Guild Wars 2

So I figured since they made the achievement actually possible without stumbling across the rare group of elite players (because getting into a game with a friend isn’t allowed for events), I’d go spend my time with Toypocalypse today.

I only managed to find a few groups between the huge amount of times I was dumped into a completely empty room (either just starting, or almost over with just me defending a single Dolyak).
The groups I did manage to find didn’t read chat or even say a word, which is pretty darn important in what seems like it’s a 2 hour long kill-a-thon with no reward or drops (heck if I know, I can’t find a group capable of staying online past the 3rd wave, let alone 10 of the bloody things). When I was dumped into an empty room, no one was able to join before something caused the event to fail.

I’ve been going after just about every achievement in the game, but I guess this one’s still not getting done. I could sink a day, heck, a week into Toypocalypse, but that wont solve the fact everyone likes to leave the party after 5 minutes.

So I’m wondering, does anyone even bother with this? I mean, it’s a cool & all for maybe 20 minutes, but is there truly no one left that’s able to stay in a game for the entire thing?

“So I figured since they made the achievement actually possible without stumbling across the rare group of elite players” ha this made me laugh my 2nd game of toy poc i joined i took control of the group and gave orders we got the achievement the proper way not the whiners way and we were certainly not a group of elites nothing hard about building walls round dollys,laying down catas/balistas and upgrading em and have 3 people stay with rifles tbh i felt they could have made toypoc let u lose maybe 2 dollys maybe… but to answer your question i play toypoc quite alot i like the game mode and im always finding people to do it with

The short answer would be No.
I managed to finish it on my 3rd try today. I guess lady luck was on my side; because that’s what it all boils down to. A team that is intelligent enough and has a basic understanding of the mechanics involved. The event is long and drops next to nothing. Once done people move on. The more time goes by the harder it will be to get a decent team due to the lack of rewards. Chat does not work unless you whisper.
So, like I said……..luck……..good luck to you.

I would like to ad a tip to what the poster above has said. Get a single player with a rifle to pull Toxx away from the center and keep him distracted while the team run supplies and reinforces the center area. Cause once Toxx is down its wave after wave of evil toys.

I stopped doing it the moment they turned it into easy mode.

@Mechanix- I tried to talk with people in the few groups I found today, but none of them showed signs of reading the chat. If finding a decent group that read the chat wasn’t so hard, Toypocalypse would probably go a lot smoother; In fact, they could probably have left the achievement as it was. I’d love to keep working with a great team until we finally managed to clear it with all 5 Dolyaks standing. But since I’m not lucky enough to find a group that even knows how to read the chat, clearing the game seems more like a pipe dream than something we could do continuously practicing strategies.

@OmniPotentes- Is Whispering seriously the only way to communicate in this team-reliant game? That would solve the chat issue, I guess… Though I’m baffled as why that’s the case at all. Thanks for the good luck though; I don’t really care about my lonely holiday, so at least I can keep hoping for a group until something gives.

Well it’s kind of strange to be in an instance for 2 hours and not having a single chat message during that time don’t you think? I don’t know if it’s intended; but it wasn’t working during my runs.

Whispering is definately not the only way to chat in Toypocolypse. I was seeing chat messages in /say and / map just fine when I was running it a few days back.

Unless they achievement fix somehow messed it up.

Toypocolypse is not really something enjoyable to do over and over again for most. Its long, repetitive, and doesn’t provide you with very good rewards (and I don’t even get the packages between waves half the time because I’m too busy setting up defenses to run over and get them). I imagine the number of people playing it is going to steadily decrease every day, especially now that the achievement is easier to get so you won’t have to retry for it a hundred times or get exceptionally lucky.

I tried it 10 times with broken groups/already dead Dolyaks/afk player/not enough player/in the middle of the instance loosing player before I came into a instance for the 9th wave of 10 and the player were actually good and all dolyaks were alive, so I just jump in the last wave defending toys and got my both achivements before Anet had make it easier and I would never ever seen in Toypocalypse anymore. It’s a great concept but I’m glad I dont wasted my time with this automatic grouping fail. Yeah there were maybe player that got a good group and the luck of a new instance and got trough it (Hello Randomness) but there´s also many player who got the same as above listed. So far for the Toypocalypse. But the Tixx instances in the different cities were great.

