Guild Wars 2

Some people have said that the SAB will be removed April 30th. I’ve also seen people say that there will be no new content added to it during April and that it will not be staying in the game while it’s updated (if it’s ever updated). Then finally I see a whole thread dedicated to the idea of it remaining permanent and updated every now and then.

Is there any official response as to what is happening to SAB? I’d love to see it remain in the game and updated every couple of months or so. I recall a Dev saying that World 2 isn’t even started yet so it seems to me that they’ll be removing it after April is done – but I’d love to know for sure if anyone does in fact know if it’ll be removed or staying.

I do really love this and if any Anet member stumbles on this thread, I definitely think it was a successful experiment and my entire guild absolutely loves this event so very great job! We’ll all be sad to see it go.

The SAB is listed on http://guildwars2.com as being available from April 1st to 30th.

Josh Foreman.8250:

World 2 has not been built yet, and won’t be started for another little while. But not a long while.

World 2 won’t be available within the next month

Josh Foreman.8250:

Not this month. At an unspecified time. Certainly not in the next month.

… and may return before next April.

Josh Foreman.8250:

I certainly hope so. All signs currently point to yes. But of course, no promises.

Healix.5819:

The SAB is listed on http://guildwars2.com as being available from April 1st to 30th.

Josh Foreman.8250:

World 2 has not been built yet, and won’t be started for another little while. But not a long while.

World 2 won’t be available within the next month

Josh Foreman.8250:

Not this month. At an unspecified time. Certainly not in the next month.

… and may return before next April.

Josh Foreman.8250:

I certainly hope so. All signs currently point to yes. But of course, no promises.

Yeah that’s the thread I saw. So it’s 100% not going to be permanent. That’s a shame. It “may” return before next April. Oh well, so long as we can see it again in the future I’ll be happy. There is so much potential with this thing it’d be a definite shame if they didn’t continue with it. I mean just look at all the map we haven’t discovered in there yet! We must save the Princess! (she’s a Princess, right? lol).

Josh Foreman.8250:

Mkalafut.1273:

We must save the Princess! (she’s a Princess, right? lol).

In the mean time you can kind of keeps tabs on her via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Lord_Vanquish

lol, that’s pretty awesome actually.

Aww… So Lord Vanquish is just trying to woo Princess Miya in his own evil little way? I half-expect to reach his castle only to find that Princess Miya has totally taken it over and redecorated it into a rainbows-and-unicorns theme, sitting down with Lord Vanquish for a tea party. XD

Josh Foreman.8250:

Mkalafut.1273:

We must save the Princess! (she’s a Princess, right? lol).

In the mean time you can kind of keeps tabs on her via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Lord_Vanquish

Hahaha! Awesome! Well I suppose it’ll have to do Just hope everyone over at Anet knows that most of the people love the SAB and are looking forward to more. I’m sure we’re having as much fun playing it as you had building it. So please don’t forget about this!

Noticed a dev replied, expecting an answer on the OP’s question…

Nope! Josh linking the twitter account of the bad guy.
Avoid-question-mode activate!

I really wish SAB was going to be back earlier than expected just because they implement hard mode, would be reason enough for me to keep at it.

He didn’t need to answer the questions here because he’s already done so in numerous other threads. Plus, Healix did too.

Seras.5702:

He didn’t need to answer the questions here because he’s already done so in numerous other threads. Plus, Healix did too.

Yeah, you’re right.. I was just hoping on an update of what they’re doing right now “finished zone 1 of world 2”/“hard mode nearly done” stuff like that.

I have a question. Will the vendor remain in the game even after the SAB is removed, or will do we need to spend our points before it is removed (or save them for next time)?

Ashanor.5319:

I have a question. Will the vendor remain in the game even after the SAB is removed, or will do we need to spend our points before it is removed (or save them for next time)?

probably remain for a short time after. so spend what you need now and save for what you need later

Josh Foreman.8250:

That’s how we did our holiday events. So I expect we’ll do the same thing here.

If there is any question about it at all, don’t give the procrastinators hope. They will turn on you like a pack of undead wolves if/when that vendor is gone.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Mkalafut.1273:

We must save the Princess! (she’s a Princess, right? lol).

In the mean time you can kind of keeps tabs on her via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/Lord_Vanquish

Wow that is really cute and I thoroughly enjoyed the laugh!

