Guild Wars 2

I was wondering if there was a way we could maybe keep this after wintersday is over? Maybe change the bells to less wintersday themed instruments?

Its really fun and i dont want it to go away =((

It is the best part of the event, and it’s the one that is the most affected by lag making it largely unplayable for many except at very very late hours :/

I agree! I spend so much time in there. ^^’ It’s nice to take a break there every now and then from killing stuff and falling down at the jumping puzzle
Then again, I’d also love to see the labyrinth back from halloween

Some of the minigames during events really awesome and would be a great permanent addition to the game imo ^^

the year round one should be charr/asuran invented electric guitars, that would probably be the most awesome thing ever.

I’ve dreamed of playable musical instruments in an MMO since the days of mastering the bard skills in Ultima Online.

I enjoy this mini game a lot.

Ever since the Wintersday event started, I’ve been spending most of my time in the bells room instead of being in WvWvW like I used to be lol

The bells are my favorite part of the event. It’s so addicting and fun.

I agree, the bells are great! It’d be neat to see a music game like this come in as a permanent mini-game.

I’ve basically become addicted to this event. My partner and I keep going back for more double-fisted bell goodness!

I’m not very good with musical instruments so it’s no surprise I am really, REALLY bad at this event, can’t even do the easy level songs.

That being said, it’s a really clever and awesome idea and still support Anet for implementing it!

Perhaps this is can be a precursor to LOTRO-style musical instrument system?

It looks awesome. I fail at it though lol. But Ive actually enjoyed watching other players go at it.

I can play the guitar, as in a real six string, but I can’t do this at all. Perhaps it’s just lag, but the “music” just sounds random.

If Anet ever makes guildhalls, a “permanent or temporary access to the bell choirs” upgrade would be absolutely fantastic. Making music with guildies \0/

I’ve been looking forward to the day when we can finally play music. And it’s finally here.

Just one problem, I will probably never get the unbreakable choir bell as it is very rare and the TP cost is way out of my league. So I fear all this fun will be over once this Wintersday ends, at least for a while. I’m hoping this is just the tip of the iceberg for what is to come.

I tried a one-time choir bell which disappeared on me way too soon. Seems it also lacked some polish as it was making unwanted sound effects coming from the player’s mouth and hand movements.

Switching between octaves is still a bit clunky. Maybe give instruments their own set of hotkeys, so the entire keyboard is available for notes, this way switching octaves wouldn’t even be necessary. Alternatively use F1-4 for switching octaves and possibly give an option for triggering octave for when the button is held down.

I love the bell choir mini game, yesterday some guy beside me was playing Morrowind from elder scrolls (Skyrim/Morrowind), it was really cool i would love to have this mini game for good with a less Wintersday theme as the op suggested.

Agree love this event, something completely different to do, 510 is my Personal Best……Beat that

I am absolutely loving the Bell mini game. Been at it for 4 hours now, and I’m not bored with it. lol

I only get lower than 550 score if I lag. :P Mostly get between 594 and 600.

Love it, and think it would be cool if there were a way to just enter a [possibly solo] freestyle mode, just to mess around/compose/whatever you want to do. I think it would be interesting to see what people could come up with with no time limit and endless chances at experimentation.

The bell choir is amazing – one of the best things in Wintersday 2012 for me, so far. Due to latency, the music generated by this is of course more chaos than melody, but it’s fun none the less.

It would be really awesome if ArenaNet found a way to incorporate something similar into say, a city mini-activity, in the same vain as the Keg Brawl and the Shooting Gallery (which is still closed, despite being the most talked about mini-game, long before launch).

“Bell Hero” … make it happen! xD

Music is some of the best math out there.

I too stumble on the bell curve keying but that only makes me listen in wonder to someone who rides that bell curve as though it where a roller coaster.

If musical instruments persist, please add a stage, lighters, beach balls and some hootin’ and hollerin’.

I’ve actually developed a little program which allows me to translate any midi file into notes for the choir bell items.

Now looking for 8 more players to enact the Skyrim main theme…

The only thing wrong with it is that you can only play songs that are in C major.

Not a problem if you know how to transpose

One thing that makes me laugh every time while doing this event, is the vocalizations of your character when you make lots of mistakes (and your HP drops). For my norn female characters, it sounds so comically out of place – “I’m dying!???” … the sense of disbelief … or when you hear someone else’s character go “Help! I don’t have long!” and then see them being booted out.

Bell Choir Ensemble = Epic Win
I would’ve liked even more songs and also a rhythmical section, with more complex stuff to do. Really Epic.

If it wasn’t for the other missable stuff, I’ll be there all the time.

There should definitely be a year-round musical minigame.

It’ll be the perfect one for Divinity Reach to put in the Canthan district, if they ever fix the Great Collapse.

It’s pretty fun, but man is it difficult for some of us. The Mad Clocktower was easier for me, and I don’t consider myself to be particularly good at jumping puzzles. I think I was born without a sense of rhythm…

Nah, it’s not the rythm. It’s the lag. You have to ‘calibrate’ during the first song, checking the timing that gets you the hit.

