

Tears.5627:

Totally agree. While 30-40% was user error and the rest was ANets mess up. I keep seeing responses popping up everywhere saying “We can’t reward achievements at this time.” How about just restarting the kitten event instead of making excuses? So much easier.

As I stated in a previous reply, sometimes changing altering existing game features is not just as simple as clicking a button and “restarting”. On a side note referring to the event as a “kittening” event seem a bit counterintuitive. If it is indeed a “kittening event” why so much concern for something you feel needs to be labeled with foul language. It seems if you really want to participate in the event then you would say something like, “Please restart this interesting event.” or even something as simple as, “I would appreciate it if your restarted the event.”

I’m sorry for your misfortune and understand your frustration but I doubt that abrasive language is going to result to a positive response to your concerns from Anet.

Lord Kuru.3685:

one big problem with the fireworks was that we didn’t know what time it was on. From what I understood, it was to be at odd o’clocks pacific time (1:00, 3:00, etc.) but it turned out to be the first dawn after the odd o’clocks (as far as I could tell). So there was much more than the “only necessary to log in for 5 minutes” .

For that reason, I believe Anet should have extended the fireworks a day or two. However, in general, I feel that if you miss it then too bad.

It happened every two hours which coincided with the in-game day. It seemed to change often and this was due to patches.

Yes I’d at least like some confirmation that they will never have an event like this ever again. Giving a one time reward in a month long festival on only one random weekend that isn’t even the finale (father’s day weekend no less), and making it so that you have to be in a specific section of lion’s arch in a tiny window that only occurs once every 2 hours (with no timer or notice to speak of ) is just horrible implementation.

I find it especially ironic that they felt the need to send us in-game mail telling us about those stupid living story instances that give nothing of worth and can be attempted at any time, but failed to give us notice in game that there is a limited time reward that you must be around at very specific times to get. Anet’s priorities are mind-bogglingly out of order.

Ayrilana.1396:

DeadlySynz.3471:

This wasn’t a handful of players. Part of the problem with this event or achievement was it did not work for many. Many people stood around the area in excess of 6 hours and it never even started. When the fireworks show did run for some, there were many that didn’t even get the achievement. I was in the boat where the event never even started. This happened across 3 days.

My use of “handful” was an exaggeration as the use of “a lot” was. People had to stay through the entire fireworks show; especially the ending. The boat was likely not part of the area that you needed to be to get credit.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/livingworld/dragonbash/Fireworks-Thread-Overflow-and-Achievement-issues/page/5#post2215620

DeadlySynz.3471:

They already set a precedent with the Karka event. They gave everybody the chest after the event who missed it. I’m guessing because they finally realized it was a bad idea to have an event during a small window. For instance, not everyone is going to be around on the weekend, especially if it’s nice out.

It’s not the same. There were log in issues and excessive lag causing the client to crash and such. It was also only a 3-4 hour event that occurred for ONE time only. I’ll also add that the fact people were able to exploit the overflow is irrelevant.

As I stated several times before, you could just log yourself into the game and set yourself to auto-run into a corner. You can then go off and do whatever you want and have the achievement when you come back. Many people did just that.

DeadlySynz.3471:

They did it for the karka event, they can do it for this event, and give everyone the achievement while their at it. Then maybe next time they’ll learn not to do an event during a “window” of time, and one thats not bugged.

Only that it was not bugged. People were just not meeting the conditions to receive credit for the achievement., Either they left before it was completely over or they were not in the correct area to witness it.

Nope, the fireworks did not show up, while myself and quite a few others stood around wondering what was going on. That is bugged

Last Friday someone cut that cord bringing internet/phone into my house. I found out it wouldn’t be fixed all week (finally was yesterday actually.) There was already a lot of stuff here at the forums about how buggy the event was, too. I considered, and decided I really wanted that dragon helm. After a lot of wrangling Saturday morning I was able to pay six pounds and hook into the worst wifi network I’ve ever experienced, that disconnected me every ten minutes and was constant lag, and actually managed to dc me partway through the firework show I finally coincided with. But I saw the finale, and boom. Now that’s an achievement!