Note to self: Do not smash the furniture in Miya’s room when you rescue her.

Kind of a related question, but when the SAB comes back (I’m going to be optimistic and assume it IS coming back) and new rewards are added, will the old ones still be available as well, or will the current rewards be gone and only the new rewards be available when it returns?

Josh Foreman.8250:

Nothing is certain, but I’m pretty sure these ones will only be around for this month.

O.O

All of a sudden, my list of things to do got much longer.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Nothing is certain, but I’m pretty sure these ones will only be around for this month.

So we’re never going to see “Super” versions of the weapons that didn’t receive skins? It’s going to be a whole new set next time?

Josh Foreman.8250:

Nothing is certain, but I’m pretty sure these ones will only be around for this month.

Josh, could you clarify this a bit more? When you’re talking about the old rewards being gone, are you referring to the weapon skins? Or the extra rewards like Obsidian Shards, Crystals etc. being redeemable for Bauble Bubbles? If people only have the month of April in which to obtain the current Super weapon skins, I think you need to get the word out so that people don’t cry foul afterwards that they can no longer earn their own Super weapon skins via Bubbles.

Understood. I’d be rather sad if the Super weapon skins were a one-time only occurrence, but I can see where you guys are coming from. At least I already got my Super Backpack!

I also really appreciate you taking the time to talk with us (while you’re on holiday, no less!) and for being so forthright in your responses. You might be giving Gaile a run for her money as the best ANet rep in terms of maintaining good customer dialogue.

Josh Foreman.8250:

I don’t know how you got that out of what I said. We will certainly (as much certainty as the continuation of SAB) be making at least one Super Skin for every weapon in the game.

Sorry, Josh. I worded my question poorly. I’d just finished reading someone’s speculation about a whole new skin set with the next release of SAB and it carried over to my reply.

Thank you for the information.

Josh Foreman.8250:

But in order to make each release somewhat special I’m pretty sure we are going to retire the current set after April. I don’t think we will have the same set of Super Skins at our next release.

I really hope this isn’t the case. I feel like this only encourages grinding the content for baubles. It means that if I want a skin for a character down the line, I better make sure I get it now, otherwise the TP prices are likely to be outrageous.

I think that each release will be special enough if it introduces new skins and new zones. I think encouraging people to grind for every skin they could possibly want after this month is over might destroy some of the charm.

Thanks Josh for releasing this info. I got the greatsword skin and really loved it, but after seeing many with it, and hearing about SAB’s future releases, was having 2nd thoughts about keeping it forever.

I think this info does make this instance of the SAB series more special. Knowing we will never have an oppritunity to have these skins again is huge. I missed holloween, and always wish i’d of played then, because of the sick skins that were released. When i saw this event i got really excited, and must say i love limited edition items. After hearing it’d be released every 3-4 months, it kinda ruined the limited edition feeling a bit, since everyone would have them. But you’ve rejuvenated my passion for this event.

Thanks for being so awesome.

Josh Foreman.8250:

https://twitter.com/Lord_Vanquish

Best Twitter account ever.=P

Well I hope people don’t mind, but if this is the case I’ll be holding on to my spare Greatsword skin, so I’ll be able to trade it for a precursor in a few months.

Suddenly I regret selling the skins I had acquired. Oh well… 20 days to get more

Josh Foreman.8250:

Nothing is certain, but I’m pretty sure these ones will only be around for this month.

I’d love to collect them all but where would I keep them? The bank you say? Well, if you counted out the number of bank spaces verses the number of skins in the game, you would see that even with all bank tabs purchased you could not store even half of the armor and weapon skins in existence. I cannot understand why our ability to collect skins is limited in a game that claimed it to be based on skill and cosmetics. Even if we had to use a transmutation stone every time we wanted to use our skins on new armor and weapons, I would be elated that we had the freedom to collect skins without having to pick which ones to keep.

However, I have greatly enjoyed SAB and really think the greatsword and shield are amazing skins. However, If I didn’t what to have a huge collection of the fun boxes , I would have quit running until the next incarnation by now since I just don’t have room to keep everything.

Can’t wait to see what’s next.

Ian Smith.8690:

I’d love to collect them all but where would I keep them? The bank you say?

PVP players enjoy the luxury of having perfect lockers for just this occasion. It would be great if PvE players had the same level of collectibility when it came to skins.

