Guild Wars 2

LastHope.8127:

That is STILL 40 HOURS OF JP!

That’s only ~1.5 hours a day on average from the start to the end. Once you’ve done it several times, it’s effortless. I personally run it just because, usually manage 14-16 runs a match and all while watching a TV episode. I prefer Bell Choir, but wish it had an alternative harder option.

It’s brilliant design. ArenaNet gets to trumpet that they have new earnable skins in game and also make the gem shop fare seem more attractive at the same time. Why grind when you can bust out the credit card? Why should holiday items not be grindy? You don’t want to spend time with fam do ya?

I feel you fam. Their decisions for the last year or so have been nothing short of deplorable.

Sthenith.5196:

Just face it, the event as it stands is just as ‘profitable’ or better for those who farm it as for those that spend all their time in SW hopping from map to map.

Those that are good at the JP will earn the most, especially if they’re not going for the shoulders but just want gold.

At roughly 300 gifts/hour, if your math is correct, they make 300x price on TP (around 8s/ea) = 2400s = 24G/hour. (not opening them)

It’s a pure farm event driven by that one pretty useless ‘skin’ which might or might not look good on your char(s). If you enjoy yourself, so much better, if not, move on because while you’re spending time there, you’re not doing anything else or playing another game.

In a perfect world, were you get 2 30 minute maps in 1 hour (and the stupid world is full bug doesnt exist) and doing the JP takes you 2 minutes, you would get 30 runs = 300 gifts without the karma and achievement ones. So if you have trained your muscle memory to robot like skills then that would be the math, yes. Im not bothered by the farm, Im bothered they designed this on purpose. If this is the direction Anet is going for, Ill put on some old kitten skins and call it a vintage look and be done with it.

Healix.5819:

LastHope.8127:

That is STILL 40 HOURS OF JP!

That’s only ~1.5 hours a day on average from the start to the end. Once you’ve done it several times, it’s effortless. I personally run it just because, usually manage 14-16 runs a match and all while watching a TV episode. I prefer Bell Choir, but wish it had an alternative harder option.

16 run in 30 minutes is less then the 2 minutes it takes to do the jp, and without falling once… 40 hours would be robot mode, realisticly youre gonna fall a bunch, mostly by bad RNG on the boxes exploding, something that skill cant prevent.

I played a fair amount of guitar hero and I would love an expert mode on the bell choir with much greater rewards.

echo.2053:

5k/10k here all earned no store bought

36 wonderland acgives = 540 jumps/15 = 36 rounds / 2 = 18 hours worth. its been 6 days since start of event so / 6 = a mere 3 hours per a day

we still have 3 more weeks of this event 3*7=21 *16 ( giving you 8 hrs of sleep a night) = 336 hours. This isn’t including the fact that youll still be able to continue worthing on this achievement after festival is over.

Iv’e been earning 1k etoh a day easily so….

Ps even buying after the event isnt an issue it wont ever rise above a gold a drink. assumibng you havent drank 1 etoh 10k/365 = buying 27 a day and youll have it easily by next next xmas

The thing is, if you turn your complete attention towards the shoulders – you can sell everything you find for more drinks, which equals a higher than 80% droprate at least.

I ate all the candies and drank all the drinks, and once I had gotten ‘Sweet Tooth’ I simply began to sell the food as well as everything else until I had 10k drinks. Don’t this the wrong way though, it will be a lot of work still to earn Winter’s Presence, but if that is what you really want, this way I found – Worked really well. (Luckily for me, I pretty ran the JPs on autopilot, reaching around 500-600 clears something and that was enough for me, but I sold the superfluous items which dropped. (Most of them anyway.)

LastHope.8127:

Healix.5819:

LastHope.8127:

That is STILL 40 HOURS OF JP!

That’s only ~1.5 hours a day on average from the start to the end. Once you’ve done it several times, it’s effortless. I personally run it just because, usually manage 14-16 runs a match and all while watching a TV episode. I prefer Bell Choir, but wish it had an alternative harder option.

16 run in 30 minutes is less then the 2 minutes it takes to do the jp, and without falling once… 40 hours would be robot mode, realisticly youre gonna fall a bunch, mostly by bad RNG on the boxes exploding, something that skill cant prevent.