I can’t help but feel Toypocalypse would have been amazing if it worked like a dungeon instead of a PvP mini-game. No one complaining that they can’t play with guildies, not as many people complaining about keeping 5 Dolyaks alive (since there’s a reliable, static party), most likely a chest or at least completion reward like other dungeons too. I’d pay so many gems to play this thing with my guildmates, at least I can dump said gems into a Wintersday Box and not even get the minis I want.
Gotta keep on trying to find some decent party…

You do get gift boxes from it at the end, as well as off to the side at the end of each round. And the game itself is fun. Not that I’ve farmed it; I’ve played 2 or 3 sessions very recently, was lucky enough for a guildie to be in my final session so we could Mumble about what was going on.

Still, it wasn’t hard to have people in there working on defenses and killing toys.

Ive never had any trouble finding a group of people, maybe its just a lack of interest on your server. As for the achievement there both actually really easy so easy in fact i find myself farming presents from the event.

The way i do it is instead of trying to build walls/snowmen/ballistic and catapults around the center of the map, just have one person run around the map collect the materials and dropping them down where there are found. If you can survive the first wave without losing any dolyacs and the party knows to keep toxx away from the center. You are guaranteed victory.

I stopped playing it the moment my guild and I found out we couldn’t play together… so about 10 seconds in.

I play this daily, just before bedtime. It’s a great cure for insomnia. A few minutes of it and my head’s ready to hit the pillow.

i did it for the achivement then stopped.

its not fun, if it was say your own weps + hoardes of toys comming at you liek crazy in left for orr style then yes it would of been better.

but then the bad players would complain as they have no skill

han.9042:

I stopped doing it the moment they turned it into easy mode.

Same. It’s not worth repeating anymore. Snowball Mayhem is the event I play now.

You wound me, krixis. You really do.

Main problem is that it is too long. At my first try a few days ago we managed to get to wave 6. 2 Dolyaks died early because everyone was new trying to figure out the weapons and defenses stuff. The last ones died because not enough defenses built by that time and Toxx destroying them.

Tried yesterday again and even managed to keep all the 5 Dolyaks alive. Seems people started learning the other few days I did not play. There are a lot of guides…

Toxx is not that random as some said in the beginning. You get aggro especially with the rifle. Everyone should take this and stay far away from the Dolyaks then Toxx will be easiest part.

We built walls around the center and placed lots of catapults(I think I read this in a guide and I started doing this… maybe others read the guide too or they saw how I did it and helpd a bit also they defended more since I was running a lot to gather stuff).

And they managed to use hay to heal. Only a little big damage to the Dolyaks and never really in danger(some people forget to use the hay).

What I also tried: If a lot of materials drop I only carried on(the last one) back to the base and placed the others at the location they dropped nearby. Sure they’ll get destroyed fast but still they are distraction and doing a bit damage or saving time.

But main problem as I said: It is too long. Especially the leaving is a problem since you can get bored easily or just don’t have enough time.

It’s too long, with no reward (those gift boxes are the same things you can get with 5 minutes of effort in any zone). There is no reason to do it after getting the achievements and most people already got them I’d assume either the first day or after they patched it to make it easier.

passed once we found out you had to pug it up..

why in the world you can’t even have two of you and then random groupmates makes zero sense..

I got the achievement first day (back when it was a real achievement…that you had to walk uphill for 20 miles to get…through twenty feet deep snow…while being chased by man eating chihuahuas).

While it’s potentially a lot of fun, there’s effectively no reward for what turns out to be a very long event. This reduces fun. Then you add in no friends allowed, and fun goes down even more. The final fun killer is that its entirely possible that Toxx gets it in her head to just make a beeline for the dolyaks and no amount of attempting pulling will change her mind. This means that you could randomly just lose the game cuz, kitten you, that’s why. So, even more fun lost.

When you finish up that equation you end up with negative fun. Since most players play games to get positive fun…not as many players running the event anymore.

