Guild Wars 2

I assumed with it being a major event that Toypocalypse would take place in Lions Arch, with toys coming from the ship and causing havoc down below. Instead I was treated to another mini-game…or maxi-game I should say due to its length and lack of team making. Now dont get me wrong, it wasnt terrible and I had fun in there for 30mins or so. But I worry that this kind of event in a readily available instance will completely remove so called ‘one time events’ from the game.

Now dont get me wrong, I use the term ‘one time event’ lightly because it shouldnt be ‘one time, it should run a few times to allow different time zones to participate. If not then maybe two versions of the same event- a one time event with that same event placed into an instance after it has been completed for others to take part in. My fear is that with this mini-game the whole notion of a single epic event that has an impact on the world will disappear and be replaced with a readily repeatable quest or game which takes away any kind of ’epic’ness’ from the event. I was a little let down when I realised id be playing a game for the final event as opposed to helping the people of LA rid themselves of toy-vermin.

Am I being paranoid?

I doubt this means the end of one-time events.

I suspect they had the sense to realise that with it being Christmas a lot of people are busier than usually an unable to commit to being online at a specific time. I think that’s also why the event runs as long as it does.

I think it’s safe to assume there will be more one-time events in the future considering it was a big part of their idea for this game, just scheduled for times when they think most people will be able to play.

The biggest problem with one time events… the massive lag, disconnects, and the feeling that your computer is trying its best to keep up but just can’t, while the latter could in theory be fixed by investing into an expensive CPU, we can’t do anything about the first two really.

After seeing how pretty much unplayable the Lost Shores final event was, I’m glad Wintersday was more “calm”, I liked the instances myself.

Doesn’t mean I don’t like one time events, and I would love to see them work perfectly without issues, as much as I would love to fly, but that’s probably never gonna happen.

Thanks very much Regina for allaying my fears. I prefer one time events but obviously realise that this is a time of year where bigger things matter so I do understand the direction and appreciate the hard work put into bringing us Wintersday. With everything that has been said on the forums I just worried that this was a direct response to those against one-time events.

As for the issues of one time events yes these do exist for the most part but I largely had no problem during the Lost Shores event (except the first invasion which was close to unplayable but was then fixed). Im sure lessons have been learned and improvements will be made however.

I for one do not like one time events. I thought the wintersday content much better because I had time to work on it and experience it. Instead of the lost shores event I had to miss. And the Halloween content. OP you are thinking a out yourself. it’s one time event because it will be gone after wintersday. Let EVERYONE get a chance to play, and let anyone redo it if they had fun and want to redo it or farm it. I haven’t even gotten a chance to do toypocalypse and may not till tomorrow. You are selfish if you believe I dot deserve to play it because it should run a couple times and only those without a job confliction, health conditions, family priorities or whatever get a chance. I for one think wintersday is major success compared to the so called one time events we’ve seen so far. I hope all updates and events follow this trend

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

The goal for Wintersday was to make it a little bit more relaxed, and so it takes place for an extended period of time with content that is accessible after the scheduled airship stops. This time of year is very busy for many people who want to spend time with their families for the holidays and many people also take vacations during the holidays. The way the Wintersday event was designed fits better with these considerations in mind.

Well, every time of the year is busy for many people with multitudinous real life duties, so I don’t see how this reasoning only applies to Winter’s Day. If there is one thing I really disliked about previous events, then it was this tight schedule that partially disallowed playing at one’s own leisure. The timing and resolution of Winter’s Day, however, with two final weeks where you can complete any part of the event as you like, is just perfect, and I would rather see only events in this style at all.

One-time events where lots of players will miss out, especially on rewards, due to prior commitments or unwillingness to prioritise a game over real life.

Personally, the final karka chain event was the best series of dynamic event I have experienced to date. Long but fun and interesting if your computer could handle it and knew what to do.