I played a fair amount of guitar hero and I would love an expert mode on the bell choir with much greater rewards.

Getting 16 is quite doable but yeah, I doubt it’s sustainable when trying for that over a long period of time. The RNG really isn’t that bad if you manage to get into a bugged instance and everyone leaves. Even if you can’t, as long as you jump immediately when the one present spawns, you should be fine 99% of the time.

Kahli.4325:

echo.2053:

5k/10k here all earned no store bought

36 wonderland acgives = 540 jumps/15 = 36 rounds / 2 = 18 hours worth. its been 6 days since start of event so / 6 = a mere 3 hours per a day

we still have 3 more weeks of this event 3*7=21 *16 ( giving you 8 hrs of sleep a night) = 336 hours. This isn’t including the fact that youll still be able to continue worthing on this achievement after festival is over.

Iv’e been earning 1k etoh a day easily so….

Ps even buying after the event isnt an issue it wont ever rise above a gold a drink. assumibng you havent drank 1 etoh 10k/365 = buying 27 a day and youll have it easily by next next xmas

The thing is, if you turn your complete attention towards the shoulders – you can sell everything you find for more drinks, which equals a higher than 80% droprate at least.

I ate all the candies and drank all the drinks, and once I had gotten ‘Sweet Tooth’ I simply began to sell the food as well as everything else until I had 10k drinks. Don’t this the wrong way though, it will be a lot of work still to earn Winter’s Presence, but if that is what you really want, this way I found – Worked really well. (Luckily for me, I pretty ran the JPs on autopilot, reaching around 500-600 clears something and that was enough for me, but I sold the superfluous items which dropped. (Most of them anyway.)

It’s what a lot of people did/do in GW1 when maxing the three consumable titles.

Ayrilana.1396:

LastHope.8127:

Healix.5819:

LastHope.8127:

That is STILL 40 HOURS OF JP!

That’s only ~1.5 hours a day on average from the start to the end. Once you’ve done it several times, it’s effortless. I personally run it just because, usually manage 14-16 runs a match and all while watching a TV episode. I prefer Bell Choir, but wish it had an alternative harder option.

16 run in 30 minutes is less then the 2 minutes it takes to do the jp, and without falling once… 40 hours would be robot mode, realisticly youre gonna fall a bunch, mostly by bad RNG on the boxes exploding, something that skill cant prevent.

I played a fair amount of guitar hero and I would love an expert mode on the bell choir with much greater rewards.

Getting 16 is quite doable but yeah, I doubt it’s sustainable when trying for that over a long period of time. The RNG really isn’t that bad if you manage to get into a bugged instance and everyone leaves. Even if you can’t, as long as you jump immediately when the one present spawns, you should be fine 99% of the time.

In a perfect world, yes. The thing is a bugged instance starts spawning the blue gifts making phase 2 a lot worse to do. I’ve done the JP about 30 times now, and im to bored with it to ever do it again I guess.

Fortunately they’re tradable. As are all of the other drops from the gifts.

I don’t want the drinks achievement, but I do want all the festival mini pets (specifically the 3 skritt, the snowman and Foostivoo). Which means I need 21 mini gift skritt and 4 snowmen. (And since festival mystic forge recipes are often disabled at the end of the festival I need them before it’s over.)

From the 1500+ gifts I’ve opened I’ve managed to get a grand total of 2 skritt, and a pile of items which are useless to me (snowflakes, drinks, food etc.) It’s pretty clear that, like the people trying for the drink achievement, I’m not going to manage this on my own.

So I’ve solved the problem by selling all the drops I don’t want and now instead of useless consumables I’ve got over 150g (and that’s just from the first week). More than enough to buy all the mini pets I need. It’s a pretty good system IMO, I’m essentially trading the drops I don’t want for ones other people don’t want so we all end up with something we’re happy with.

I haven’t tried to work out how much it’d cost to supplement the drinks you get from gifts with gold from selling the other drops, but the food is worth quite a bit on it’s own so I imagine it’d add up quickly.