I’m not sure how I’d feel if they just gave it away now. On the one hand, I really wanted the helm even though it’s just aesthetics so I understand others really want it too, and them having it doesn’t take away my enjoyment. I’d be happy for them. On the other hand, by Saturday UK time there was enough information available about what the potential bugs were, where to stand, how long to stay for etc, and I’d probably feel annoyed about the money and effort I spent.

JustTrogdor.7892:

I agree that they could have made the fireworks event a bit longer. I think their reasoning was that it was over a weekend, which I agree, still excludes many people. I’m glad you didn’t see my message as condescending because I truly was not trying to be. By the way did you get the holo mini drop? The RNG spirits decided I needed abou 20 of them while they also decided I didn’t want a claim ticket Anyway if you did not as a fellow collector I’d be happy to send you one in game mail.

Thank you for the kind offer, but I too was lucky enough to get about the same amount as you did while opening coffers.

The firework event cycle (them happening every two hours) was started at 9:00 AM PDT. The event itself is tied to the ingame time and will happen at dawn (ingame). So your fireworks might not have happened yet, as it is not dawn ingame.

Apologies for us not communicating this more clearly. But the fireworks will happen every two hours over the course of the weekend, so plenty of time to marvel at them and get the achievement.

Restart this achievement. Your kitten was bugged on some overflows.

I think the two items say different things – the dragon helm is for people who were on for a specific event, the wings are for people who participated a great deal in the event over-all, regardless of day.

I think it’s fine to have both kinds of rewards, and it’s fine to not get one or both because you have real life obligations. It’s not about “deserving” anything – nobody “deserved” it they just got it as a gift if they showed up. I don’t see what’s wrong about saying, “my family/work/tiger was more important for those days than a video game helmet” and just not having it.

Ceallach.8740:

I think it’s fine to have both kinds of rewards, and it’s fine to not get one or both because you have real life obligations. It’s not about “deserving” anything – nobody “deserved” it they just got it as a gift if they showed up. I don’t see what’s wrong about saying, “my family/work/tiger was more important for those days than a video game helmet” and just not having it.

My point is that it was a fundamentally stupid design choice, and I don’t think being detached to the point of not having an opinion is the answer.

ArenaNet made a poor decision that resulted in people who weren’t even very busy IRL not being able to get the helm due to buggy overflows and such, while at the same time a lot of people got it erroneously due to bugs, yet were allowed to keep it.

The whole thing was just badly executed and people who enjoy collecting stuff in-game (or just wanted that particular helm) missed out for no genuine reason – just tacked on exclusivity.

Luna.8603:

To be honest if you really wanted the helm you would of made sure you could come on for like 15 mins during 3 days, it is not like it was miss leading. Both the launcher and the website both stated the days it would be possible to get well in advance (about 6 days). You missed it oh well, the helm is horrible and it is just wasting bank space atm, wish I could sell them.

My Grandmother died of cancer on the 15th and I had to fly out to Chicago and just got back today. Even though I knew fully well in advance about the days sometimes real life gets in the way and prevents us from logging in for 15 mins during 3 days.

I know I will never be able to get this achievement and frankly I don’t care, I got a lot of other stuff to care about at the moment. But sometimes temporary stuff in an MMO can be really unfortunately timed for some people. Just because you got the helm doesn’t mean everyone should of been able to get it just as easily. Life sometimes gets in the way.

I also missed out of some Southsun achievements…real life is unfortunate sometimes. Also I am a completionist so it really bugs me to see gaps in my achievements. Oh well.

