Guild Wars 2

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

triggered.

Sorry to hear that.

Next, someone is going to make a post complaining about eating virtual sugary sweets in a video game and how it’s disrespectful to people with eating disorders.

It’s not real alcohol being drunk by real people. It’s pixels being clicked on by other pixels. If pixel alcohol bothers you that much then sit at home and read a book or something. (Don’t watch TV or read the bible. TV has alcohol ads and the bible talks about drinking wine).

But shooting, stabbing or killing in every other way is totally ok in this game?

I’m sure a dentist is totally against the candy canes aswell, shouldn’t advertise eating that much sugar.

Next time you want to buy a video game, check the ESRB Content Rating to see if there is anything in game that might upset you.

Sorry to hear about your relatives.

I do, kind of, know what you mean…

I, obviously, don’t think they mean it to be upsetting, or set a bad example, though.

I think it’s just supposed to be a very exaggerated, tongue-in-cheek, reference to overconsumption at Christmas.

As opposed to a reference to alcoholism – which is, obviously, an ongoing and ever-present problem and not related to seasonal stuff, specifically.

Other than the fact that, as a recovering alcoholic, you might be even more inclined to fall off the wagon at Christmas.

But, yeah, I do empathise, even though I don’t really know what they could reasonably do about stuff like this, without making a very bland game?

I have anorexy! Eating upsets me! Ban foods!

Ahahaha. XD

6/10 cuz I don’t think you’re for srsly.

Achievement been present since original Guild Wars, moms did not complain back then, yet they seem to complain now. You are 10 years too late, mom.

Because of people like you that cant controll their own darn feelings we all cant have no nice things? Yea… right get triggerd m8.

Trust me on that one… if i play a game the last thing i think about is your family´s history and your eventual displeasure with an archievement.

It’s actually legal to give alcohol to children over the age of 5 in the UK, illegal for those under 18 to buy it though. If you’re serious (which I doubt you are), you’re better off complaining like this to alcohol advertisers rather than a game seeing as games have a lesser impact than advertising (more people see the latter). I’ve had alcoholics in my family but I’ve not got my knickers in a twist about this. It’s a matter of perspective. As long as you know what the dangers of alcohol are, what’s the problem? I can’t drink any more and I like being able to in a virtual way without any of those pesky repercussions like being date kitten d. If I can enjoy this without being triggered by my past issues with alcohol, I suggest you build a bridge and get over yours.

1.Sorry to hear about your relatives.

2.Rating means absolutely nothing when actually buying a game for or introducing someone to it. I play Arkham City in front of my 10 year old nephew and he thinks it’s cool. Ratings are only there to appease certain politicians, no one actually pays attention to them.

“But shooting, stabbing or killing in every other way is totally okay in this game?”

The things we kill are evil and we aren’t even sure we’re killing them. Take the separatists for example. They are humans, but NPCs with red names. Logical explanation and personal theory? The Flame Legion sent evil spirits to possess them and you don’t “kill” them but rather exorcise them, the same with the Flame Legion, Inquest, etc., themselves. Yellow named creatures like moose are also demon possessed.

I also have several relatives that have had serious health issues with alcoholism.

I hope your post isn’t a troll post OP, because in a way I think that would be far worse than some light-hearted cider-swigging in-game. But if you’re serious, I can totally acknowledge that you have been hurt in some way by alcoholism.

I agree with what Wanze said- if you think that alcohol is a bit of a raw spot for you, make sure that you check ESRB/PEGI ratings and avoid anything that contains it. If the warnings are there, it’s your responsibility to read them and censor yourself from such things. Scroll to the very bottom of this page and the warnings will even be there: “TEEN: Blood, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, Violence”

For most people, alcohol is a fairly innocuous substance that just makes things a little more merry. The Festive Imbiber and Connoisseur of Confectionary titles are a little nod to the incredibly excessive alcohol, party-items and sweet titles in GW1. Binge drinking in-game is not harmful in itself- kids aren’t going to play the game and then think that’s it’s ok/normal to drink 10k beers.

Tl;dr: You cannot blame A-net for including a “hot-topic” that they have advertised/warned about. It would be like somebody with a peanut allergy complaining to a company that they had a reaction to their peanut butter, no?

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

I have relatives and friends who are alcoholics, in various states of denial, and have been to the funerals of relatives whose bodies could not sustain the abuse.