Solstace.2514:

I say NO. The whole point of getting certain items or skins is that it’s a challenge. I understand that people may have difficulty with certain tasks, but that’s what challenge is about. If it was easy, what’s the point?

While I do understand your point, in the end, it’s just another skin that very few people will wear in a month or two. So what’s the point in gating it in a such time critical/frustrating JP ? It could have been just a normal JP.

About the 10k drinks, I also find it to be a questionable “challenge” since it can simply be bought of TP by wealthy players. 2500 would have been more than enough imho.

I think a skateboarding minigame would be awesome complete with skater outfits that could be dyed to look like baggy denim shorts or cargo shorts. Oh well, maybe for the next event? All the major cities and some areas like Rata Novus would have skate areas and there’d be weekly skating championships in the Black Citadel for weekly achievement rewards.

Bruno.3812:

LastHope.8127:

Bruno.3812:

You have a year to buy what you need after the holiday farm is over.

But you will not be able to farm the gifts after, therefor stopping the suply thus increasing the price if demand stays the same.

If demand remains the same. But it won’t. It can only go down after the holiday ends as more and more people finish or quit trying to get it. There will be the presents from all the accounts that have the tree to continue adding to the supply as well as any flippers who buy now and relist later.

The price isn’t going to go down over time. Especially not with diminishing supply, scarcity (1 gift per day, per account with the tree unlocked), and an achievement that requires 10,000 units. Additionally, with so many of the players putting it off for later, demand will still be there – even if it’s on the backburner.

Unless they add another source for the drinks, if the price goes down at all [after the event] it won’t go down by much.

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

Yes, please make Winter’s Presence and Nightfury visible when we have outfits on.

Also, I wish intead of making them a shoulder piece, there should be an aura tab. so we can actually have the scarf and Winter’s Presence show at the same time.

Look at it the other way. Think of how much gold players can make from this event if they don’t want to make the item. And the gold acquisition methods are something that most people can do with some practice, with any level 2 character. No gear reqs, no builds or strategies or expensive consumables or organization.

You can take that gold and use it to craft ascended gear for an alt, or something else actually useful in game, rather than another vanity item. Or you can use the gold to convert to gems and pick up additions to your wardrobe for a new look.

And the only reason demand exists for the gifts allowing people to earn that gold, is the demand for these drinks created by the 10k achievement (well, the boxes do contain some other useful stuff of course, but they are the main value to them).

It’s a really pretty effect, but I’m not going for it.

It’s a lot of work/gold for snowflakes, at the end of the day and I doubt I’ll be sitting there, in April to October, wishing it was snowing on me alone.

By then, we’ll have something else to worry about, anyway.

LastHope.8127:

(There are some theories that the choir is actually faster because you can join on the middle or later songs wich give 3 or 5 gifts were the first 2 songs only give 1 gift each. But on avarage I think it’s about the same as your mediocre JP player.)

Does that account for the time wasted by free play?

LastHope.8127:

So getting 10.000 drinks, without buying them.

It wasnt designed, so that the average player can earn all the drinks on his own.

If that was the case, drinks would be at vendor value already because everybody who wants the achi doesnt need to buy any from the tp. So those that dont want to make the shoulder skin, would just dump them on the tp and no one would buy them. And those play more than casually, would have earned their drinks already too, adding the additional supply to the tp.

And if you think that drinks at vendor value would solve your dilemma, you are wrong, because the 50 each runes and sigils would become the bottleneck.

Throughout the year, there was about 500k of each on the tp, enough for 10k shoulder skins. Of course, not al the supply of those was listed on the tp, so lets say those 500k on the tp was only 10% of the overall supply. Thats 100k skins then until we run out of runes and sigils because they dont drop anymore. You have to buy the minors from the vendor and promote them in the forge. A superior rune needs 6 mystic coins to forge from minors, a superior sigil needs 20 coins.

Thats an additional 1300 mystic coins, people would need, apart from the 150 they need anyways.

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

Khisanth.2948:

LastHope.8127:

(There are some theories that the choir is actually faster because you can join on the middle or later songs wich give 3 or 5 gifts were the first 2 songs only give 1 gift each. But on avarage I think it’s about the same as your mediocre JP player.)