I missed The Big Boom completely because I had to move during those days. Made me really sad of missing the “biggest” event during Dragon Bash and therefore missed getting the hat I waited for :’(

Could you please replay it! I want the hat!

had a a friend who changed real life plans so he could get the achievement but due to miscommunication he wasnt able to get the achievement. he put off real life stuff so he could get it but due to the fireworks not going of at the right time and they went of at dawn(which was never stated) after that time he missed them. he tried to do it according to anets schedule but missed them due to their miscommunication. so yes i think they screwed up and people like him deserve this achievement and prize

The Big Boom should be viewable in other ways, such as talking to an npc that shows you what you missed (replays it for you). So many people missed out on this because during a one month long event, they only showed it for 3 days – lots of people have stuff going on in life and can’t login every day or on a specific set of 3 days at specific times, whether it is work, real life plans, emergencies, vacations, etc, things that prevent them from getting to their computer to login, plus there are people who apparently did login and still couldn’t get the achievement.

Also – agree with one previous poster – people wouldn’t be upset about missing this event if there wasn’t a reward given out for it. Now there are tons of people who are upset and frustrated because they feel like they will never be able to get the dragon helm.

This one-time only stuff is bad enough as it is, but having only a 3-day window during a holiday weekend where people are known to go out of town to visit relatives is beyond ridiculous. Guild Wars 1 having those holiday events for 1 day only was also pretty terrible, but at least now they remedied that by allowing both old and new players to obtain past rewards with their little token system once those holiday events swing back around each year.

There is literally no reason to not have these fireworks continue on for the duration of Dragon Bash. Seems like ArenaNet totally forgot the large number of negative feedback they got for The Lost Shores event.

I almost missed out on a previous achievement from Flame & Frost (A Rallying Flame) due to my internet access being cut from a local storm and was only able to get it because ArenaNet had the decency to reactivate those Bonfires for people who missed the original 2 day window, so I can only imagine the pure frustration of players who would actually get a nifty reward helm from this particular achievement only to miss out due to terrible design choice as above posters already stated.

Clearly they didn’t buy enough fireworks to shoot off during the festival, that’s why it had to be for such a short time only.

There is no excuse for this not to be redone. Thousands of people have done it, so you’re not going to be a special snowflake by trying to keep others from getting it.

It was clearly stated that it was for that weekend only. It was in the patch notes and the in-game interface. You likely will not be given an opportunity to get the achievement. Most of this will be forgotten by the next living story or whenever the new must have item is released.

I agree with the topic. I did not get my box of helms DESPITE participating in the whole fireworks and I refuse to let Arenanet give us the cold shoulder.

LezardValeth.9453:

I agree with the topic. I did not get my box of helms DESPITE participating in the whole fireworks and I refuse to let Arenanet give us the cold shoulder.

You had to be in Lion’s Square or by the Mystic Fountain for it to count (just being in LA doesn’t count). Were you?

Ayrilana.1396:

It was clearly stated that it was for that weekend only. It was in the patch notes and the in-game interface. You likely will not be given an opportunity to get the achievement. Most of this will be forgotten by the next living story or whenever the new must have item is released.

This doesn’t help the fact the event was bugged at times. Myself and many others stood in the area for 5-6hrs (not in the overflow) and they didn’t pop up. Whatever schedule Anet said it was on, it simply wasn’t on that schedule or the event was bugged, but sitting there between 5-6hrs with no event at all would point towards it being bugged.

Yes all of us were by the fountain.

DeadlySynz.3471:

Ayrilana.1396:

It was clearly stated that it was for that weekend only. It was in the patch notes and the in-game interface. You likely will not be given an opportunity to get the achievement. Most of this will be forgotten by the next living story or whenever the new must have item is released.

This doesn’t help the fact the event was bugged at times. Myself and many others stood in the area for 5-6hrs (not in the overflow) and they didn’t pop up. Whatever schedule Anet said it was on, it simply wasn’t on that schedule or the event was bugged, but sitting there between 5-6hrs with no event at all would point towards it being bugged.

Yes all of us were by the fountain.

Was that 5-6 hours consecutively at that spot on that same server? If you sat within the areas of LA that gave credit for 5-6 hours straight without logging off, changing servers, or whatever; yes I will agree that it was bugged.

