Guild Wars 2

If you have been paying attention, you have seen the rage caused by ANET announcing that the opening of Halloween act 3 would only happen once. Mainly because ANET was telling people that they would miss out.

ANET’s mistake there was not their choice of when they opening would happen, as there is no time that can satisfy everyone. ANET’s mistake was deciding to make the event one time only.

Next time, find a way to make it repeatable. For example, the act 3 opening was just a cutscene, so having it play to everyone the first time they entered LA after it had started would have worked. And it wouldn’t have show the crowed of players weakening immersion by standing around in a clump waiting for the surprise.

If someone at ANET does come up with an idea for something that can’t be tweaked into something that happens for everyone*, then that idea should be rejected as a bad idea because it can’t be made to cater to the GW2 community.

*Well, everyone who logs in within a 1-2 day period around the holiday.

How the event is made available to everyone doesn’t matter. Only that it is made available to everyone.

And next time they shouldn’t call this a “one-time event” but more a “one-time cinematic” because I was there, yea, and I was really disappointed. And, “you don’t want to miss it” wasn’t true because I think that I would have preferred to miss it, because I wouldn’t have had this glitch that was hiding Mad King during the whole cinematic…

I mean, by event I was expecting a fight. Instead of a full cinematic they could have made a first part where Mad King spawns, then we fight him and his minions as a giant boss, and then the Priory pushs it back. It could have been awesome…

Well, I was so surprised by Act 2 because I was expecting nothing and so disappointed by Act 3 because they said it would be awesome and it wasn’t… Morale of the story, don’t expect things from people.

>Implying the crowd of players actually loaded…

I think my main issue with this was that I never knew it was only a cinematic. I wouldn’t have stayed up to 3 am for a cinematic. The relevant part (i.e. dungeon) would still be there after I slept.

Well, I wasn’t actually there when the cinematic hit. Didn’t bother me one bit to be honest, I just watched it later on youtube.

I disagree. Tyria is supposed to be ‘a living, breathing world’ and one-time events should be part of it. Besides, it’s not like the cinematic was actually that interesting.

It was rather frustrating, playing from Australia and not being able to be on at the time the event happened, only to be able to watch it later on videos. I would fully support a “one-day” event, something that repeatedly happens at a few set intervals during a 24-hour window, or as in the case of the cinematic event for The Mad King, having it trigger when you first log into Lion’s Arch that day. It would enable a lot more people that live in areas outside the US to be able to participate in the event. As it is, we feel kind of left out.

AlexMc.2083:

I disagree. Tyria is supposed to be ‘a living, breathing world’ and one-time events should be part of it. Besides, it’s not like the cinematic was actually that interesting.

No, it isn’t. If it was a ‘a living, breathing world’, then big events in our personal story should have an impact. Big events like the death of Zhaitan.

But that had no effect on the world. So if an event that big doesn’t have any effect, how does it make sense if any smaller events do ?

If you ignore that, you also have to consider the other issue: ANET has scheduled two one time events so far. Both at the same time of the week. Which means the people who missed out on the first one are very likely to miss out on the second. Probably all the others as well because the first two were timed to be shown to the widest possible audience.
So anyone from Oceanic countries is treated worse by ANET than everyone else, simply because of the country they live in. I can accept the first instance as a mistake. But not the second as ANET had plenty of time to see the complaints and reschedule it. But they decided not to, meaning this second class treatment of Oceanic countries is intentional.

In GW1 you could “see past events” in instances.

They should definitely consider making instances to replicate these ‘one time only’ events for those who want to see them exactly as they happened. Camera movements and all.

I was able to attend the “one time event”. The Mad King showed, so I didn’t get the “glitch”.

That being said, I agree. One time events, discourage me from attempting to make the next one. My real life is more important than the game. And only by “chance”, was I able to make it. I know if they continue with type of issue. I will miss out on future ones. Their is no guesswork around it.

I noticed one dev, say their peak time was on Sunday. Well in my household it is not. We go to church. (Not saying everyone does). But I also had 4 guildies, that could not attend due to “work”.

These type of things come first. “Especially work”. If your looking to keep the ones, that are buying gems.

You know, the ones that are putting money into the game.
****************************************************************************

Then you need to re-work the way you do these “events”. Because even stateside, it isn’t a good thing.

