Guild Wars 2

So, I’m in Singapore and when I saw the time that they picked for the Special Event, I guess that Anet hates Asian.

GMT 19 00

For us it would be 3am in the morning. On a Monday. sigh

EDIT: And yes, if the event is repeatable means I will be spoiled. I’d much rather be SPOILED rather than not being able to even ATTEND the event. Hope you guys see this Anet.

I think they should repeat the event even if there are a lot of info about it on youtube or forums.. At least we could enjoy it as everyone else..
Same happened with the event ‘Hunger games’ that happened at ridiculous hours for my timezone.
It should be on a Saturday night way better then sunday night where most people have to sleep early.

I’m in New Zealand, making it 8am for me. Right when everyone is getting read for work.

Deciding to run a one time only event is always a stupid idea when you have an international playerbase. If your writing means that repeating the event doesn’t make sense (despite all the other repeating events), then the writing is bad.

But, once that stupidity is locked in, it makes sense to pick whenever you have the most players.

Now for the really insulting line:

It also means that it’s the same calendar date whether you’re American or European.

Are they saying they expect some players to be surprised by timezone differences meaning different calendar dates ?

Then there is the insult to anyone in a country at GMT +5 or more. We have it on monday. That is a different calendar date. So why aren’t we mentioned at all ?

ANET should do something to apologize for this insult.

Totally agree. Anet doesn’t seems to care of us the playerbase on this side of the planet at all. 3 am on monday is just pathetic

There was a special event? what was it? didn’t even hear about it -.-

Phase 4, closing the festival

Found it amusing the NA servers are accommodating to the EU player base that has their own servers, while screwing Oceanic’s who were sold NA editions of the game.

With a little bit of thought they could have picked a time that was at least feasible for every timezone to attend instead of falling on a weekday.

They could have just scaled the event 8 hours earlier. X.x, I don’t see how people can’t get online between 11am-1pm on a Sunday. :/

11AM-1PM on a Sunday is church time for some people, maybe they didn’t want to worry about hitting that? Who knows…

Supported, as a Oceanic timezone player.

To add to the bad, Anet locked the topic for Special Event Timing for not allowing Oceanic players to reply. I hope this is not how they do it.

A reply please, Devs.

Kalmatos.7842:

They could have just scaled the event 8 hours earlier. X.x, I don’t see how people can’t get online between 11am-1pm on a Sunday. :/

This would mean that it would be 3 AM- 6 AM for the north american time zones which is probably far to early for most players, even if it is a Sunday. But I do agree they could cut it back a little bit like say.. 2-4ish hours which would mean that it would be hitting a larger chunk of people during the day.

I think so that it’s fair for everyone, it should happen more than once at several times throughout the day, so that other time zones don’t miss out.

It’s going to be held at a time inconvenient to a lot of people from other parts of the world.

It will happen 3am Monday Morning my time. And at times people need to sleep for work and school. It is very unfair and thoughtless that Australia, Singapore, NewZealand and others miss out on this.

It should be held several times so the entire world can take part and not just a select corner of the globe.

Supported as its sunday, religion is > event.

I live central US, I cant complain about the time, but I do feel bad for European & oceanic players. ANet drops the ball again.

As someone who played games from Oceanic for years I quickly learned that companies are going to base events around USA or EU timing, and it’s going to require a pretty big sacrifice to make it.

The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can enjoy everything else about the the halloween content.

Meloooooooooooooooooooooodramatics!

outdatedkero.5492:

Supported as its sunday, religion is > event.

I live central US, I cant complain about the time, but I do feel bad for European & oceanic players. ANet drops the ball again.

Actually 19:00 GMT is great for Europeans since this is pretty much prime gaming time for them, and seen as a large chunk of the player base is European they tend to cater to them.

Adding my voice to this. I can attend the event, and I still deeply disprove of how ArenaNet is handling it. Not wanting it to run at multiple times or at different times because of “spoilers” is incredibly foolish, disrespectful, and uncaring for a huge part of their fanbase. That’s like selling the final Harry Potter novel ONLY to the midnight launch crowd because someone could potentially ruin the ending for someone else who can’t buy it until later. People can easily avoid spoilers by averting their eyes to media, and some people don’t care about spoilers as long as they get to experience it for themselves.