I couldn’t get it because I was at work or asleep, I wouldn’t mind cool helms….
the one time I managed to log on I waited near the fountain for a little over an hour and nothing happened…then I had to go

I literally watched the whole thing, no afk or anything.

Also, love how they bother moving the topic but not even responding.

JustTrogdor.7892:

Tears.5627:

Totally agree. While 30-40% was user error and the rest was ANets mess up. I keep seeing responses popping up everywhere saying “We can’t reward achievements at this time.” How about just restarting the kitten event instead of making excuses? So much easier.

As I stated in a previous reply, sometimes changing altering existing game features is not just as simple as clicking a button and “restarting”. On a side note referring to the event as a “kittening” event seem a bit counterintuitive. If it is indeed a “kittening event” why so much concern for something you feel needs to be labeled with foul language. It seems if you really want to participate in the event then you would say something like, “Please restart this interesting event.” or even something as simple as, “I would appreciate it if your restarted the event.”

I’m sorry for your misfortune and understand your frustration but I doubt that abrasive language is going to result to a positive response to your concerns from Anet.

I would ask them nicely if it was not that 95% (not an exact statistic for sure) of the time they respond to anything is when it is “OMG you guys are so amazing!” insert butt kissing sound here or it is to close a thread where some real constructive criticism could help improve the game. Ever since the Kharka emerged it feels like we have been given the finger.

I had to work. For many days straight including those three days. I didnt know i only had three days to get it.

I missed it.

It sucks.

ozma.3498:

Ceallach.8740:

I think it’s fine to have both kinds of rewards, and it’s fine to not get one or both because you have real life obligations. It’s not about “deserving” anything – nobody “deserved” it they just got it as a gift if they showed up. I don’t see what’s wrong about saying, “my family/work/tiger was more important for those days than a video game helmet” and just not having it.

My point is that it was a fundamentally stupid design choice, and I don’t think being detached to the point of not having an opinion is the answer.

ArenaNet made a poor decision that resulted in people who weren’t even very busy IRL not being able to get the helm due to buggy overflows and such, while at the same time a lot of people got it erroneously due to bugs, yet were allowed to keep it.

The whole thing was just badly executed and people who enjoy collecting stuff in-game (or just wanted that particular helm) missed out for no genuine reason – just tacked on exclusivity.

Well that’s just silly.

How long is a piece of string?

Seriously some people might not log in for a month . some might buy the game tomorrow,

Do they all deserve past content too?

Lisa.6102:

Well that’s just silly.

How long is a piece of string?

Seriously some people might not log in for a month . some might buy the game tomorrow,

Do they all deserve past content too?

Uh, actually yes, that would be the smart thing to do on ArenaNet’s part. Everyone should have equal access to all content and rewards. A player being present at a certain time in a game is no special feat by any means and I laugh when some player takes pride in this like they actually accomplished something other than logging in at an obscure time to get their unique shinies. This type of horrid design ArenaNet is currently applying can easily put off newcomers from wanting to stick around and play a game where there are certain items they see on another player and may want but will never get a chance at just because they decided to purchase the game at a later date.

And before you mention that they can just purchase whatever unique item they desire off the TP when they have accumulated a substantial amount of gold and the player lucky enough to have obtained the item during its event gets a big payday from selling, let’s not forget that a lot of skins or items are account bound and will eventually do nothing more than take up a slot in their bank when they tire of it. Such is the case of me getting a Jade Ticket when I in fact think all of the Jade Weapon skins are a mess of pixilated textures and not visually appealing by design.

Though I don’t think they should have these ‘limited time’ achievements too often, I don’t really mind them that much. It’s fun and exciting to participate into something that won’t be there forever.

The fireworks achievement was up for grabs for a full weekend, not just for a single time.
I managed to attend that one, but if I look at my Living Story and Event achievements, there’s a few gaps there from when I missed things. Regardless of the reason why I didn’t get those achievements is not Arenanet’s fault. It wasn’t really my fault either, but fact is I wasn’t playing at the time the achievement was up for grabs.

