Guild Wars 2

Given the former is back in the gemstore, is there a difference between the two areas in terms of what’s there?

The only difference is the location and look of each area. They both have access to the same amenities (crafting stations, TP, bank, mystic forge, laurel vendor, repair vendor, guild npcs, various merchants).

Edit: I do think the airship has a daily activity npc while the terrace does not, however.

There’s also supposed to be a way you can jump off the airship, so if you ever wanted to soar through the skies of Gendarran Fields…

The Royal Terrace Pass puts you in DR, which gives you free waypoint access to your home instance if you have gathering upgrades there and the Asura Gate to Ebonhawke in Fields of Ruin. Also several festivals are held in that area of DR.

The Royal Terrace gets decorations for major festivals.
The Airship is ugly.

The Airship does have an Activity NPC though, for whatever reason, and the Terrace does not.

I’d recommend the Terrace simply for looks. Other than the NPC, they are both identical in terms of service.

Just to make sure I understand how the terrace pass works:

You doubleclick it from anywhere in Tyria and get teleported to the terrace, doubleclick it again and teleport back to your original location?

Thinking about getting one and just want to make sure it works like I think it does

Sphinx.8014:

Just to make sure I understand how the terrace pass works:

You doubleclick it from anywhere in Tyria and get teleported to the terrace, doubleclick it again and teleport back to your original location?

Thinking about getting one and just want to make sure it works like I think it does

No. Click it go to terrace. It do not take you back where you were from.

That is unfortunate, but I guess I could live with that. Thank you for your reply

I think the Airship would be hands down the best one if you could jump off the ship without having to glitch the jump. Missed opportunity with that. Heck, they should just put an airship pin each core world zone and when you double click the airship pass it puts you in the airship in that zone. They should remove the false walls and just by doing that and allowing people to glide from those makes every core game map instantly more fun with very little to add except an exact copy of the Gendarran Airship in each map with no invisible walls.

Is it an instance where you are alone, or will you suffer load time for many people hanging around there?

Dayra.7405:

Is it an instance where you are alone, or will you suffer load time for many people hanging around there?

Royal terrace is not instance. Other player are in there. I never see many people there. Maybe 10 – 12 people most.

Dayra.7405:

Is it an instance where you are alone, or will you suffer load time for many people hanging around there?

It’s just a sectioned off part of the map it’s in (DR for Royal Terrace and Gendarran Fields for the Airship). You’re still in those maps and will be in the same ship as anyone else there at the time, so it’s basically like loading a after clicking on a waypoint.

Based on past posts, here’s what people have said:

• Convenience: Airship is better because everything is so close; Royal Terrace is better because it’s easier to get to each service.
• Access: Airship puts you closer to the northern zones, reducing WP costs; Terrace takes you to a free WP from home instance and the home of three recurring festivals (Pavilion, Lunar New Year, Wintersday).
• Aesthetics:* Great view from the airship vs same old DR from terrace most of the year (with awesome redecoration for the festivals).

In other words, it’s six and a half of one, half a baker’s dozen of the other.

I have both the permanent Airship Pass and the Royal Terrace pass, and I like and use them both. The airship is closer to waypoints to the east, and the terrace is closer to waypoints to the west. You can also get to all the major cities (for free!) from either one.

I like both. If you DON’t own home portal stone, perhaps terrace is better. If you do, Captains pass has some advantages. It has black lion weapon skin npc. Crafting stations are closer to each other, it has daily activity npc (quite important for me since la load times are very long). It also has slight shorter load time. It’s also good for iron ore farm runs (you pause there, and check down if the nodes respawned and do your run, then pause again in there). Airship is also better for fast portalling. First the load time is faster. Secondly, the npc to teleport is very easy and fast to reach (slower and further away with royal terrace). The Waypoints where it teleports you are on the SIDE of the city (next to an exit, most of time). This make the captains pass a better way to ‘travel fast but free to a newb area’. The royal pass takes one more port within a city, adding to the load times.

Royal terrace inherits event decorations. It is also right inside a city wich is plus for some people (more lore, more ways to enjoy (map chat more busy) etc. The repair npc is much easier to access. The npc that has the salvage kits is much easier to access. (might soudn stupid, but I make quite some ‘mystic’ salvage kits’, on the ship it requires more clicks and movement (to the crafting npc’s). Terrace also feels less claustrafobic i guess. Without an event, I feel terrace can get a bit boring. Anyhow, having them both, solves all problems of choosing for me.

Features wise the captain’s airship pass is more up to date, but flavour wise the terrace pass is going strong, and will suffice for most players. It also synergizes very well with wintersday, gold pavillion, lunar events, and farming the home instance. For most players this will be the choice. But if the features the Captain airship pass offers exlusively are important to you, getting that should be your pick.

I have both, but only use the airship when I want a BL skins merchant or Daily activity. I prefer the design of the terrace, as most of what I use is on the same floor in close proximity, and it’s a larger area so it tends to feel less crowded (even if it probably isn’t).

Also, the sound of the escaping air on the airship can be a little annoying depending on when you stand when using the bank and whatnot, though I suppose that’s subjective.

I tend to use the passes, also, to reduce WP fees, and for nearly three months out of the year, there are festivals taking place near the terrace that you can literally walk to.

I had the temporary terrace pass first, then the permanent airship pass. I still bought and now use the permanent terrace pass because it really does just feel better designed to me.

orenwolf.1953:

I .. use the airship when I want a BL skins merchant

For BL skins, you can just double click a ticket (or a scrap); brings up the vendor without talking to an NPC.

orenwolf.1953:

I .. use the airship when I want a …Daily activity.

Yeah, Terrace users have to go to LA (or the source) for activities.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

For BL skins, you can just double click a ticket (or a scrap); brings up the vendor without talking to an NPC.

Holy crap! I had no idea! Thank you!

orenwolf.1953:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

For BL skins, you can just double click a ticket (or a scrap); brings up the vendor without talking to an NPC.

Holy crap! I had no idea! Thank you!

You’re welcome. The same trick works with a tiny number of other non-currency currencies, e.g. jade dragon tickets. I almost always remember now to try it before looking for a vendor.

I lost interest in these passes as soon as I found out that there was no “teleport back to original location” option. I initially assumed they would work like the Home Portal stone and the HoM stone. It seems like a lot of gems when you can just waypoint to a city and then use the free WPs to access whatever services you want. It saves you a small amount of running and gets you a modicum of exclusivity.

I wanted to buy the Royal Terrace pass but I changed my mind. Add teleport back to original location and I’ll buy it.