When I first did the Toypocalypse event I was extremely frustrated and angry, I didn’t know what I was doing and I was struggling to win. I didn’t even know you could smash the houses to get snow or scrap, so I was just bashing toys with my toysmasher. A few minutes googling and reading online changed that, I learned what the new tools could do and how important snow and scrap were. With that knowledge I went back, the first few games I joined were over (in terms of the achievement anyways) either they had 1 Dolyak alive or there wasn’t enough players. So I would leave and re-join and the very first time I joined and got a full group and the event to just begin, we did it. I then realised just how easy the achievement was to get and why Anet chose to set it like so.

When I heard the news about them giving the achievement away, I was even more angry compared to when I was originally. It felt like my entire efforts and research and practice and been wasted. I could have sat around crying and waiting for Anet to just give up and hand it too me. I remember saying to myself why not 3 dolyaks, that way at least there is a compromise. What is the point of having achievements in the first place if you don’t need to do anything to achieve them.

I am angry at that decision, fair enough I understand peoples frustration but this community is starting to act like babies, instead of doing the work involved they rather cry and whine until anet hands out stuff for free. I think next special event I shall just wait and whine all day on the forums instead of putting any effort into my achievements then anet might just give me them anyways. Since then I haven’t set another foot back in to the Toypocalypse, and because I cannot join my friends to help them with the achievement, There is no incentive for me to go back.

Sorry if this comes across as me being rude, I am simply trying to express my frustration and give anet so critic feedback.

Played all the other cities-but skipped this one after reading about the initial problems, forced groups and limited awards. Couldn’t be bothered, knowing I likely wouldn’t enjoy it (even after they lowered the dolyaks count). And I really enjoyed getting the freebies and cogs (since I was one of those that didn’t recieve them from playing the other cities ,ditto for the other one time event-got nothing). Thanks for stuff, it was very appreciated.

Yes, the major problems with this game can be summed up pretty easily.

1.) People not able to group with friends/guildies/spouses, etc.
2.) No rewards. Given the amount of time and effort this game takes, rewards are pretty important.

I actually thought the Toypocalpyse game was fun, but it just takes so long that I don’t really bother with it. However, if there were decent rewards from it, I probably would play it more. Or, if it were shorter(less waves maybe) with no rewards, I’d maybe play it more just for fun. But, when it’s both long and thankless, it’s just work.

Got it on my second try and never looked back.

Glektor.2934:

I actually thought the Toypocalpyse game was fun, but it just takes so long that I don’t really bother with it. However, if there were decent rewards from it, I probably would play it more. Or, if it were shorter(less waves maybe) with no rewards, I’d maybe play it more just for fun. But, when it’s both long and thankless, it’s just work.

Beat it on the first try and went back again to try the “drop siege wherever you find the materials for” method (works very, very well). It’s decently fun, but as mentioned above, it is very long and the rewards simply aren’t worth it. If it gave usual dungeon rewards (chest at the end, 26s, more 60 stuffing/glue) I would definitely be doing this dungeon over 2h.

I really enjoyed this event and have been back many times. I did it a few times where there was a lot of communication/coordination but mostly chat was silent. I found it easier to just do the ‘right thing’ instead of trying to explain. Most of the times folks caught on and we cleared the event with no problems. I most enjoyed creating walls of ballistas and catapults then training the hoards through them…much death..much fun ^^. I would have preferred to have been able to go in with friends but I still had a good time. I really did not even notice the present boxes until my last few runs, so I would say I was not missing the rewards too much. Anyways, good event!

This would have been great going in with a group.
The fact that you cannot tells me 1 of 2 things
1: ANet didnt think people would want to play with their friends/guildies which hints they really don’t know what they are doing.
2: ANet didn’t want to let people group together so that soloers could join in on group events which hints that they really don’t know what they are doing.

I had no problem with it and had full groups each time. However, I only did it a few times because it got tedious with 10 waves. I think they should cut it back to 5 next year so that it is quicker to complete.

Did it once, kept all 5 Dollies alive then never even considered going back in, no point going in again I got the achievements why should I waste more time in there when I can get better rewards by doing AC for less time. Which incidentally allows me more time to not log in and do festive things with the family.