Does that account for the time wasted by free play?

Yes, because as soon as you finish the last song you leave the instance, then go find another world. bug out a few times and hopefully get into a world thats either ready to start or even better already halfway. The theory holds up if you join at the last 2 songs more often than you join a server thats in free play (costing you more time because then you have to either wait that out or leave and find another world, get bugged out a few more times and then hopefully get in a good world.)

Evans.6347:

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

So what youre saying is, if youre not a robot…….. see 2nd paragraph…….. you get less………. but if you become a jp robot………… 250-300 is right………. see 1st paragraph…….. so you say im wrong then emediatly say im right? I dont get it.

Won’t the achievement category be retired after Wintersday making the Imbiber achievement impossible to get?

reapex.8546:

Won’t the achievement category be retired after Wintersday making the Imbiber achievement impossible to get?

No, and they stated that the Imbiber achievement would stay on after wintersday. I already reached this conclusion beforehand because the shoulder skin is a collection achievement and not a wintersday achievement.

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

So what youre saying is, if youre not a robot…….. see 2nd paragraph…….. you get less………. but if you become a jp robot………… 250-300 is right………. see 1st paragraph…….. so you say im wrong then emediatly say im right? I dont get it.

Well if you consider that a ‘robot’, but I think you are exaggerating your point. You certainly overused your points there.

I actually still enjoy doing the JP, must have a good emotion chip installed.

LastHope.8127:

reapex.8546:

Won’t the achievement category be retired after Wintersday making the Imbiber achievement impossible to get?

No, and they stated that the Imbiber achievement would stay on after wintersday. I already reached this conclusion beforehand because the shoulder skin is a collection achievement and not a wintersday achievement.

Thank you

reapex.8546:

LastHope.8127:

reapex.8546:

Won’t the achievement category be retired after Wintersday making the Imbiber achievement impossible to get?

No, and they stated that the Imbiber achievement would stay on after wintersday. I already reached this conclusion beforehand because the shoulder skin is a collection achievement and not a wintersday achievement.

Thank you

It’s a moot point anyway. The source of drinks is going to be severely cut down (to 1 max per account per day). Drinks will not be affordable after Wintersday.

What they actually want you to do, is not farm at all, but it to buy gems convert to gold, buy presents from TP,

On another note, for those people going for this item, have you actually seen it in game, I know a few people who where going for it, and then actually seen someone who had the item, and they where not impressed, and have actually stopped trying for it,

Also why did they note make presents drop from random enemies in the game, like they did in GW1, they put an event out, then made the entire game stand in 1 little part of an outpost to grind out events that are, well in a word boring, the JP is buggy, the bell choir gets annoying real fast, and add all this to the “the world you are trying to enter is full”

Evans.6347:

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

So what youre saying is, if youre not a robot…….. see 2nd paragraph…….. you get less………. but if you become a jp robot………… 250-300 is right………. see 1st paragraph…….. so you say im wrong then emediatly say im right? I dont get it.

Well if you consider that a ‘robot’, but I think you are exaggerating your point. You certainly overused your points there.

I actually still enjoy doing the JP, must have a good emotion chip installed.

Youre doing the same exact task for about ~40-60 hours, mindlessly because you do it so much. Yes I call that a robot, because you might aswell be a robot at that point. Thing is you said my math was wrong, then 2 sentences later you confirm my math, so I didnt get your point. Also as I stated before, I don’t mind the grind, it’s just that youre better of farming gold and buying the drinks because thats simply more efficient. Since anet wants us to be robots for the skin…

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

So what youre saying is, if youre not a robot…….. see 2nd paragraph…….. you get less………. but if you become a jp robot………… 250-300 is right………. see 1st paragraph…….. so you say im wrong then emediatly say im right? I dont get it.

Well if you consider that a ‘robot’, but I think you are exaggerating your point. You certainly overused your points there.

I actually still enjoy doing the JP, must have a good emotion chip installed.

