Guild Wars 2

I at first, came to the forums to write about how mad I was about the event. About how I had to dedicate over twenty hours (or 18, as I found someone else who actually did the math) over the course of five days to get a cool potion that makes a small ring above my characters head.

But, seeing as how that horse is dead and beaten, I stopped, and began to think about the event as a whole.

When I first heard about it, I didn’t even think there would be rewards. It just wasn’t on my mind. I thought it was going to just be a cool experience that people who played before heart of thorns could share with newer players, similar to WoW players talking about the opening of the gates of Ahn’Qiraj. I thought it would just be a fun little event to celebrate the expansion.

I’ll now talk about the last few days I had. I had an extreemely busy thursday. I am a college student and I work part time, and that day I had to do both back to back. It turned out to be an 11 hour experience that ended at one o’clock in the morning. So, the mordrem event was put out of my mind.

That Friday (yesterday), I mostly spent lounging about. I saw the mordremoth minion event in the corner of my screen, but I figured eh, it’s not going anywehre for another couple days. I’ll do it another day. So I spent the day chilling with my guildmates and doing some pvp. Eventually I logged off to hang with some IRL friends. When I came back, I started doing the mordrem events. I saw that they were invading kessex hills, a zone that I grew quite fond of due to the mysterious nature of wizard’s fief. So I thought. “I’ll defend this, for Queen and country!” (I play a human character). And as I zoned into the map, preparing to defend against the mordrem invasion, I stumbled upon a rather curious conversation in map chat, talking about “blossoms”. I asked what they were, and was soon introduced to the rewards that came with the mordrem invasion.

As I looked at the vendor, there were only two items that really caught my eye: The selfless and thoughtless potions. I didn’t’ know what they were, but after a quick wiki search, decided that I really wanted that halo, because it would match the Light of Dwayna skin I worked really hard to make.

So I farmed those events irresponsibly (yes I realize that was my own fault), until 3am in the morning (bear in mind, I had work at 6am the next day) in the hopes of getting that halo. I stopped caring about the novelty of the invasion after the first vine slayer went down. I thought it was cool, but then quickly way pointed to the next area thoughtlessly so I could max out that buff that I was told would make my journey to the halo quicker.

Then at 3am, I went to sleep, and very tiredly woke up to go to work the next morning.

While I was at work, I was trying to plan my schedule around the mordrem events. However, when I got in game, I realized I only had about 1/4th of the blossoms I needed for the potion, and the event ends on Monday morning. As I began planning to do this event the rest of the weekend, I simply realized it was physically impossible for me to get the cool halo potion and go to work and get my schoolwork done and sleep and all the other things a person need to get done. . Then I angrily began reading the GuildWars2 subreddit and the forums to see if other people had the same gripes I did (which they did, mostly).

But, I now sit here, and I reflect on that anticipation I felt before I even knew those rewards existed. If I had never known about that halo, I wouldn’t have felt my time was wasted grinding mindlessly until the wee hours in the morning for an unobtainable trinket.
I dont’ think the invaiosn are unfun. Quite the opposite! I enjoy running around in a huge group slashing and shooting fire at giant vines sprouting from the ground. I had a blast during the first invasion (And I liked how it showed the invasion-wide event completion counter – even if it was meaningless). It was just a really cool event IMO, and why I don’t regret participating in it.

I think many peoples, and my own distaste for the entire weekend event isn’t so much the actual events themselves. It’s the fact that the rewards made the events become a chore. As soon as you attatch a reward to something, that becomes the motivation, the experience.

So, I want to ask you, the community. After reading this, and with your own experience, would you have enjoyed this event more if there wasn’t any carrot on a stick for defending the invasion? Would this have been a story you told players who started playing after this event three years in the future that you got to participate in? Or would you have ignored it completely, saying there was no reason for it?

TLDR: Spent a lot of time doing Mordrem invasions for the purpose of rewards. But, thought it was fun before I knew rewards existed. Would you have had more fun with this event if you didn’t know rewards existed?

No, I’d enjoy it less because I’d have no motivation or incentive to do it.

It was about as fun as a 3 hour karka train without the karka shells or blood, to be honest.

I would’ve done what I’m doing right now: Not bothering with it. Sure, doing it once, just to see what it is. No rewards for running around a map for 30m? Naaa. I’d do something constructive with my guild, help someone out, log out and read a book, anything but that really. Since I saw the rewards being as low as they are… I gave up on that event. It’s the worse event they’ve released by far, they’ve admitted they failed with this one, time to move on.

Aroswing.9217:

Spent a lot of time doing Mordrem invasions for the purpose of rewards. But, thought it was fun before I knew rewards existed. Would you have had more fun with this event if you didn’t know rewards existed?