Which is why I actually really like this achievement.
Because:
It points out that people do indeed use holidays as an excuse to drink, being relived that they don’t have to hide away or find other excuses to get drunk. Because it’s festive, riiight?

It takes a while (unless you have a lot of gold) so it keeps on reminding. Now that I think more about it I’d actually be offended if it were only the same amount as the candy canes. You can’t brush away alcoholism with toothpaste after all.

Until completion it locks away a desirable (for some) skin. Which if you want you have to keep drinking and keep being reminded.

I doubt this is an attempt to actually dissuade people from drinking too much real alcohol in real life. But maybe someone who is playing thinks twice before taking just one more drink and maybe make a relative or friend just a bit more sad.

These are just my thoughts, take from it what you will.
I think it’s a good achievement.

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

I have relatives and friends who are alcoholics, in various states of denial, and have been to the funerals of relatives whose bodies could not sustain the abuse.

Which is why I actually really like this achievement.
Because:
It points out that people do indeed use holidays as an excuse to drink, being relived that they don’t have to hide away or find other excuses to get drunk. Because it’s festive, riiight?

It takes a while (unless you have a lot of gold) so it keeps on reminding. Now that I think more about it I’d actually be offended if it were only the same amount as the candy canes. You can’t brush away alcoholism with toothpaste after all.

Until completion it locks away a desirable (for some) skin. Which if you want you have to keep drinking and keep being reminded.

I doubt this is an attempt to actually dissuade people from drinking too much real alcohol in real life. But maybe someone who is playing thinks twice before taking just one more drink and maybe make a relative or friend just a bit more sad.

These are just my thoughts, take from it what you will.
I think it’s a good achievement.

I, for one, can’t wait until we eventually live in that Procrustean, Harrison Bergeron paradise; where every last scrap of creativity, genius and humour has been removed to avoid hurting somebody somewhere’s pwecious fee fees.

Leohart.4610:

triggered.

Sorry to hear that.

Trigger Blossom in AB?

Basaltface.2786:

Because of people like you that cant controll their own darn feelings we all cant have no nice things? Yea… right get triggerd m8.

Trust me on that one… if i play a game the last thing i think about is your family´s history and your eventual displeasure with an archievement.

People who “can’t control their feelings”?

No one can control their feelings, they’re just feelings…

Even you have feelings – it’s very clear you had some pretty strong ones writing this, for example.

…and you didn’t control them, or even go against them, to try to be kind, or fit in with society better, did you?

You just said exactly what you felt.

How ironic.

I don’t think it’s possible or even beneficial for devs to think what might or might not offend people since we tend to be triggered by different things. Some people have lost their children to gunfire, some people have been beaten by their drunk father and in some cultures it would be blasphemy for women to wear as skimpy clothes as we can in this game. There were a lot of offended people when they announced the airplane thingy for april fools because of that one plane crashing.

You simply can’t please everyone and getting rid of jokes, booze, guns and skimpy clothes would probably make me and many others quit the game ’cos the game would just be so boring.

Offense is always taken on a personal level, never given to anyone.

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

you really shouldnt play games, especially games where you slaughter animals and people by the thousand. Showcasing murder and slaughter is ok but in game collecting of drinks is not? going by your post history you actually hate just about everything you touch in GW2, ‘alcohol’ is the new one. You insult your relatives by using them to make a point.

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

you should go and play GW1 as this has been part of this game since then and oh yeah

so is eating sugar and cakes too . soo maybe you should look guild wars one over and

see for your self the proof is there . and as my proof to you this has been in the game

since then you should look at this link

http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Drunkard

now i hope you will look at this info and have a nice day i got a few good bottles of

wine to go and kill now

I’m pretty sure this is just a troll post…

OP you made mistake while typing tumblr.com in you address bar.

people will be people

I’m upset that we can’t make charrs lefties. I mean there’s a charr lefty in the Legacy of Foefire loading screen and cats are mostly left pawed anyway so it’s appropriate. Also I second the idea for a colorblind mode because charrs being cat people would be colorblind to red so it’d be cool having that perspective. They (cats) can see some near infrared but it probably looks very yellow to them.

Tl;dr: I want charr playable characters to be left handed, tighter league regulations, more map types, bigger nodes and reduced interrupt and general cooldowns across the board (though increasing other cooldowns for balance) to account for all the big AoE fields and chill flying around respectively. But oh well, we can’t always get what we want.

