Guild Wars 2

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/july-23-content-release-notes/

^So they are basically doing what people have been shouting about for several months.

Ah well, I suppose it would be silly to assume that people would be happy even now..

Who cares about Aetherblade weapon skins?

everything depends on how rare the weapon drops are in game, if we are talking abysmal chance then booooo

Venirto.4208:

The Black Lion Chest now has a common chance to drop Black Lion Ticket Scraps and a rare chance to drop Black Lion Claim Tickets, which can be redeemed for Aetherblade weapon skins. Players can visit a Black Lion Weapon Specialist to preview Aetherblade weapon skins. Black Lion Chest Keys can be purchased in the Consumable category for 125 gems each or 5 for 450 gems. Collect ten ticket scraps and turn them in for a whole ticket.

dude, this is great news. I can take credit for this change since I’ve been clamoring for it.

Rangers have 3 secs of stealth on a 12 sec cooldown…25% stealth all the time or 30% stealth uptime if you trait for it…

Anet sure are determined about making Rangers like Longbow…

Have not played my Ranger since that AWFUL patch last month but might give this a go now with Longbow…

afaik reading the patch notes weapons won t drop at all in game.

“All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.”

Finally! Thank you Anet!!!!! Now, if you just follow this trend with all future event skins….

LordByron.8369:

afaik reading the patch notes weapons won t drop at all in game.

Different kinds of weapons I would say.

The weapons dropping from the Candidate Trials are referred to as Aetherized weapon rather than Aeatherblade weapons.

i bet the rapier is only in BLC …

I was actually, finally, interested and looking forward to one of the releases. The Cutthroat Politics sounds interesting.

Oh well.

I’d actually say that’s an improvement (depending on how common the chance is for the scraps) in terms of locking it behind RNG. I’d personally still prefer to buy the weapons, but I’m not too bothered, since we have the chance to get them during the Candidate Trials.

Also, dat Healing Surge buff.

LordByron.8369:

afaik reading the patch notes weapons won t drop at all in game.

Players can choose to help Evon or Ellen, alone or with a group, in the Candidate Trials. Players can test their battle skills by facing off against waves of Aetherblade pirates and holding out for as long as they can to earn support tokens and loot, including a rare chance at an Aetherized weapon.

From the sound of it, it also seems as though these new tickets are going to be universal; so if you don’t get one now, you can always hold on to it for a future event that has weapons that you like.

I’m assuming aetherized and aetherblade are the same thing. If the rapier was limited to blc, can you imagine the uproar from angry mesmers and thiefs? Well I guess we will find out soon :P

TheDaiBish.9735:

I’d actually say that’s an improvement (depending on how common the chance is for the scraps) in terms of locking it behind RNG. I’d personally still prefer to buy the weapons, but I’m not too bothered, since we have the chance to get them during the Candidate Trials.

Also, dat Healing Surge buff.

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

Vol.5241:

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

All I want is a fixed price for the skins (even 700gems), not another rng.

Buffs to rangers. sign of the end times.

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

And the better alternative is the old one, where you could buy 10 keys and end up with nothing at all?

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

If it’ll cost five tickets, then it wouldn’t surprise me if the drop rate of the tickets is going to be better from we’ve seen in the past. I could be wrong though, so we’ll have to see for ourselves…

Vol.5241:

TheDaiBish.9735:

I’d actually say that’s an improvement (depending on how common the chance is for the scraps) in terms of locking it behind RNG. I’d personally still prefer to buy the weapons, but I’m not too bothered, since we have the chance to get them during the Candidate Trials.

Also, dat Healing Surge buff.

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

“None of what you’re giving me for free:

• is useful to me
• matches with my look
• can only be used once
• means I have to grind AP

Delete the applicable"

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

Yep, and before this people could be “forced” to pay 10 000+ gems and not get it, now they are more or less guaranteed to get them sooner or later. How is that not an improvement?

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

Vol.5241:

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

All I want is a fixed price for the skins (even 700gems), not another rng.

And Anet needs to make money. They’re a business. I’m confident they looked at the metrics and realized this is the best balance.

Vol.5241:

TheDaiBish.9735:

I’d actually say that’s an improvement (depending on how common the chance is for the scraps) in terms of locking it behind RNG. I’d personally still prefer to buy the weapons, but I’m not too bothered, since we have the chance to get them during the Candidate Trials.

Also, dat Healing Surge buff.

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

This is just not true. Anet is a great company and they have made a fantastic game, but I think the majority of the playerbase has made clear that while they want to support the game through the gemstore, they don’t want to gamble.