Not particularly. To me, this event is too similar to existing and past events.

However, if I edit your question to avoid referring to this controversy, I’d have a different answer:

• Q: do special events need to include any rewards to be fun?
• A: no, a fun event might not include much (if anything). However, most such activities are more fun if they are also rewarding. And a further however: some events are primarily fun due to the rewards.

The problem is: this event isn’t fun enough for me (as a 3-year vet) and not rewarding enough either. I’d like to see ANet better able to distinguish between “fun for its own sake” and “farming fun”.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Aroswing.9217:

Spent a lot of time doing Mordrem invasions for the purpose of rewards. But, thought it was fun before I knew rewards existed. Would you have had more fun with this event if you didn’t know rewards existed?

Not particularly. To me, this event is too similar to existing and past events.

However, if I edit your question to avoid referring to this controversy, I’d have a different answer:

• Q: do special events need to include any rewards to be fun?
• A: no, a fun event might not include much (if anything). However, most such activities are more fun if they are also rewarding. And a further however: some events are primarily fun due to the rewards.

The problem is: this event isn’t fun enough for me (as a 3-year vet) and not rewarding enough either. I’d like to see ANet better able to distinguish between “fun for its own sake” and “farming fun”.

For me, someone who missed 90% of season 1 living world and did very little participation in the other 10%, I actually thought the invasions were a cool way to spice up those zones. Still, I liked your response. Thanks!

I’d say less invasions = more fun. These invasion style events just encourage running around and tagging tons of events for loot. It was the same with the Season 1 stuff as it is now. It’s a massive time investment in a narrow timespan, horrible design. The content itself isn’t even fun after the first run either, if that.

So we’ve got a choice between massive grind for loot, or a dead event because no fun or loot. I’d rather not have these things happen in the first place. =/

Interesting question. The answer is yes, I would have more fun with the invasion if there were no rewards.

I would played it as often as I actually did with rewards present: one whole event (30 minutes). Perhaps a second one at another day, if my guild mates wanted to do this once more. But not more than 2 times.
But I would have no hard feelings against the creators of the event, because there were no unobtainable trinkets. With the unobtainable items present, I feel I have been trolled by the makers. And I don’t like to be trolled.

The event isn’t even fun to begin with, so no. If there were less rewards or no rewards I wouldn’t touch this event with a 10 foot pole. The only reason I’m even bothering to do it is because I have an opportunity to get a Selfless Potion.

Nope, not having fun at all. I can’t hardly hit anything as the mobs melted with all other players taking it down so fast and the lag………. kitten …. this is as worst as the Scarlet invasion….

Nah, I played for an hour or so and literally didn’t get a thing so I just went back to farming my favorite spots and leveling alts.

I’m a little disappointed but I can’t say it really bugged me. Cool idea but it just didn’t do anything for me with out the rewards.

No. For me it’s too similar to events I’ve already done in the past and the mobs are not as engaging or difficult as the ones in the beta maps. They’re just regular mobs in a Mordrem suit. Add in no loot or rewards and it’s a try once to see it then back to my regular routine.

I think you raise a really interesting point. Thank you for bringing it up.

To answer the question, I don’t think it would have been more fun because there’s no real sense of beating back the invaders. Perhaps if there had been some sort of meta-event, where you had to defeat x number of these things, then gather together to fight a bigger enemy (ala Silverwastes) it might have been.

In a perfect world, though, an event like this would be fun AND rewarding.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Aroswing.9217:

Spent a lot of time doing Mordrem invasions for the purpose of rewards. But, thought it was fun before I knew rewards existed. Would you have had more fun with this event if you didn’t know rewards existed?

Not particularly. To me, this event is too similar to existing and past events.

However, if I edit your question to avoid referring to this controversy, I’d have a different answer:

• Q: do special events need to include any rewards to be fun?
• A: no, a fun event might not include much (if anything). However, most such activities are more fun if they are also rewarding. And a further however: some events are primarily fun due to the rewards.

The problem is: this event isn’t fun enough for me (as a 3-year vet) and not rewarding enough either. I’d like to see ANet better able to distinguish between “fun for its own sake” and “farming fun”.

Aroswing.9217:

For me, someone who missed 90% of season 1 living world and did very little participation in the other 10%, I actually thought the invasions were a cool way to spice up those zones.

Good point. Since you phrased the question as “would you have had more fun,” I was thinking entirely from my perspective. I do think the Mordrem invasion this time is more fun than the invasion we saw a while ago — it’s just that they are very similar, so this didn’t feel “new.” And I admit that, after waiting so long, I was expecting “new.”

Aroswing.9217:

Still, I liked your response. Thanks!

Thank you.