So there’s a few gaps in my achievements. I could easily make up for the points if I went after some others, but best of all, I’m not suffering a disadvantage from missing them. I didn’t miss out on a really cool weapon that does twice as much damage as a Legendary, I’m not denied access to an area filled with rare materials.
I just missed that achievement. A bit of the story, but I can look that up.

As long as I’m not at a huge disadvantage because I wasn’t at the right spot at the right time, I hardly have reason to complain.

Lisa.6102:

Well that’s just silly.

How long is a piece of string?

Seriously some people might not log in for a month . some might buy the game tomorrow,

Do they all deserve past content too?

There is a big difference between someone who is actively playing, logging in and generally participating in an all aspects of the event for the entire all month but cannot log in for a few days, and therefore misses the one-time-only event “souvenir” (or worse yet, they actually go at the specified time and don’t get it due to bugs, as many people have reported) and someone buying the game tomorrow and saying “I demand ArenaNet re-runs the Karka event for me!”

Especially since the whole thing was riddled with bugs, miscommunication (which ArenaNet admits) and timing inconsistencies due to overflows not having the firework displays at the advertised times. On top of that, a lot of people received the achievement and helm over a week before the finale even happened due to bugs in LA yet were allowed to keep them, while people who stood around for hours waiting for the fireworks to go off (to no avail) get nothing.

But as someone else mentioned, this one-time-only stuff actually puts people off playing too as we’re less than a year in, and there are already countless skins, titles and achievements new players will never be able to get, as well as bits of content they have missed out on. Meanwhile, the actual rewards they get from challenging gameplay (for example, reaching a high fractal level) are virtually non-existent.

While I agree that the communication was bad this time around, I like the idea of a dynamic and changing world. That’s why I’m playing an MMO, not a single-player RPG.

I have missed out on some of the past content and will in the future. Someone in another thread mentioned an idea of having a “historian” character where new players could re-live that old content in some kind of synopsis form just for fun without big rewards, and I like that. That way you can still get the story in an active way without just reading about it – they could use that content, but it would just be a “flashback”. This seems like a lot of work, though. Ideas ?

When I played WoW, there were achievements and items that I knew I’d never be able to get and that was okay. They even gave out stuff exclusively for conventions and things like that and with IRL trading cards. I never did any of those things, but I like the idea. The fireworks hat was just a silly hat that you got for showing up.

I love collecting things, but I know that I can’t get them ALL. I’ve come to terms with that. I missed out on Halloween and Wintersday – but I’m excited for them to come back in some form next year even if it’s not the same. Maybe I won’t get the same items someone would have in 2012, but I’ll get the 2013 ones ! I think that’s really cool and it makes me want to play more.

My main is only level 45 right now (I’ve been playing since Beta Weekend, but combination of school and having one of each Profession that I jump between), so I know I’m going to miss out on lv 80 content until I catch up. I’m kind of sad about that, but I’m not worried. If they keep putting out more content then it will be there in future when I’m ready.

I’m not sure what the right thing to do is because of the communication issues. I’d like to know more about what happened. Can they spawn the overflows to sync with the day/night cycle in the future ? In this case I think that a “make up” weekend might be in order – BUT that would be futile if it was plagued with the same issues. Say they’re just not able to fix those issues then the problems would be there all over again and people would just get frustrated and angry twice.

The fact it was only 1 weekend seems stupid. It should of been every weekend through out the month least then people would of had more chances.

The only thing that can’t be replicated in an MMO is its original launch. Events can always be re-run, its just coding, it doesn’t go bad or run out.

Would it really be so awful if other people got a chance to enjoy the same things in a GAME that others have?

Chaotic Storm.2815:

The fact it was only 1 weekend seems stupid. It should of been every weekend through out the month least then people would of had more chances.

But what about people who have a busy month, and couldn’t do it. Or are on some kind of trip without a computer or internet. The line needs to be drawn somewhere, and Anet did advertise when the firework event was (although the whole server time was an unexpected annoyance. though thankfully i never had to deal with an overflow).