The gold standard was the flame and frost weapons, no rng garbage, just great skins available for purchase directly. If this had been the case for fused/jade weapons, I would have bought £30 worth of gems probably, but instead they got nothing from me.

Vol.5241:

And the better alternative is the old one, where you could buy 10 keys and end up with nothing at all?

Im pretty sure that in most cases you will need more than 10, making one weapon skin cost over 1k gems. Tell me why a price of e.g. 700 gems wouldn’t be better?

Meh, I like the idea of voting but this release seems light on content. Also more RNG bullcrap, but at least the scraps guarantee you get a reward after a number of tries.

Balance changes seem allright, but I fear Warriors becoming even stronger in PvE.

•A Player Instrument Volume slider has been added to the Sound Options panel.

Hooray for no more trumpet trolls!

Vol.5241:

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

Vol.5241:

I think a lot of players would prefer everything being free, resulting in Anet making no money. But I bet you there would still be complaining!

All I want is a fixed price for the skins (even 700gems), not another rng.

And Anet needs to make money. They’re a business. I’m confident they looked at the metrics and realized this is the best balance.

And if it isn’t they can always tweak it. I mean, it’s clear that they’re learning and making adjustments as needed. Hopefully with this we’re reaching the end of the RNG roller coaster and end it with something that is as fair for players as it is profitable for ArenaNet.

DrMatt.9408:

This is just not true. Anet is a great company and they have made a fantastic game, but I think the majority of the playerbase has made clear that while they want to support the game through the gemstore, they don’t want to gamble.

The gold standard was the flame and frost weapons, no rng garbage, just great skins available for purchase directly. If this had been the case for fused/jade weapons, I would have bought £30 worth of gems probably, but instead they got nothing from me.

The flame and frost weapons were the fused weapons…

Do you mean the Wintersday ones?

TheDaiBish.9735:

DrMatt.9408:

This is just not true. Anet is a great company and they have made a fantastic game, but I think the majority of the playerbase has made clear that while they want to support the game through the gemstore, they don’t want to gamble.

The gold standard was the flame and frost weapons, no rng garbage, just great skins available for purchase directly. If this had been the case for fused/jade weapons, I would have bought £30 worth of gems probably, but instead they got nothing from me.

The flame and frost weapons were the fused weapons…

Do you mean the Wintersday ones?

No, Rox’s shortbow etc

DrMatt.9408:

TheDaiBish.9735:

DrMatt.9408:

This is just not true. Anet is a great company and they have made a fantastic game, but I think the majority of the playerbase has made clear that while they want to support the game through the gemstore, they don’t want to gamble.

The gold standard was the flame and frost weapons, no rng garbage, just great skins available for purchase directly. If this had been the case for fused/jade weapons, I would have bought £30 worth of gems probably, but instead they got nothing from me.

The flame and frost weapons were the fused weapons…

Do you mean the Wintersday ones?

No, Rox’s shortbow etc

Ahhhh, them flame and frost ones.

Totally forgot about them. My apologies.

it’s alright :P

Wolfheart.1938:

Meh, I like the idea of voting but this release seems light on content. Also more RNG bullcrap, but at least the scraps guarantee you get a reward after a number of tries.

Balance changes seem allright, but I fear Warriors becoming even stronger in PvE.

We got two new mini-games and a story instance, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the instances will continue throughout the week like with Dragon Bash, though that’s just a prediction. Still, I do agree that this seems more on the light side of things, but that isn’t always a bad thing.

They just killed necro… We had ONE escape option. We have no movement skills like blink, ride the lightning or anything, BUT we could jump of high cliffs t osurvive. Not anymore. They ruined everything. GG Anet

Homonavn.6348:

They just killed necro… We had ONE escape option. We have no movement skills like blink, ride the lightning or anything, BUT we could jump of high cliffs t osurvive. Not anymore. They ruined everything. GG Anet

So basically, if you weren’t near a cliff, you’d be in trouble?

I just think he doesn’t know how to play his class and is looking for an excuse. Necro isn’t only about jumping off cliffs.

Oddly, I don’t seem to have issues with needing cliffs to escape on my necro. confuzzled Must be I’m doing it wrong, hehe

TheDaiBish.9735:

Homonavn.6348:

They just killed necro… We had ONE escape option. We have no movement skills like blink, ride the lightning or anything, BUT we could jump of high cliffs t osurvive. Not anymore. They ruined everything. GG Anet

So basically, if you weren’t near a cliff, you’d be in trouble?