However, to consciously design such an event, a one-time event, where invariably lots of people will miss out is somewhat ridiculous. Basically, it is guaranteed to annoy people and if Arenanet wishes to do that then it is ultimately its choice. However, I would suggest having alternatives or at least “multi-time” events to cater for as many players as possible, namely for those who lead very busy lives.

ReginaBuenaobra.6953:

A couple of members of the Holiday Team were interviewed on the MMORPG.com livestream yesterday, and they addressed this question there. Whether to have one-time events will depend on what that particular team decides for that content update. The goal for Wintersday was to make it a little bit more relaxed, and so it takes place for an extended period of time with content that is accessible after the scheduled airship stops. This time of year is very busy for many people who want to spend time with their families for the holidays and many people also take vacations during the holidays. The way the Wintersday event was designed fits better with these considerations in mind.

Despite my complaints about the Christmas event compared to the GW1 Christmas event, I just got the chest, and an effortless 3 weapon skins, a 15 slot box and that decorative back piece were more than adequate in terms of what I would expect from a Christmas event.

I wasn’t excited about having to farm cogs and all that and i’m still not… but something quick and easy like that for someone like me with a wife, child and job is much appreciated, so thank you very much for that. Merry Christmas Anet.

I would like to strongly encourage all future content teams to follow in the footsteps of Wintersday. I have had a lot more fun with this content than I would have if it had been one time only. I went to every one time only event in the game so far and they are horrid experiences than put pressure on my game time and put pressure on my life to attend. I despise them and hope they never return.

I had a little trouble getting Tixx’s dungeon done every day for each of the cities, it just felt like something I had to do rather than something I wanted to do. I very much appreciate playing my game on my timetable, not someone else’s, it’s why I don’t play WoW in a hardcore raiding guild, it bothers me when this kind of mentality is brought into GW2.

I don’t feel like these events are any less special than the Lost Shores or the Mad King – they have been a lot more enjoyable for me and I’ve been more relaxed while playing. I feel like we’ve improved on what came before and we haven’t sacrificed anything.

I think the ultimate and final solution that pleases everyone, is to have a special portal in Fractals (or wherever) that can transport you to the past / parallel universes / other dimensions / etc

Using this portal, ANet has a lot of freedom to make DLC mini-story scenarios, flesh out Tyria’s history a bit more by allowing us to experience historical scenes, and of course, allow us to replay one-time events.

So yeah, moving forward, if they implement such a system, they can have epic one-time events, but still allow everyone to participate (and everyone to replay it if they like it.)

I was able to make all the times for the Karka event, but I definitely liked the Wintersday approach more. The one-time events were great concepts, but in reality they ended up being massive lag-fests where a single player’s contribution was insignificant. Instanced activities may not have the exciting atmosphere of a huge zerg, but they do alleviate performance issues and make it feel like your actions in combat are actually meaningful to your team.

Rieselle.5079:

I think the ultimate and final solution that pleases everyone, is to have a special portal in Fractals (or wherever) that can transport you to the past / parallel universes / other dimensions / etc

Using this portal, ANet has a lot of freedom to make DLC mini-story scenarios, flesh out Tyria’s history a bit more by allowing us to experience historical scenes, and of course, allow us to replay one-time events.

So yeah, moving forward, if they implement such a system, they can have epic one-time events, but still allow everyone to participate (and everyone to replay it if they like it.)

Don’t speak for everyone here, this wouldn’t please me – most events, especially the world changing ones, should take place in the world we usually play in, and not in some kind of portal-connected multiverse.

HeeHee.5208:

One-time events where lots of players will miss out, especially on rewards, due to prior commitments or unwillingness to prioritise a game over real life.

Personally, the final karka chain event was the best series of dynamic event I have experienced to date. Long but fun and interesting if your computer could handle it and knew what to do.

However, to consciously design such an event, a one-time event, where invariably lots of people will miss out is somewhat ridiculous. Basically, it is guaranteed to annoy people and if Arenanet wishes to do that then it is ultimately its choice. However, I would suggest having alternatives or at least “multi-time” events to cater for as many players as possible, namely for those who lead very busy lives.