And anyone who had to get up, that early in the morning, on the other side of the globe, had issues, if they “worked”, or had to go to “school”, the next morning. Bad timing.

I agree with the suggestion, that as soon as a player loads into “insert one time event place” area. It plays for them.

Regarding the lost shores one time event:

The event will culminate in a big Finale on Sunday November 18, make sure you will not miss it. This will be a onetime only event chain that will run multiple hours, and it will kick off at noon PST (20:00 GMT).

It’s not going to be a simple cutscene next time. It’s going to be a long event chain.
Watching it later on youtube is not an option, unless you think watching someone else playing is the same as playing yourself.

I also want to say that don’t care how ANET repeats the event, only that they do for people who can’t make the single time. For example, if they copy WoW’s phasing to allow them to repeat events with major permanent consequences (if you don’t catch the event chain first time, you don’t see the changes till you catch it on repeat).

clears calendar for sunday

cool

One time events are cool. They should always have these like once per month. If people think other things are more important then fine, you miss it, but don’t mess up with the people who think this is more important and clear up their schedule for attending to it.
You can take a few hours off from work, you can do all the shopping before or after, you can kitten your girl at a different hour, you cna spend one night without sleeping, etc. So don’t come up with stupid RL events excuses because unless they happen as an accident, they can all be rescheduled.

Its like you say to the meteors to strike the Earth in your free time so you can see it live on TV.

How can you foster a gaming community when you deliberately exclude part of that community, some of us are casual gamers sorry we’re not elite enough to enjoy all aspects of them game.

The problem with people is that they feel they must be there for everything , just enjoy the game.

What matter is that , there is content for everyone , not that everyone can do all the content.

Casuals will not get legandaries … in the first 3 years , tons of people could not do the CT , some people could not watch the cinematic , and so on.

I was actually at LA , when the cinematic started , my PC crashed … awesome right? Think i should ask them to instance these events , so my PC do not overload from having tons and tons of people on screen at the same time and then jump to a cinematic.

AlexMc.2083:

I disagree. Tyria is supposed to be ‘a living, breathing world’ and one-time events should be part of it. Besides, it’s not like the cinematic was actually that interesting.

Then why do I run through instance portals to get to the next zone? Shouldn’t I just walk into the next area? I suppose WoW is the only game that will ever do this.

I think that when we like a game like this, we invest in it, and we want to feel like we’re part of the world in which we’re investing. Yes, it’s just a game, but it’s a game in which we choose to spend time in, again investing in it. The one-time only events are a cool idea, like, “Where were you when Mad King Thorn blew out Lion’s Arch.” But unlike real world one-time events (you can’t go back and re-live the first lunar walk) there is precidence for being able, through some of the suggestions above, to do exactly that.

I’m disappointed I can’t shift my real-world commitments around to experience Lost Shores in a week or so, and disappointed that the game I’m investing in is going to march along without me, at least for that three day event. I’m not going to lose sleep over it, but yeah, I’m disappointed.

Why not?I like one time events.They show how long were you playing GW2.It will show who is new to the game and who isn’t.In other MMOs like WoW you have a tab specifically for achievements which are unobtainable.I’d like GW2 to have such similar tab.
I like one time events and achievements.

Please do not listen to the OP! One time events are what will set this game apart from the casual fest that it is now. People need incentive to log on. As it is now I can not play for two months and log in and still do everything in the game. Regular players need something to keep them occupied. Casuals already have everything in the game designed for them. This next one time event is going to be the only time I actually log in probably for the rest of this month and I think it is a step in the right direction.

The event the OP is talking about wasn’t even 1-time, it was just the cinematic for it, I saw the same event, without a cinematic, 4 times or so the day the Mad King dungeon was up…

Ronah.2869:

One time events are cool. They should always have these like once per month. If people think other things are more important then fine, you miss it, but don’t mess up with the people who think this is more important and clear up their schedule for attending to it.

Thing is, Ameraicans have a much easier time clearing their schedule than Oceanic players do.

Now we run into another issue affecting Aus an NZ players: Regional price gouging. Meaning that, unless we bought through the official website, they paid more than Americans. This gouging isn’t ANET’s fault, but it’s still there.

Yet Americans get the better game, because they have a much easier time making the event.

You can take a few hours off from work,

The Mad King cutscene was not worth missing work, even if ANET had given enough notice so that we could apply for a day off.
How do we know how much time we need to take off work before the event ?