Yea… but now i will be in trouble even near a cliff…

Well, with no leaps or reasonable teleports (Flesh Wurm useful situationally) to speak of, Necromancer surely isn’t the most adept at getting away. It was nice to be able to DS off cliffs in WvW and kill 5 people chasing after you who were a little too gung-ho, but that ability did tend to break a lot of other parts of the game, so it was probably for the best. I’ll miss it dearly, but I’ll get over it.

At least my marks can hit people now.

Vol.5241:

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

And the better alternative is the old one, where you could buy 10 keys and end up with nothing at all?

The new system being sligthly better than the old one doesn’t mean it’s good. The current system rewards the grinders/exploiters who have a lot of gold and can make more by just flipping the new skins in the TP (no wonder a certain someone is defending it). If the skins were untradeable but sold directly in the Gem Store, instead of being available through RNG boxes, it would be a more honest system and people would still have the option to trade gold for Gems, while still giving more money to ArenaNet than if the main way to acquire the skins is by paying TP exploiters.

Erasculio.2914:

Vol.5241:

Venirto.4208:

@TriggerSad: You will need 5 tickets if you want to buy it after this event.

Aetherblade weapon skins have been added to the Black Lion Weapon Specialist. For two weeks only, Aetherblade weapon skins cost only one Black Lion Claim Ticket! After August 5, Aetherblade weapon skins will cost their regular price of 5 Black Lion Claim Tickets. All Aetherblade weapon skins are soulbound on use and can be traded until used.

Really, “only” one ticket? Was it ever more than one? Also, the addition of the ticket scraps might help the players to eventually get the weapon but on the other hand it forces them to buy at least 10 keys (if they’re lucky), what makes the skin cost minimum 900 gems.

And the better alternative is the old one, where you could buy 10 keys and end up with nothing at all?

The new system being sligthly better than the old one doesn’t mean it’s good. The current system rewards the grinders/exploiters who have a lot of gold and can make more by just flipping the new skins in the TP (no wonder a certain someone is defending it). If the skins were untradeable but sold directly in the Gem Store, instead of being available through RNG boxes, it would be a more honest system and people would still have the option to trade gold for Gems, while still giving more money to ArenaNet than if the main way to acquire the skins is by paying TP exploiters.

I’m sorry, I can’t hear you over all my gold.

-

I got reported for ‘exploiting’ back in November by farming and intentionally failing events. Still waiting to get banned.

You know, I have the faintest inkling that this skews votes even more in favor to Evon, what with the reduction of key prices and all….

Homonavn.6348:

They just killed necro… We had ONE escape option. We have no movement skills like blink, ride the lightning or anything, BUT we could jump of high cliffs t osurvive. Not anymore. They ruined everything. GG Anet

From what I understand you are still able to mitigate fall damage with it, just not completely negate it with even a single smidget of life force. That was an obvious bug and I’m sorry you relied on it that much, but understand that it was totally unfair.

This comes from someone that plays mainly Guardian and Necromancer, the two slowest professions I believe.

Why do they have to be so greedy they won’t sell the weapon skins in the gemstore? That worked just fine for GW1.

Traveller.7496:

Why do they have to be so greedy they won’t sell the weapon skins in the gemstore? That worked just fine for GW1.

Actually they didn’t sell a single weapon skin in the GW1 store.
Another thing to keep in mind is that in GW1 you had to pay 100% of any purchase with real money, whilst in GW2 you can pay part/all of it with ingame money.

Giving Rangers stealth. What kind of kittenery is this?

Traveller.7496:

Why do they have to be so greedy they won’t sell the weapon skins in the gemstore? That worked just fine for GW1.

Making money =/= being greedy.

And the MMO landscape is much more competitive now than it was back when GW1 was in it’s prime. Settling for ‘adequate’ sales is not enough.

Aether McLoud.1975:

Giving Rangers stealth. What kind of kittenery is this?

Makes sense in some instances. Since rangers are supposedly masters of nature, you would think that they would some sort of stealth/camouflage mechanic to blend in with their surroundings. This is just Anets implementation of the ability, though admittedly not the best way to go about it I don’t think.

Still, its not any more out there than mesmers having stealth….

Aether McLoud.1975:

Giving Rangers stealth. What kind of kittenery is this?

I think Stealth may be used for Rangers as a means of relocation, esp with longbow. Maybe it’s the start of rangers being improved to be more reliant and capable of enhanced attacks from positioning bonuses, as well as first strike-reliant classes? I don’t really know.