Josh Foreman.8250:

Lane.3410:

So we’re never going to see “Super” versions of the weapons that didn’t receive skins? It’s going to be a whole new set next time?

I don’t know how you got that out of what I said. We will certainly (as much certainty as the continuation of SAB) be making at least one Super Skin for every weapon in the game. But in order to make each release somewhat special I’m pretty sure we are going to retire the current set after April. I don’t think we will have the same set of Super Skins at our next release. Does that make sense? Overall, we have a very solid plan for everything we’re doing INSIDE the SAB, but haven’t planned out everything surrounding it, the rewards, and all that kind of stuff yet. One thing we learned in this release is to make sure we schedule more time for planning and building the reward side of things.

Well thats disappointing. What about future players? I was looking forward to being able to get some skins now, and then if I happen to use them all (or lose them for some reason) or get even more characters (up to 10 now) being able to get more once its been released again. (I still am hoping that somehow you guys will change your mind and leave it in the game still at the end of April)

Josh Foreman.8250:

We will certainly (as much certainty as the continuation of SAB) be making at least one Super Skin for every weapon in the game.

Yay. This is good news and I eagerly await the new skins.

But in order to make each release somewhat special I’m pretty sure we are going to retire the current set after April. I don’t think we will have the same set of Super Skins at our next release.

Boo! I really, really disklike, when games do this. What about those people that simply don’t have the time to get all the skins they want? What about people that start playing after the next release?

One time skins are bad. Very bad.

A bit off topic but I’m even a fan of the idea to put, Tixx and Mad King levels inside Fractals of the Mists with a chance to drop the skins from those events. It would be far more difficult to get a skin through FotM but at least the chance would be there, and if you didn’t get what you wanted the skin would again be available again during those holiday events.

To sum up.
Every time a skin is introduced through a special event that skin needs to return every time the event does.

Xar.6185:

One time skins are bad. Very bad.

Agreed. Please reconsider if this is indeed what is planned.

Personally, I really like one-time skins. They are just cosmetic and it’s a good way to show prestige for vets of the game in a few years.

I actually like the idea of them disappearing after the event. Might turn into a funny scenario ^^

Geikamir.6329:

Personally, I really like one-time skins. They are just cosmetic and it’s a good way to show prestige for vets of the game in a few years.

It’s also a great way to alienate new players. It doesn’t affect me personally. I have 4 skins via Baubles and have been lucky with an additional 4 skins via chests (opened about 100 chests I think).

I’m just thinking about little Johnny Gamer who picks up GW2 this summer, sees someone running around with the Super Greatsword and says “Oh wow, I really want that! How do I get it?”

“Sorry, Johnny, it was a one-time event. You’re out of luck.”

Not the greatest experience for a new player.

Xirin.8593:

Geikamir.6329:

Personally, I really like one-time skins. They are just cosmetic and it’s a good way to show prestige for vets of the game in a few years.

It’s also a great way to alienate new players. It doesn’t affect me personally. I have 4 skins via Baubles and have been lucky with an additional 4 skins via chests (opened about 100 chests I think).

I’m just thinking about little Johnny Gamer who picks up GW2 this summer, sees someone running around with the Super Greatsword and says “Oh wow, I really want that! How do I get it?”

“Sorry, Johnny, it was a one-time event. You’re out of luck.”

Not the greatest experience for a new player.

I disagree. In the new players mind it may demonstrate that the game has cool, one time only events with neat visual rewards. This, for me at least with GW1, made me more likely to try the events.

Well, I not only have all the skins I could ever possibly want from baubles, but I’m also holding some of the rare ones aside for potential future profit. Point being, I gain nothing (and possibly lose) from them making the skins recurring. However, I am not and never will be a fan of one-time-only items.

I also think “veteran prestige” is silly for a variety of reasons. Then again, I’ve always been a bit of a socialist when it comes to MMOs.

Shinki.8045:

I disagree. In the new players mind it may demonstrate that the game has cool, one time only events with neat visual rewards. This, for me at least with GW1, made me more likely to try the events.

The general reception of the Karka event shows that one-time-only events are not desirable in the current MMO climate.

It also appears that the majority wish for the SAB not to be removed at the end of April. I presume this is due to players not being fond of having deadlines in their fun (gaming), since deadlines drive the rest of their lives (work, school, etc.)