“For those of you wondering, having the event at separate times for separate zones is actually one of the worst options. Whatever happens is going to be on livestreams instantly and then on YouTube about five minutes later. At least this way, everyone has a chance to experience it in the game, without having it spoiled by the rapid availability of video on the Internet.”

You know how this reads to me? I reads: “I think you’re too dumb to avoid spoilers on your own and don’t understand that this means some people won’t experience it at all, risk of spoilers or not.”

Telis.4189:

Found it amusing the NA servers are accommodating to the EU player base that has their own servers, while screwing Oceanic’s who were sold NA editions of the game.

With a little bit of thought they could have picked a time that was at least feasible for every timezone to attend instead of falling on a weekday.

No they couldn’t. No matter when they scheduled their one time only event, someone would miss out. Picking the time when they have the most people online makes sense.

The problem is not when they scheduled it. The problem is that ANET decided to run a one time only event.

ostracize.8316:

As someone who played games from Oceanic for years I quickly learned that companies are going to base events around USA or EU timing, and it’s going to require a pretty big sacrifice to make it.

The sooner you accept this, the sooner you can enjoy everything else about the the halloween content.

Guild Wars 1 did things correctly: The event was repeated every 3 hours.
Why should we accept this kind of treatment from a company who has got it right in the past ?

Sajuuk.5706:

You know how this reads to me? I reads: “I think you’re too dumb to avoid spoilers on your own and don’t understand that this means some people won’t experience it at all, risk of spoilers or not.”

Agreed. But what could we expect from a message which assumes that people are too stupid to know that timezone differences can lead to the event happening on different calendar dates ?

They said they picked the time because it’s when they have the highest concurrent users. They aimed to make the most people happy that they could. Being in the minority sucks, but really, it’s not about you.

I think everyone gets 100gold and banners they can display over their characters that say “SCREW YOU EASTERN HEMISPHERE!”

They said you could watch the event on youtube. .-.

Rainshine.5493:

They said they picked the time because it’s when they have the highest concurrent users. They aimed to make the most people happy that they could. Being in the minority sucks, but really, it’s not about you.

Repeating the event every three hours, like they did in GW1, would satisfy everyone. One time only is always going to anger people. Thus one time only is the worst of those options.

Then there is the insult:

It also means that it’s the same calendar date whether you’re American or European.

It’s like the Oceanic players don’t even exist in their minds. If that sentence wasn’t there, I’d be a lot less angry over this.

Doggie.3184:

They said you could watch the event on youtube. .-.

That’s never the same as actually being there. Especially when there are interactive parts, like the Mad King had in GW1.
GW2 is a video game. That means interactivity.

…This isn’t the finale. You realize that, right? It seems VERY obvious that this is when the Mad King first appears. It wouldn’t make much sense for everyone to be surprised to see him like it was the first time when it’s actually the 10th, or for the fountain (everything points to him coming out of it) to break, unbreak, rebreak etc.

They picked the time with the most convergence of all timezones, Im not sure why they can not run it more than once unless its a live thing..because that would take more people and more money etc.

Its probably an explosion/portal/blackhole, that can only appear once, so that the area is not exploding/opening/vortexing multiple times and ruining immersion- do not worry so much, you can probably view it on you tube for the same effect if you have to miss the event.

Anet stated they run the events at the highest rate of concurancy, which means the time when the most people are on playing at the same time on average.

And they also sent us all emails saying how much they try to screw over pacific players as much as possible- what, you did not get that email? opppsss

Rainshine.5493:

…This isn’t the finale. You realize that, right? It seems VERY obvious that this is when the Mad King first appears. It wouldn’t make much sense for everyone to be surprised to see him like it was the first time when it’s actually the 10th, or for the fountain (everything points to him coming out of it) to break, unbreak, rebreak etc.

Then they had four choices, all of which would be better than the one time only event:
– Write an event that can be repeated while making sense.
– Repeat it anyway.
– Don’t have any special event.
– Copy WoW’s phasing tech so that each person only sees it once.