Youre doing the same exact task for about ~40-60 hours, mindlessly because you do it so much. Yes I call that a robot, because you might aswell be a robot at that point. Thing is you said my math was wrong, then 2 sentences later you confirm my math, so I didnt get your point. Also as I stated before, I don’t mind the grind, it’s just that youre better of farming gold and buying the drinks because thats simply more efficient. Since anet wants us to be robots for the skin…

I was stating that 150/h is far too little to be ‘realistic’ and that I don’t like to be called a ‘freak of nature robot’.

So no, I neither confirm nor approve your what you call math. And with that the discussion is for my part over.

Evans.6347:

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

LastHope.8127:

Evans.6347:

I’ve gotten 3k drinks down from doing the JP alone.

Your math is off by a lot though, 300 gifts / hour might be a little much at the start when you’re getting the timings right, but you should reach 200 easily, with a good chance at 250-300 per hour eventually. I can do more now, if i have a good run.

You also get candy canes and minipets to sell, which you can convert into booze, so that pulls the time down a little too.

So what youre saying is, if youre not a robot…….. see 2nd paragraph…….. you get less………. but if you become a jp robot………… 250-300 is right………. see 1st paragraph…….. so you say im wrong then emediatly say im right? I dont get it.

Well if you consider that a ‘robot’, but I think you are exaggerating your point. You certainly overused your points there.

I actually still enjoy doing the JP, must have a good emotion chip installed.

Youre doing the same exact task for about ~40-60 hours, mindlessly because you do it so much. Yes I call that a robot, because you might aswell be a robot at that point. Thing is you said my math was wrong, then 2 sentences later you confirm my math, so I didnt get your point. Also as I stated before, I don’t mind the grind, it’s just that youre better of farming gold and buying the drinks because thats simply more efficient. Since anet wants us to be robots for the skin…

I was stating that 150/h is far too little to be ‘realistic’ and that I don’t like to be called a ‘freak of nature robot’.

So no, I neither confirm nor approve your what you call math. And with that the discussion is for my part over.

Do the words" Your math is off by a lot though" ring any bells? 150 drinks, not gifts, and that was for mediocre players at that. Don’t get mad if sombody calls you out on your bullshi.

I suck at jumping puzzles, it took me all 30 minutes to get one successful run at the beginning. That was two days ago, now I average 8-11 finishes per 30 minutes. I turned on action camera, asked for help, learned to laugh at my own mistakes, and observed the neat tricks a few of the faster people were doing.

Do it before you go to sleep and after you wake up. You brain will process and improve your skills at the puzzle this way.

Evans.6347:

I actually still enjoy doing the JP, must have a good emotion chip installed.

I find it incredibly frustrating. Not because it’s difficult (can manage 12~13 runs every half hour), but because it can take several hours just to get in thanks to the “world is full” bug.

Even if you’re really good at the JP, your hourly average gets dragged down by all the time wasted just trying to spam into a map.

So it’s an achievement that’s not easy to get, there are plenty like this. I really don’t see what the fuss is about. It will probably be a life time thing.

If you release a skin that makes bats fly around you but don’t make it reasonably obtainable during the Halloween event then what is the point? If you release a skin that makes it snow around you but make it more likely to be obtained months after the Wintersday event then what is the point?

When I started the collection I thought it was super awesome! I had almost everything I needed already and the remaining requirements (3 jormags, 3 jumping puzzles, ect.) all seemed reasonable and I thought for sure I could grind it out on day one and have the skin to go with my awesome Wintersday attire for the rest of the event. Man was I wrong. Even grinding for 2 or 3 days or maybe even a week would have been ok because I would still be able to show off the skin for a majority of the Wintersday event. Now…I don’t know when I’ll get it, it may literally be summer when I’m actually able to drink enough to get the skin. I mean honestly are these skins meant to be for next year?

I just don’t get it.

Also, the fact that it’s probably just as fast to farm Silverwastes and buy the drinks from the trading post should be viewed as a major design flaw. You created something meant to attract people to the Wintersday activities that is actually just pushing people away from them.

Also also, the fact that you guys ignore anything controversial these days is very concerning. Every time you let something like this go you are sending the message that nothing is wrong. That you think 10,000 drinks is reasonable. That you expected this type of reaction. That you just don’t care enough to actually address these concerns. And more than anything it shows you are completely out of touch with your players.