Josh Foreman.8250:

I don’t know how you got that out of what I said. We will certainly (as much certainty as the continuation of SAB) be making at least one Super Skin for every weapon in the game. But in order to make each release somewhat special I’m pretty sure we are going to retire the current set after April. I don’t think we will have the same set of Super Skins at our next release. Does that make sense?

No, it does not. I mean I fully understand what you’re saying it’s just that retiring content never made much sense to me and certainly doesn’t make it feel any more “special” to me. Retire them until April next year if you want but why remove them and at the same time remove the chance of people getting a set of these weapons?

For me, I’ve been busy so I haven’t had as much time as I’d hoped to enjoy this content, I’ll be lucky to get a sword or shield this time I was hoping to get the other and a matching mace next time it came around (if maces are added). Now that’s unlikely and it’s a pity… maybe don’t retire the set next time next time, instead complete it by adding pistols, rifles, maces and so on, then retire it the time after that?

Xirin.8593:

It also appears that the majority wish for the SAB not to be removed at the end of April. I presume this is due to players not being fond of having deadlines in their fun (gaming), since deadlines drive the rest of their lives (work, school, etc.)

Yeah, that really speaks to me, I obviously don’t know the amount of people that want to leave it in or remove it but I’d rather the content and skins were left there as a reward for those who want to put the time in to get them rather than removed in order to create some sense of “specialness” especially, as in my opinion, GW2 is a bit light on enjoyable, readily accessible content at the moment.

Maybe it should be moved from where it is to Moto’s lab for a while but it should still be accessible and playable.

Josh Foreman.8250:

[…]But in order to make each release somewhat special I’m pretty sure we are going to retire the current set after April.[…]

[…]
[/quote]

If that’s true as it is, it’ll be a BAD decision.

First of all, there’s no warnings about that anywhere. If you were going to retire them forever and never bring them back, you should have said so clearly from the very start, both in-game and in the event site. Now it’s too late.
Second, those who do know about it feel now pressured to grind and GRIND SAB if they want to get them all before it goes away.
Each day has 24 hours, and not all of them can b spent on playing, and among those spent playing, not all of them can be spent in the SAB if one wants to get some laurels.

There’s other things to do in the game, and you must take that into account when you add new content.

In GW1, masks from previous years were brought back after 7 years, and no one went on a killing spree because of that. On the contrary, many people were happy of being able to get things they missed and complete their collections.

I was planning on getting a few of them for my guardian asura, counting on when it’ll come back, as I will not have time this time around. It just takes too long to get a single one. Now what?

Exclusivity over time it’s fine (can’t get it again until much later), so people get o show off the stuff. Permanent one-time exclusivity (just once an never gain) is bad, because it takes away things from the rest of the players.

Not bringing them back for some time would be fine.
Not bringing them back EVER would be BAD.

VERY BAD.

Geikamir.6329:

Personally, I really like one-time skins. They are just cosmetic and it’s a good way to show prestige for vets of the game in a few years.

I definitely agree with this. Early adopters should get some sort of bonus, and stat-less skins are perfect. No one is freaking out because they can’t get Halloween skins, same will happen with these, except these are much more common. Having limited series’ within the game gives players more opportunity for unique looks. And that’s kind of a big thing in this game where most rewards are visual.

This is a terrible idea, Josh.

In GW1 it was okay to have one-time items because of a few things:

• They were costume clothes only, and only headgear at that
• They were unable to be sold, and if you didn’t want to hold onto them, you could recreate them at a vendor after initially acquiring them whenever you wanted
• You received them for free merely by participating in the event that gave them

What you are doing if you make these skins one-time only is the following:

• Exacerbating the demand for a to-be discontinued skin that is not subtle or town clothing only, but visibly, audibly, and significantly impressive and thus extremely high in demand as weapon skins
• Making these items one-time without any method to store/retrieve them properly and as many times as the player who acquired them wanted (bank slots wasted doesn’t count, look at how good GW1’s system was for these)
• Making players able to sell and trade in these discontinued items which creates huge markets that people will take advantage of to take advantage of players who couldn’t be there (it’s how the market goes, but this will leave a sour taste in any newcomer to SAB’s mouth)
• Making players feel compelled to farm your content to get these to-be discontinued skins rather than enjoy the content the way you, yourself, said you want them to

Let me tell you this right now. I enjoy SAB, and I play it casually, jump around, collect baubles, and basically do everything that you’re supposed to do in SAB. Until now, I didn’t feel compelled to farm the everliving crap out of SAB because you said the skins would likely return, our baubles would carry over, and so on. Now, by spinning a full 180 and saying they won’t return to make this release “special”, you make me want to spend every living moment in GW2 farming these skins so that I don’t miss out, particularly because GW2 has no proper PvE system for restoring these items once we get them. It’d be different if once we got them we could store them in a locker and retrieve them as many times as we wanted, but that is not the case. Each skin is one-time use, which makes it even more imperative that I farm my brain out to get as many as possible.