Why should some players, players who probably paid more for GW2, sacrifice even more of their income to ANET ?
Especially after ANET’s first one was described as something we shouldn’t miss by ANET staff, but failed to live up to that.

you cna spend one night without sleeping, etc.

Not if we have other obligations, like young children.

So don’t come up with stupid RL events excuses because unless they happen as an accident, they can all be rescheduled.

Not as easily as you think they can be.

mjhungness.8059:

“Where were you when Mad King Thorn blew out Lion’s Arch.”

Logged out or standing around the fountain in Lion’s Arch, because we all knew something would happen.

Wreckdum.8367:

Please do not listen to the OP! One time events are what will set this game apart from the casual fest that it is now. People need incentive to log on.

The GW1 events, which were repeated every three hours, were an incentive to log in.

WoW’s phasing would allow this events to happen for everyone, even if reversing their effect doesn’t make sense.

Scheduling each event at a different time would be a comprise to show that they are trying to treat everyone equally.

Jasott.7914:

The event the OP is talking about wasn’t even 1-time, it was just the cinematic for it, I saw the same event, without a cinematic, 4 times or so the day the Mad King dungeon was up…

Lucky you. You found a beneficial bug. Pity the Lost Shores one time event is a chain of events lasting several hours. So that bug is only going to make them worse.

Stop QQing please.

Life is brutal and you don’t always have time to play. If you miss it, then too bad for you. But if you manage to make it then it’s even mroe fun f something is unique and will never happen again.

All in all you can watch it on youtube. It’s not like participating in the event yourself, but still better than nothing.

Meh I seriously dont get why people have to moan about everything….

I suggest changing the times on each server.
If its an amaerican server, keep the time the way it’s set up as.
If its a European server, have it set at a different time.

One time events are fine but having American times for Asia/Europe is kinda silly.

As it stands right now, we would need a lot more experience with how Anet handles one-time events to give proper judgement. The only example we’ve seen is the Act 3 Mad King cinematic, and I would agree that their wording could have been better to avoid frustration. However, from what we’ve seen with that “one-time” event is that it got played for the rest of Act3 without the cinematic feel. Players were still able to witness it. The only difference was just not being the first to witness it in cinematic cutscene.

We’ll have to look at the upcoming one-time event and see how Anet works this in. I’m speculating that the “one-time only” part will be arriving at the island in it’s paradise happy fun time form before something awful occurs, which will be event based. When the weekend is over, the zone will persist but perhaps happy fun time paradise will no longer be an option for the island anymore… or it will have the same DE take place to retake the island every now and then. In this manner, players will still be able to experience the event after and they only miss out on being the first to undergo it. Most likely this event will have some sort of cutscene showing whatever emerges from the depths and this would be one-time only. Just my thoughts on what might happen that would classify the event as “one time” but can still be experienced later.

It will be back next year.

Relax and take the ants out of your pants.

The one time event was a cinematic, not even a very long cinematic. Look it up on youtube.

Here I’ll do it for you. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cS35PyIZdY There’s the mad king showing up. Anybody who missed the one time event now missed nothing.

Actually I think that’s better than my experience of it, I think half the sounds bugged out on me when I saw it.

I’d rather an MMO have fun, special events that offer unique experiences and have to miss them than an MMO not offer them at all. Not being repeatable is what makes these types of events special in the first place. If more people would just allow themselves to get over their feelings of exclusion and abandon that psychological notion that they HAVE to see all the content that the game has to offer, they just might find themselves having more fun with MMOs and not getting so worked up over them.

BabelFish.7234:

I suggest changing the times on each server.
If its an amaerican server, keep the time the way it’s set up as.
If its a European server, have it set at a different time.

One time events are fine but having American times for Asia/Europe is kinda silly.

Now THIS, is actually a good idea.

Bonzoso.7014:

I’d rather an MMO have fun, special events that offer unique experiences and have to miss them than an MMO not offer them at all. Not being repeatable is what makes these types of events special in the first place. If more people would just allow themselves to get over their feelings of exclusion and abandon that psychological notion that they HAVE to see all the content that the game has to offer, they just might find themselves having more fun with MMOs and not getting so worked up over them.

My thoughts exactly. I love one time events. Even if I miss them.