Instead, they decided to go with an event so important that they had to advertise it everywhere by saying you won’t want to miss it.

Snoring Sleepwalker.9073:

Then they had four choices, all of which would be better than the one time only event:
– Write an event that can be repeated while making sense.
– Repeat it anyway.
– Don’t have any special event.
– Copy WoW’s phasing tech so that each person only sees it once.

Most of the stuff makes plenty of sense for it to repeat. How would you set it up so that it makes sense for the first time Mad King Thorn has been seen in 250 years to happen multiple times?

I’d rather have an event I’ll miss (and unfortunately, I very well may) than have it be pants on head kitten or not have one at all. Phasing would be cool but it’s not the same engine, so it may not even be possible.

Most of the stuff makes plenty of sense for it to repeat. How would you set it up so that it makes sense for the first time Mad King Thorn has been seen in 250 years to happen multiple times?

By making no mention of this being his first time back, or giving NPCs an excuse to not know he had come back before.

Snoring Sleepwalker.9073:

Most of the stuff makes plenty of sense for it to repeat. How would you set it up so that it makes sense for the first time Mad King Thorn has been seen in 250 years to happen multiple times?

By making no mention of this being his first time back, or giving NPCs an excuse to not know he had come back before.

They’ve already got it set up in lore (and in the scavenger hunt) that he hasn’t been seen in 250 years. That ship has sailed.

What, specifically, would be the excuse? It’s easy to say “They should do this!” without actually being able to show, specifically, how it would work. “To add personal story variety, they should just make it so I can choose not to kill the elder dragon!” except, you know, making that make sense is a lot harder in practice.

Shelledfade.6435:

Kalmatos.7842:

So, I’m in Singapore and when I saw the time that they picked for the Special Event, I guess that Anet hates Asian.

GMT 19 00

For us it would be 3am in the morning. On a Monday. sigh

EDIT: And yes, if the event is repeatable means I will be spoiled. I’d much rather be SPOILED rather than not being able to even ATTEND the event. Hope you guys see this Anet.

heres a thought… go to sleep early? Wake up at 3am? Enjoy event before you go do whatever you do in your miserable life?

here’s a thought, not everyone works a 9-5 job, some of us work odd hours to support our so called ‘miserable lives’. Giving people the option to participate in game would definitly be appreciated, and it wont be hard to do at all. Make it work like the personal story instances, so people can experience it themselves as a group or solo, without interfering with anyone else

They’ve already got it set up in lore (and in the scavenger hunt) that he hasn’t been seen in 250 years. That ship has sailed.

What, specifically, would be the excuse?

Have only generic NPCs in town when he shows up. Kill them all off during the event, then have replacements show up.

Have all the NPCs mind controlled. Thus they can’t say it’s the first time he returned.

“Run, it’s the Mad King” not “Run, the Mad King has returned”.

Though it’s probably too late for those options. ANET’s only option left is to forget about having it make sense and repeat it anyway.

Shelledfade.6435:

Kalmatos.7842:

So, I’m in Singapore and when I saw the time that they picked for the Special Event, I guess that Anet hates Asian.

GMT 19 00

For us it would be 3am in the morning. On a Monday. sigh

EDIT: And yes, if the event is repeatable means I will be spoiled. I’d much rather be SPOILED rather than not being able to even ATTEND the event. Hope you guys see this Anet.

heres a thought… go to sleep early? Wake up at 3am? Enjoy event before you go do whatever you do in your miserable life?

What about those of us in New Zealand ?

8am means you’re talking about when people are leaving for work if you have a 9-5 job.

No church for this boy, I do however have to work till 3pm PST, so I’m out of luck. Well at least there’s Youtube.

I am sympathetic to the OP but to say that ArenaNet hates Asians is just wild hyperbole.

Snoring Sleepwalker.9073:

Shelledfade.6435:

Kalmatos.7842:

So, I’m in Singapore and when I saw the time that they picked for the Special Event, I guess that Anet hates Asian.