I think this post hits the homerun. You can’t do one time events every time, and especially during Christmassy times where a lot of people turn off their PC’s and spend time with relatives, it’s probably not the wisest idea in general.

There’s one thing that doesn’t really add up though; The one time event would probably have been on the day Tixx arrived in LA, which was on the 20th. A thursday and completely normal day of the week; people still had to go to work on friday and go about their normal routines. In that sense, no different from the Karka event that took place (for us central European gamers) at around 23:00 on a sunday. The monday following would be a normal weekday with the normal weekday obligations. So why do an event on that sunday but not this time on a thursday?

If you truly wanted to make Wintersday a more relaxed event, I guess it makes sense. But to be completely honest, I reckon it’s got to do with the stability issues of the server mainly. To me, the biggest problem with the karka event was the fact the servers couldn’t handle it: people who wanted to be there had problems logging in and got shut down due to that. The time at which it took place wasn’t a big deal: if you can’t be there due to obligations, you can’t be there.

All in all; wintersday was a lot of fun, because the dungeons all took place during the week, I was glad they were all relatively short and there were no one time event things. I probably would’ve missed some, because I simply have less time during the week. That however doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see more one time events.

Rieselle.5079:

I think the ultimate and final solution that pleases everyone, is to have a special portal in Fractals (or wherever) that can transport you to the past / parallel universes / other dimensions / etc

Using this portal, ANet has a lot of freedom to make DLC mini-story scenarios, flesh out Tyria’s history a bit more by allowing us to experience historical scenes, and of course, allow us to replay one-time events.

So yeah, moving forward, if they implement such a system, they can have epic one-time events, but still allow everyone to participate (and everyone to replay it if they like it.)

That really is not a bad idea at all :o
I get Iruwen’s issue with it, but the way I see it, is that the world will have been altered after that event, but when you fire it up in the Fractals, you get to see how it got altered.

Iruwen.3164:

Rieselle.5079:

I think the ultimate and final solution that pleases everyone, is to have a special portal in Fractals (or wherever) that can transport you to the past / parallel universes / other dimensions / etc

Using this portal, ANet has a lot of freedom to make DLC mini-story scenarios, flesh out Tyria’s history a bit more by allowing us to experience historical scenes, and of course, allow us to replay one-time events.

So yeah, moving forward, if they implement such a system, they can have epic one-time events, but still allow everyone to participate (and everyone to replay it if they like it.)

Don’t speak for everyone here, this wouldn’t please me – most events, especially the world changing ones, should take place in the world we usually play in, and not in some kind of portal-connected multiverse.

You misunderstand me. One time events still occur in the world. But after they have happened, you can use the Fractals to “go back in time” and experience them again. (or if you missed out.)

And then, as a bonus, since they now have that feature, they can also add scenarios about things that cannot fit in the current world, such as historical events.

So yeah, the only objection anyone could possibly have, is that they want exclusivity for being able to attend a one-time event.

Thereon.3495:

…My fear is that with this mini-game the whole notion of a single epic event that has an impact on the world will disappear and be replaced with a readily repeatable quest or game which takes away any kind of ’epic’ness’ from the event…

The karka one time event had no impact on the world and there was no reason to make it one time at all. Letting the ancient karka event chain loop every 4 hours or putting it into it’s own instance wouldn’t have changed anything about it.

I like one time events, sure they can be done a little differently, but I see no reason they can’t continue with one time events and other lesser events done in the winters day style.

Frankly I think one time events should be not an event that is linked to a specific date and time, but a specific event that occours within a window that can be qued up for and run once successfully.

The lost shores finale was pretty neat. But it was also lag-heavy and people dropped, etc. If that was an event that people could que up for say.. Every 50,100,#### people or whatever ques up and the event runs. If you complete it great! You can’t que up for it anymore. If you need to disconnect? Come back in a couple of hours and que up again.

Apologies if this has already been suggested/rejected.