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

I’m of two minds about posts like this:

• On the one hand, of course we wouldn’t expect to see a requirement to smoke 10,000 cigarettes or eat 1,000 hash brownies or inject 5,000 vials of premium … well you get the idea.
• On the other, drinking is a pleasurable activity for the vast majority of people and the occasional bout of over-enthusiastic celebration isn’t — by itself — an issue.

I lean towards the second interpretation, because otherwise ANet should just cancel the game entirely. After all, it includes one of the five playable races torturing ‘people’ for science, the brutality of war (if only in a Disney version), extreme violence, player vs player competition, and so on.

At some point, gaming companies have to draw a line and say: “it’s okay on this side; we won’t cross to the other.” In my opinion, ANet has done a pretty good job of it: the game is free from most of the player competition in the PvE environment, most of the game is accessible to folks with little time to play, and they avoid getting ugly or gory in the story telling. So, I’d say cut some slack when it comes to celebrating holidays.

tl;dr sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Broom.2561:

So you made a Wintersday achievement out of boozing. I really cannot say it amuses me in the slightest. Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured). I’ve seen what alcohol does to people and I think it’s just plain wrong to showcase the over-consumption of alcohol as something festive and desirable. Let alone in a game rated PG 12, when in many countries 12 is WAY below the legal age for alcohol consumption.

I’m of two minds about posts like this:

• On the one hand, of course we wouldn’t expect to see a requirement to smoke 10,000 cigarettes or eat 1,000 hash brownies or inject 5,000 vials of premium … well you get the idea.
• On the other, drinking is a pleasurable activity for the vast majority of people and the occasional bout of over-enthusiastic celebration isn’t — by itself — an issue.

I lean towards the second interpretation, because otherwise ANet should just cancel the game entirely. After all, it includes one of the five playable races torturing ‘people’ for science, the brutality of war (if only in a Disney version), extreme violence, player vs player competition, and so on.

At some point, gaming companies have to draw a line and say: “it’s okay on this side; we won’t cross to the other.” In my opinion, ANet has done a pretty good job of it: the game is free from most of the player competition in the PvE environment, most of the game is accessible to folks with little time to play, and they avoid getting ugly or gory in the story telling. So, I’d say cut some slack when it comes to celebrating holidays.

tl;dr sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

priceless !!! and a bottle of wine is just a bottle of wine. and i bet you they do not

play rock star games :P

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Next, someone is going to make a post complaining about eating virtual sugary sweets in a video game and how it’s disrespectful to people with eating disorders.

It’s not real alcohol being drunk by real people. It’s pixels being clicked on by other pixels. If pixel alcohol bothers you that much then sit at home and read a book or something. (Don’t watch TV or read the bible. TV has alcohol ads and the bible talks about drinking wine).

That whole morality-driven movement upsets me… where do these people live? Welcome to “World”, where perfection is something not overly present. Next, these super-sensitive people demand quest-decriptions in transgender-writing with lots of asteriscs, underscores and so on.

My goodness, I wished these people got a life to live.

You know, I lived in an alcoholic family, too. An abusive one at that. And you know what? Get over it. Laugh about it. I did, and I do.

Kind of the same boat as the OP in regards to the mentality. Every single person in my extended family who has had a drink in their life has become an alcoholic except my mother. It has destroyed every family, career, and relationship in its wake in my extended family. I have crippling neurological disability because of it.

I almost quit the game at the Order of Whspers’ pirate drinking contest mission my first time through. Tybalt got me through it, though. I reminded myself grog is basically water :P

As far as the “deal with it” attitude presented by some people, everyone’s entitled to their own opinions. Everyone affected by it has been affected by it differently. Someone mentioned we’re killing people and all the violence, etc. I’d sooner murder than drink alcohol (though I’d even sooner probably sacrifice myself as drinking would actually kill me from said above neurological disability, and murder is horrible).

I’m just not participating in the event. Sure, artistic licence. Sure, it’s all fake. I still have my convictions, and real life takes precedence on this subject. Do whatever you need to do.