GMT 19 00

For us it would be 3am in the morning. On a Monday. sigh

EDIT: And yes, if the event is repeatable means I will be spoiled. I’d much rather be SPOILED rather than not being able to even ATTEND the event. Hope you guys see this Anet.

heres a thought… go to sleep early? Wake up at 3am? Enjoy event before you go do whatever you do in your miserable life?

What about those of us in New Zealand ?

8am means you’re talking about when people are leaving for work if you have a 9-5 job.

Get a laptop? Call in sick?

Do you all really care THAT much?

Seriously, I want everyone whos whining to look deep down and ask “Do i really care THAT much?”

I just think its going to be something smashing out of the fountain. It will probably change the nature of LA for the rest of the holiday. All you will miss is the event that begins that change. If it was repeatable I’m sure it would be repeated but I think some things just can’t be repeated.

Kalmatos.7842:

So, I’m in Singapore and when I saw the time that they picked for the Special Event, I guess that Anet hates Asian.

I guess Asian MMO’s hate North America. Lots of hate these days.

How about… they are from N.A. and they have to pick a time and they picked one from their home country and that’s how them cookies crumble?

I work nights. I’ll be asleep when it happens. I wonder what it will be…

EDIT: 1 -time events are just a bad idea, IMO.

I think most people are over reacting in that it’s probably going to be some 5-10min thing that has no rewards or special anythings other then being there to witness it. I’m guessing it’s the whole Lion in LA going Kaboom to admit Mad King…. It’s not like this is the finale…. Everyone is getting their panties in a knot over something that hasn’t happened and that we have absolutely no idea about. For all anyone knows it’ll be a “well that was cool but really wouldn’t have mattered if I was here or not”.

Unfortunate time for Aussies, saddening as I was embracing the halloween content.

If “Repeating the event wouldn’t make sense” was the reason for it being one time only, they woulda said that. They didn’t. Instead their excuse was they didn’t want people spoiling the surprise by viewing it in advance…

Ultimately the end result will be that a lot of people will end up viewing this one time event elsewhere because they couldn’t view it in game.

Maybe you should move to America where the game is made.

Are they saying they expect some players to be surprised by timezone differences meaning different calendar dates

Did you not see the big stink over part 1 of the Halloween event starting on a different date in Europe?

I agree this is completely unfair. It’s not like Australia is a small playerbase. If large gaming companies such as Riot can be considerate enough to run things on Fri/Sat instead of Sat/Sun so that it doesn’t dig into Australia’s Mondays, why can’t Anet?

Putting it on the morning of a work day is completely unfair. Sure your event runs from 6am-2pm our time (AEST). People go to work and school on Mondays until 5pm. Huzzah not being able to attend the event at all is so much better than having seen it on videos and being able to do it. rolls eyes

Plus, Anet is working on the assumption people are actually going to go look up videos of the event. Why would we when a) If we haven’t done it it just spoils it for us and b) If we can’t do it, it just reminds us of what we can’t get?

In the east coast is going to be 6am on Monday. Even if I decide to get up you know what’s going to be the worst thing? There is going to be an epic lag and won’t really experience the event because everyone will try to be in LA in that moment.

Get a laptop?

Yes, lets just try to take part in the event while driving to work.

Call in sick?

Or lie to our boss and use up a sick day.

I think most people are over reacting in that it’s probably going to be some 5-10min thing that has no rewards or special anythings other then being there to witness it.

ANET is saying things like this:

DO NOT MISS Act 3 of Shadow of the Mad King

Where do you get the idea that it’s going to be as minor as you’re saying ?

Oh good grief, people will call anything hate these days.

It nothing to do with hating the timezone. You make an event at one specific time, someone is going to get screwed with an inconvenient time. Thats just a fact, as long as you have a worldwide playerbase its impossible not to inconvenience someone.

They timed the event based on peak player time. The majority of the playerbase is in the US, which means peak player time is based on the US, ergo the event itself is based on the US timezones. Majority rules.

Could they have done a recurring event that allowed everyone to attend? Yes, and I would prefer that too. But they wanted a 1-time event for whatever reason, and the timing certainly has nothing to do with “hating” anyone. If they hated you, they’d ban you from the event altogether, not just make you come at an inconvenient time of day.

I will definitely be taking my lunch early.