I did it the first day it was out with an amazing group of people. We kept all the Dolyaks alive and survived every wave.

All we did was build a snow wall around the dolyaks and set balistas up in a circle around the entire platform. A little of that and some smashing/shooting of toys and we passed it.

I just got lucky my second time around in there and had a capable team who gave/took direction and listened.

Would have been nice to be able to enter with my friend (would of been nice to enter any of the wintersday events with my friend!)

I’m playing it. It’s the best way to get giftboxes for stuffing and glue. Those are pretty expensive on the TP right now.

Gilosean.3805:

I’m playing it. It’s the best way to get giftboxes for stuffing and glue. Those are pretty expensive on the TP right now.

Or running around any zone for 5 minutes….or doing the JP….or turning in ugly wool clothing. All three of those options are quicker, and easier.

Gilosean.3805:

I’m playing it. It’s the best way to get giftboxes for stuffing and glue. Those are pretty expensive on the TP right now.

lol run around any zone for 5 mins and get them faster..

None of them are quicker for me. With a decent group at Toypocalypse, I can get 2-4 Personal Gifts + 5-9 Giant Gifts in under half an hour without waypoint cost. The only thing that matches the personal gift rate is the bell choir, and that doesn’t give Giants. Running around a zone has travel costs or takes a lot longer.

People don’t all play the same.

Gilosean.3805:

None of them are quicker for me. With a decent group at Toypocalypse, I can get 2-4 Personal Gifts + 5-9 Giant Gifts in under half an hour without waypoint cost. The only thing that matches the personal gift rate is the bell choir, and that doesn’t give Giants. Running around a zone has travel costs or takes a lot longer.

People don’t all play the same.

1. Go to Gendarren Fields
2. Equip 25% speed signet, or spam a swiftness ability
3. Proceed to ping pong between the 3 gifts that spawn around Nebo Terrace with an absurdly fast respawn rate.
4. No waypoints required
5. 20+ Gifts in under 10 minutes.
6. No having to play Tower (Dolyak) Defense for 30+ minutes with the chance of doing it solo because people aren’t doing it.

Braxxis.7062:

Gilosean.3805:

None of them are quicker for me. With a decent group at Toypocalypse, I can get 2-4 Personal Gifts + 5-9 Giant Gifts in under half an hour without waypoint cost. The only thing that matches the personal gift rate is the bell choir, and that doesn’t give Giants. Running around a zone has travel costs or takes a lot longer.

People don’t all play the same.

1. Go to Gendarren Fields
2. Equip 25% speed signet, or spam a swiftness ability
3. Proceed to ping pong between the 3 gifts that spawn around Nebo Terrace with an absurdly fast respawn rate.
4. No waypoints required
5. 20+ Gifts in under 10 minutes.
6. No having to play Tower (Dolyak) Defense for 30+ minutes with the chance of doing it solo because people aren’t doing it.

Awesome, thanks for the tip!

Gilosean.3805:

None of them are quicker for me. With a decent group at Toypocalypse, I can get 2-4 Personal Gifts + 5-9 Giant Gifts in under half an hour without waypoint cost. The only thing that matches the personal gift rate is the bell choir, and that doesn’t give Giants. Running around a zone has travel costs or takes a lot longer.

People don’t all play the same.

JP is 3 giant gifts every 150 sec (2.5 min), and you depend only on yourself and not on some random team members. Choir Bell is 4 personalized gifts every 10min, also only your skill matters.
I just cant see how getting 7-13 gifts in an hour is fast especially that there is probability of joining lost case games or just joining @very end and not getting any rewards at all…

Nerfing Toypocalypse Cancelled achievement makes my 5 Dolyaks alive achievement feel less valuable. Achievements are things you practice in order to get. They are not for everyone, only the truly dedicated.

Please be careful not to cheapen the game.

I went to help my friends with Toy Apocalypse achievement. We had poor starting situation with lost dolyaks, but still they got the achievement.
We all felt disappointed because of no real challenge involved now. My own feels “meh” now as well.
Most people will play it once and stop it.