Already a thread about this on the front page of this forum.

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/Lets-do-the-math-shall-we

All of these items are easily attainable.

All you need is a credit card to convert gems to gold.

You´re not supposed to farm things in the game game. You´re supposed to buy them with real money. That´s the entire design philosophy of GW2.

You may think 10,000 drinks is a lot and it is, but the developers want to reward your efficiency at either playing the trading post, perseverance in selling materials consistently, and PvP persistence on the Wintersday reward track. You PvP and obtain gifts and karma, or you can do Silverwaste and buy with gold and karma, and do your daily gathering rounds for your daily 16-20g (depending on ascended mat prices).

You are so cool and calm and all the things that we are not. Congrats!!!

When I was doing the robot run, I mean JP puzzle, 15 times in a row I really felt like a freaking machine. I was going into a trance! It requires little attention, but you are pressing spacebar every second. I can only do it for 1hr, after that I need a break.
In other games I could kill monsters for 8hrs straight, but this… pretty exhausting.

I decided that this year I would not do the wintersday festival, even though I have done every festival since release. Let me explain why.

1) They decided to go with the “pocket festival”, that was forgivable, when they first released HoT due to possible time constraints. Now they have had time enough to do more and it is quite underwhelming for a 3 year old festival that used to feel so much more festive.

2) “Have yourself a gindy little wintersday”’ is not what I signed up for. Festival skins should be a diversion that says “YES” I did do wintersday 2015, not “YES” I have no life!

3) The entire season, to me seems little more than another way to drain gold from the populous, be it through “voluntary donations”, or though buying drinks from the TP (if you indeed have a life).

Wintersday (in this game) should be the season for celebrating while giving to your fellow man, this year just seems way to much like the commercial garbage we face in real life; and I play a game to escape reality thank you.

LastHope.8127:

Khisanth.2948:

LastHope.8127:

(There are some theories that the choir is actually faster because you can join on the middle or later songs wich give 3 or 5 gifts were the first 2 songs only give 1 gift each. But on avarage I think it’s about the same as your mediocre JP player.)

Does that account for the time wasted by free play?

Yes, because as soon as you finish the last song you leave the instance, then go find another world. bug out a few times and hopefully get into a world thats either ready to start or even better already halfway. The theory holds up if you join at the last 2 songs more often than you join a server thats in free play (costing you more time because then you have to either wait that out or leave and find another world, get bugged out a few more times and then hopefully get in a good world.)

In my experience it doesn’t really work out that way. I tried that for the 500 notes achievement. Sometimes it will put you into a new instance but other times it will put you into another one that is already in free play as well. Wasting time doing the search or standing around during free play is about the same. Though in comparison to the JP I guess there is a bit of a delay at the start too.

Tommyknocker.6089:

I decided that this year I would not do the wintersday festival, even though I have done every festival since release. Let me explain why.

1) They decided to go with the “pocket festival”, that was forgivable, when they first released HoT due to possible time constraints. Now they have had time enough to do more and it is quite underwhelming for a 3 year old festival that used to feel so much more festive.

2) “Have yourself a gindy little wintersday”’ is not what I signed up for. Festival skins should be a diversion that says “YES” I did do wintersday 2015, not “YES” I have no life!

3) The entire season, to me seems little more than another way to drain gold from the populous, be it through “voluntary donations”, or though buying drinks from the TP (if you indeed have a life).

Wintersday (in this game) should be the season for celebrating while giving to your fellow man, this year just seems way to much like the commercial garbage we face in real life; and I play a game to escape reality thank you.

They just need to stop letting the person that came up with the original WvW achievements work on anything player facing content. >_>

ChrizZcE.5981:

All of these items are easily attainable.

All you need is a credit card to convert gems to gold.

You´re not supposed to farm things in the game game. You´re supposed to buy them with real money. That´s the entire design philosophy of GW2.

Nope. I haven’t paid real money for any of it. There’s no reason to.
———————————————

The OP mentions two premium skins and ignores all of the other skins & tonics released at the same time. Of course the fanciest skins are more expensive; there are plenty of other festival-themed items that are cheap.