Personally, I’d have liked to see an alternative, and maybe in the future we’ll see one to such things, but ANet has their opinions on what they want to put in, and so they do it. It’s something that hits close to home, and frankly, that’s just how it is. I’m not going to try and get the game changed or pioneer society away from what many argue is an age-old tradition just because I disagree with it. We can only be mindful of other peoples’ perceptions of their own joy and hope we get the same treatment in return; no point in leading a crusade people aren’t willing to follow.

Here’s the thing. Sometimes game achievement is just a game achievement not a covered up agenda to promote drinking. If you relate a in game fantasy stuff to your real life you will have a bad time and maybe it’s time for you to be kitten somewhere else. News flash, everyone has their own problems irl, no need to drag them into fantasy game where plants have breasts and you can turn into a chair with a potion. Be a mature adult not a special delicate snowflake.

The alcohol is no more real than your characters magic powers.

I got 37 bottles of rum from Princess before finally looting a magic cork.
Getting that Cork seemed fitting, especially being a "Magic’ cork, but,
since I cant actually drink that rum, I’ll offer that magic cork to you for
protection, if you think it would help…

Seriously, I agree the numbers are simply absurd for a Festival Event.
The real problem is some people actually completed the other core game 100k drink achievement. Sometimes having the money to complete something, doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Eating 500 candy canes probably upset someone too being Diabetic…

When the few taking offense force the many to change the way they’re doing then we’ll have witnessed the death of democracy ( not that democracy was all that good).

I honestly am surprised as to how far some people take offense with stuff – I get that some might not have had the best experience with this but this isn’t really the place for people to take offense.

Harper.4173:

When the few taking offense force the many to change the way they’re doing then we’ll have witnessed the death of democracy ( not that democracy was all that good).

I honestly am surprised as to how far some people take offense with stuff – I get that some might not have had the best experience with this but this isn’t really the place for people to take offense.

I totally agree.

I don’t totally understand why people take offence where offence is not at all intended. Is it because they sense some sort of injustice? Is it because of incorrect portrayal?

I guess I could understand if the reasons weren’t purely personal. For example, if a large group of people were misrepresented in a way that appears to lessen them, because it has repurcussions outside of itself.

So… is it that people who are bothered by this see alcohol as the bad guy? Maybe it’s a matter of perspective, but I’ve never seen it in that way, even with alcoholics in my family and a family member who almost killed several people (including myself) in a drink-drive accident. To me it’s the person that’s at fault, and that is ok. Humans are allowed to make mistakes.

I guess in a perfect world (for me), alcohol wouldn’t exist or be represented anywhere. Considering that will never be the case, I don’t think removing it from a video game is going to make anybody’s life easier to live, and the novelty behind it seems to be ok and lighthearted.

Tigaseye.2047:

People who “can’t control their feelings”?

No one can control their feelings, they’re just feelings…

Of course you can control your feelings – if you can’t then you better be locked away as you’re a danger to mankind or yourself.
Something reminds you of something you don’t want to be reminded of: a) You complain about that and blame everybody else = feelings escalate or b) You remind yourself that they’re your personal feelings and that no one really is to blame for that = feeling goes away after a while.

I had enough alcoholics in my family as well – the reason for me to never become one.

ETA: “Had” because 4 of them died and the rest stopped drinking alcohol = it is “cureable” (people can stop to drink and I guess the urge to drink goes away eventually).
ETA²: And I don’t think that a few virtual items that are gone with a right click trigger alcoholism.

Pixel words hurt ):

Jana.6831:

Tigaseye.2047:

People who “can’t control their feelings”?

No one can control their feelings, they’re just feelings…

Of course you can control your feelings – if you can’t then you better be locked away as you’re a danger to mankind or yourself.

Actually, Tigaseye is correct. The closest people can come to controlling their feelings is to not put themselves into situations which might elicit feelings. This works, up to the point where something unexpected happens.

What you’re talking about is self-control. This means that people can control their reactions. However, this requires a certain degree of self-awareness and discipline. The most common incentive to exercise self-control is fear of consequence. That’s been a remarkably effective motivation over the centuries. However, it’s not perfect, and it is eroding as social systems erode.

As far as the OP’s issue… while I can understand the feelings elicited, the reaction seems to indicate a bit too much immersion in the game world. This is not alcohol — it’s clicking icons which produce a virtual effect. I recommend regarding it as such.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Actually, Tigaseye is correct. The closest people can come to controlling their feelings is to not put themselves into situations which might elicit feelings. This works, up to the point where something unexpected happens.