Most of the “stand there” and possibly do something things from gw1 lasted <24 hours. The fact that it was the whole weekend was a nice change. And usually those events just awarded a hat.

Real life should be more important than a video game, if someone had commitments that should take precedence. I missed out on previous events, does it bother me? No, because whatever I was doing was more important than gw2 at the time.

Though I still am against 1 time events, as those are not fair to people around the world. But throw it in a repeating every 1-2 hours for a day or two and it’s fair for everyone to enjoy.

Also someone (possibly in this thread?) mentioned a system that would let us relive old events (for the experience not the rewards) that sounds like a great idea. Heck I still wish I could replay the personal story (like you could with the missions in gw1).

Seems the main problem here is that the limited-time event gave a reward, not the simple fact that it happened over a 3-day period (which was actually more like a 4-day period, since it started early on Friday and didn’t end until afternoon on Monday).

If it were just a simple achievement, there would be a few complaining about it because they’re hardcore completionists or whatever, but it wouldn’t be such a major issue, because at most you miss out on a few achievement points and some in-game visuals you can look up on YouTube or something.

So I guess in the future Anet should just make such events not give a reward. Put the reward on something you can do for the full month instead (like the story missions for example, which had a rather lackluster “reward”).

Electro.4173:

Seems the main problem here is that the limited-time event gave a reward, not the simple fact that it happened over a 3-day period (which was actually more like a 4-day period, since it started early on Friday and didn’t end until afternoon on Monday).

If it were just a simple achievement, there would be a few complaining about it because they’re hardcore completionists or whatever, but it wouldn’t be such a major issue, because at most you miss out on a few achievement points and some in-game visuals you can look up on YouTube or something.

So I guess in the future Anet should just make such events not give a reward. Put the reward on something you can do for the full month instead (like the story missions for example, which had a rather lackluster “reward”).

Yeah but they did do that, the broken holo wings. Heh, you are right though, people have already complained over not having their achievement bars not maxed (for whatever reason, “this costs money to do,” “it was too short,” “it was too hard”) just because they want them maxed. This was just an extra visual helm for a limited event.

I do understand the sentiment and if future events don’t give a reward than it is good for people who can’t do those, but I don’t think it will happen just because of the precedence set between gw1 and most of the other living story events in gw2 so far.

As for the story quest reward I kinda like it, and it gives hope that other scenes (or maybe even missions) can be repeated for fun.

I support this thread ^^

My brother has been working a ton lately and missed the fireworks achievement and dragon helms (which he sorely wanted). I’d love to see him get another shot at this achievement.

Anglvamp.5632:

The only thing that can’t be replicated in an MMO is its original launch. Events can always be re-run, its just coding, it doesn’t go bad or run out.

Would it really be so awful if other people got a chance to enjoy the same things in a GAME that others have?

Unless you are a programer for Anet you can’t confirm that. Sure it is most likely possible but you don’t know how difficult it would be to do from a programing stand point. Toss in that they just added a new update and I’m sure their resources are more involved in that. It isn’t the fact that code doesn’t disappear it is the issue of inserting it back into the game, changing it to reactivate the event and hand out hats to those that didn’t get them. The later is probably and issue on its own as they would have to make sure there were no bugs that would give them to people twice. I’m sure there is much much more to it than point and click.

It doesn’t seem that many want to actually watch the fireworks they just want the hats. If they started mailing them to people that missed the event there would be a whole other thread but with people complaining that they went out of their way to make the event and now Anet is just handing out hats to everyone else. Even if they restarted the event it would still be unfair to the people that went out of their way to watch the original event.

Given Anet’s lack of response to this and other threads on the topic I am guessing it isn’t going to happen. Sorry for your misfortune and yes they could have planned the event out better.

Really do hope they add the ability to get the dragon helm again on the last day of the event or something, I mean some people were able to get it before the fireworks display due to a bug/glitch.