It also hurts that you can be thrown off by others… well, not exactly, but if you play it to try and match everyone else’s rhythm, you might all end up off. Kind of have to ignore the sound and go just by the visuals. Maybe I’m lucky (not usually one for lag issues), but for me if I miss it’s generally because I’m going too early. It seems relatively generous for hitting the note late.

I love it too! I wish it would stay afterwards with more music challenges. But we’ll see. I do hope that it comes around again next Wintersday!

I also love meeting some amazing musically inclined individuals in the game. I get to hear a lot of neat songs during free play!

Bumping for justice (and feedback) – bell choir rules!

My wife was upstairs and heard me & 2 other people playing and ended up walking around the house going “where the kitten is that music coming from” until she figured out it was my game.

For anyone wanting to play songs with the bell but don’t have notes, there’s a page on reddit just for them:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/14w8be/choir_bell_songs/

Taikanaru.5746:

For anyone wanting to play songs with the bell but don’t have notes, there’s a page on reddit just for them:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/14w8be/choir_bell_songs/

Oh wow. O_O Challenge Accepted!

Oooh yes please keep it after Wintersday also. I like it very much and it’s nice to relax a bit after all the jumping and killing… It’s really awesome

It’s a great minigame, but it’d be better if the exit button wasn’t 0. I’ve accidentally pressed that a couple times which ruins everything. Perhaps only being able to exit in between songs would’ve been better?

It also doesn’t help when notes dissapear halfway down the track due to lag.

I just love this part of the event, my favorite so far, when people actually sync and play the right notes you can clearly listen the melody.

Yeah, i too would love to keep this in the game. I only just learnt how to play Hey Jude on it! Also playing Rudolf, Jingle Bells, and Sally’s Song. Loads of fun!

Kudos to ANet for coming up a family-friendly mini game ^^

I let my 8 yrs old nephew had a shot at the Bell Choir after I had done one round. He hijacked the laptop for next 1 hr & managed to help me get 2 Bell Choir achievements while doing so XD

finally managed 600 on every part. I just love this minigame =) but apart from some minor hiccups (lag and player distribution) I think its by far the best thing about this event ;-)

I’ve easily spent 12 hours in the choir – way more than in the jumping puzzle, which I thought would be my favorite activity this event (as it was for halloween, after I finally beat it)

they really should extend on this game – more instruments, more songs, practice mode, replay, synced play, composition of songs etc.. I really hope they’ll bring it back every event with a few new features added =)
also, a tutorial would be good, I see so many people fail and despise the choir just because they don’t understand how it works (and can’t read the instructions.. ;-) )

Oranisagu.3706:

finally managed 600 on every part. I just love this minigame =) but apart from some minor hiccups (lag and player distribution) I think its by far the best thing about this event ;-)

/highfive @ finally getting all parts 600 points & spending so much time in the bell choir mini game ^^

Oranisagu.3706:

they really should extend on this game – more instruments, more songs, practice mode, replay, synced play, composition of songs etc.. I really hope they’ll bring it back every event with a few new features added =)
also, a tutorial would be good, I see so many people fail and despise the choir just because they don’t understand how it works (and can’t read the instructions.. ;-) )

Yea, I agree with all the suggestions above.
The in-game tutorial surely will help players by a lot.
Furthermore, players don’t have to alt-tab from the game just to search for the tutorial for the mini game.

crystalpink.2487:

/highfive @ finally getting all parts 600 points & spending so much time in the bell choir mini game ^^

thanks =) took me long enough, but it never felt like a chore, it was fun and the 600 mark just a personal achievement I wanted to get ;-)

forgot to mention: this is the first time I really socialized in GW2.. in dungeons etc I don’t talk much with other people, because there’s always someone who rushes through (and pulls mobs etc).. in the bell choir during the waiting times I started chatting with lots of people and had nice conversations (and some goodnatured rivalry)

hm.. just talking about it makes me want to play a few songs again ;-) gotta go…

It needs to be made permanent, in a game that is severely lacking in distractions that don’t involve hitting things in the head the bell choir is very welcome. just don’t put it in lions arch, give it to one of the other cities so people will actually go to them, or give each city its own version of the game.

i agree with you op. i tried it loved it actually didnt do that well but it was something that was cool to do. hoping to do it some more but due to work cionstraint i probably wont

MithranArkanere.8957:

Nah, it’s not the rythm. It’s the lag. You have to ‘calibrate’ during the first song, checking the timing that gets you the hit.

LOL sounds like a rhythm to me!

Doesn’t matter how many times I get 600 score in a row… I’ll never get the unbreakable choir bell. Hngh… >:C

How cool would it be to base an entire profession off this mechanic!

Tarvok.4206:

I’ve dreamed of playable musical instruments in an MMO since the days of mastering the bard skills in Ultima Online.

You mean like the full three octaves (plus accidentals) you can play in Lord of the Rings Online? :P

The bells sure don’t beat that, but it’s my favorite part of Wintersday for sure!

There is an unbreakable bell that you can get from personalized gift boxes which gives access to the music skillbar. Or its for sale on TP for 50g.

So if you are rich there’s the option of havin a permanent musical instrument.

The bell mini game is a fun change of pace. The timing/lag makes each match a bit different but it is fun when you and your two partners get into a good groove (pun intended).