No, the only ones who don’t have their feelings under control are small kids and psychopaths.

IndigoSundown.5419:

What you’re talking about is self-control. This means that people can control their reactions.

That is kind of nit picking as that was what was meant here and what would have prevented a thread blaming each and everyone for their own misery. We all are miserable in one way or the other we just don’t let everything get to us – that doesn’t mean the initial feeling isn’t there but one can control it so it goes away.

ETA: I once sat in my car and a lady crashed hers in reverse at around 20 mph into it – I even honked to warn her, but no. For some reason my car seemed fine but I was angry (I wonder why). So I got out and told her that was a no go. And she started to scream at me that her little daughter was in hospital and bad and that I should have sympathy and that I probably don’t have kids and whatnot. She screamed on and on until I told her “Don’t make your problems to mine!” That’s when she stopped.

coso.9173:

I’m pretty sure this is just a troll post…

This

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Next, someone is going to make a post complaining about eating virtual sugary sweets in a video game and how it’s disrespectful to people with eating disorders.

It’s not real alcohol being drunk by real people. It’s pixels being clicked on by other pixels. If pixel alcohol bothers you that much then sit at home and read a book or something. (Don’t watch TV or read the bible. TV has alcohol ads and the bible talks about drinking wine).

It’s unfair to Diabetics. All that candy.

I call BS. In the game pre seasonal events there is tons and tons of drinking stuff going on. Hell, in all city homes they have a drinking game. I dont have troll cookies for you but you know where to go.

Jana.6831:

Tigaseye.2047:

People who “can’t control their feelings”?

No one can control their feelings, they’re just feelings…

Of course you can control your feelings – if you can’t then you better be locked away as you’re a danger to mankind or yourself.
Something reminds you of something you don’t want to be reminded of: a) You complain about that and blame everybody else = feelings escalate or b) You remind yourself that they’re your personal feelings and that no one really is to blame for that = feeling goes away after a while.

I had enough alcoholics in my family as well – the reason for me to never become one.

ETA: “Had” because 4 of them died and the rest stopped drinking alcohol = it is “cureable” (people can stop to drink and I guess the urge to drink goes away eventually).
ETA²: And I don’t think that a few virtual items that are gone with a right click trigger alcoholism.

No.

You can (hopefully) prevent yourself from acting on your feelings (if that would be a bad thing to do).

But not acting on them is a totally different thing from, somehow, preventing yourself from having them, in the first place.

Feelings just happen.

What you do with them, after that, is somewhat controllable.

Although, the poster I was responding to obviously didn’t manage to control his behaviour, when responding.

He just spoke (or wrote) straight from the feelings part of his brain, without running it past the “Is this an acceptable way to talk to someone?” part, first.

Which was somewhat ironic, to say the least and that was the point I was making.

SpellOfIniquity.1780:

Pixel words hurt ):

Thing is “Two wrongs don’t make a right.”.

That is an old saying that, I’m pretty sure, predates WWII by some margin.

Us running around insulting people, who have done nothing wrong, in 2015, won’t bring back those poor, dead soldiers, will it?

In fact, it just makes us look like their particularly shallow and unpleasant descendants, who weren’t even really worth fighting and dying for.

Be kind.

Make their sacrifice seem slightly less pointless.

Almost any part of the game could be offensive to someone somewhere. Maybe Anet should turn GW2 into a black screen?

Malediktus.9250:

Almost any part of the game could be offensive to someone somewhere. Maybe Anet should turn GW2 into a black screen?

But that . . . . .. racist . . . . . ?

I’m posting this with a candy cane mojito in my hand, lol.

Broom.2561:

Several of my relatives were alcoholics (past tense because they’re dead now… it’s not something that can be cured).

I don’t even care if you are serious or not about this. Alcoholism has no known cure? Just…
I don’t know how to display my contempt for something like that in words that have real meaning to you. I find it hard to believe that all your relatives were really addicted to the extent that they couldn’t choose ‘not’ to get wasted once in their lifetime. Ya I’m sure for some people it is a real addiction like any nicotine product. The same can be said for pretty much anything in this world though.

Whatever, sorry for your loss if this was real. But it was inappropriate to rant about it here….but maybe you said what you had to, and that’s fine.

I’ve seen enough people conquer their addictions to know that they absolutely can be conquered.