What you have just proposed you do by making these skins one-time use ruins the spirit of the SAB, and encourages the farming you, yourself, said you wanted to get rid of.

Please make the smart decision and bring them back with every release.

One-time skins are good. Having a reward for playing during a special place and time is good. Having compelling reasons to play during one-time events is good. Having compelling reasons to buy limited edition pets in the gem store is good for Anet, and increases the likelyhood of special and varied, themed content.

Want a skin? Run SAB 9 times, you have 20 more days to do it. Can’t be bothered to run it? Too busy playing some other game? That is your choice, and you can enjoy paying a reseller later if you want the skin.

I’m glad i don’t see 10,000 people running around with a greatsaw everytime i log in, and am glad i did what it took to get one when they were reasonably priced. I like the SAB skins alot, so i’m running it 6 times a day with my 6 toons, and getting 2 extra of each skin for later.

In response to a couple of random comments i saw on the way in here… the Karka event was unpopular because the skins were bland* and the server lag was unplayable, not because of the limited time. The festival Hat merchant in GW1 duplicated your HATS, not every skin in the game. In closing…

“Wasn’t there… didn’t do that… got the t-shirt at walmart on sale 5 years later”

…just doesn’t quite sound impressive, fun, or memorable.

*i’m sure someone worked hard on those skins, and they are nice and all… but if a skin doesn’t have a glow and/or animation, it isn’t going to be desirable for most players. Next time, make the tiki mask have glowing eyes or boom out “YOU NEW DUM-DUM? YOU GIVE ME GUM-GUM!”when i swap to it, because it isnt replacing my Ghastly Grinning Shield until it can :-)

ixl.7190:

the Karka event was unpopular…not because of the limited time.

Did you miss the flood of posts by non-EU/NA players who were unable to participate in the final event because it occurred in the middle of the night for their time-zone?

Josh Foreman.8250:

Nothing is certain, but I’m pretty sure these ones will only be around for this month.

I’d like to put in a plea for the old skins from baubles to remain available in the future. I enjoy SAB and I love all the skins and would like for them to be long term goals. And by long term, it might take me months to get enough baubles for just one skin.

With my work/life schedule, I have only time to do the daily weeknights and play part of one day on the weekend. I’m not complaining nor am I saying I deserve special consideration. I’d just like the difference between people like me and people who can complete SAB over and over quickly and get skins rapidly to be the time it takes to get the skins rather than the possibility of ever having one of them.

Rising Dusk.2408:

snip

Agree with all of this.

laharl.8435:

I definitely agree with this. Early adopters should get some sort of bonus, and stat-less skins are perfect. No one is freaking out because they can’t get Halloween skins, same will happen with these, except these are much more common. Having limited series’ within the game gives players more opportunity for unique looks. And that’s kind of a big thing in this game where most rewards are visual.

Early adopters of what? SAB? The game is almost 8 months old. :P

Halloween, seriously? Did you ignore how many people were livid about the greatsaw? Not to mention that most of the Halloween skins weren’t that great. Aside from the GS the only other nice ones were the staff and the shortbow, both of which can still be crafted.

The bigger issue at hand is that GW2 does not have enough cosmetic variety. This has been an ongoing complaint. People struggle for unique looks because there’s not that much choice and having one-time-only skins isn’t going to help that either.

Xirin.8593:

ixl.7190:

the Karka event was unpopular…not because of the limited time.

Did you miss the flood of posts by non-EU/NA players who were unable to participate in the final event because it occurred in the middle of the night for their time-zone?

I saw that. Im sure it also sounds unsympathetic when I say that Anet communicated in advance the date and time, explained the one-time nature, and that staying up late, getting up early, getting the day off are all personal options that individuals could have taken. But even then, comparing a one-time event to a 30 day event is still a bit excessive.