Khisanth.2948:

LastHope.8127:

Khisanth.2948:

LastHope.8127:

(There are some theories that the choir is actually faster because you can join on the middle or later songs wich give 3 or 5 gifts were the first 2 songs only give 1 gift each. But on avarage I think it’s about the same as your mediocre JP player.)

Does that account for the time wasted by free play?

Yes, because as soon as you finish the last song you leave the instance, then go find another world. bug out a few times and hopefully get into a world thats either ready to start or even better already halfway. The theory holds up if you join at the last 2 songs more often than you join a server thats in free play (costing you more time because then you have to either wait that out or leave and find another world, get bugged out a few more times and then hopefully get in a good world.)

In my experience it doesn’t really work out that way. I tried that for the 500 notes achievement. Sometimes it will put you into a new instance but other times it will put you into another one that is already in free play as well. Wasting time doing the search or standing around during free play is about the same. Though in comparison to the JP I guess there is a bit of a delay at the start too.

Thats why it’s a theory and I didnt state is as fact. I find it faster, and far less stressfull to just stand around in freeplay, often the round resets with 2-3 minutes left on the clock.

LastHope.8127:

deSade.9437:

You want cool, shiny item, you buckle down and pay. I have 40g, went broke ‘cause of raids, couldn’t afford the skin even if I wanted it, didn’t get it. /shrug
Suck it up.

Im not complaining, I don’t mind a grind. Im making the statement youre better of buying the drinks with gold farmed elsewere. It’s simply faster.

Edit- The only complaint I do have is that they want you to do the same jp 1200 times, or play the same 6 songs for 100 hours. Wich by then you could probably do them blindfolded.

They don’t want you to do it. YOU want to do it. It’s different.

Well, all it does it just make me bitter and not want to spend money so their little commerce team or whatever will have to figure out a better way for people like me. Something that makes the game feel less rude and more fun.

Tommyknocker.6089:

I decided that this year I would not do the wintersday festival, even though I have done every festival since release. Let me explain why.

1) They decided to go with the “pocket festival”, that was forgivable, when they first released HoT due to possible time constraints. Now they have had time enough to do more and it is quite underwhelming for a 3 year old festival that used to feel so much more festive.

2) “Have yourself a gindy little wintersday”’ is not what I signed up for. Festival skins should be a diversion that says “YES” I did do wintersday 2015, not “YES” I have no life!

3) The entire season, to me seems little more than another way to drain gold from the populous, be it through “voluntary donations”, or though buying drinks from the TP (if you indeed have a life).

Wintersday (in this game) should be the season for celebrating while giving to your fellow man, this year just seems way to much like the commercial garbage we face in real life; and I play a game to escape reality thank you.

I somewhat agree with you, even if I actually farm this skin since I have time.

I would like to suggest a fix — allow us to turn snowflakes into presents again. That would give me many, many more presents, since I still have a ton from last year.

What about those who don’t have a ton lying around? Well, the increased supply should crash the TP price as well, making them much more affordable. Alternately, some people might have farmed extra snowflakes off this year.

Ultimately, allowing us to turn snowflakes into presents will increase the supply and make 10k drinks much more reasonable with fewer bad consequences than a direct nerf would be. (Unless they have something else in mind for leftover snowflakes.)

Etybagig.6012:

I mean honestly are these skins meant to be for next year?

That’s it. For some people, it’s just a skin they want day one. For other, it’s a long time goal they probably don’t get this year.

Seriously, stop complaning about a skin with legendary effect. If you want it this year, work for it, if you can’t, you will have it later or next year.
You want to play without rushing? But you still can.
No one force you to have the skin today or next year. Sorry but I don’t want to see these kind of skin on all the players around. It doesn’t make sense at all.

Am at 5k/10k without $$. You just need to use your cash if you want it fast. But it’s not necessary.

Etybagig.6012:

Also, the fact that it’s probably just as fast to farm Silverwastes and buy the drinks from the trading post should be viewed as a major design flaw. You created something meant to attract people to the Wintersday activities that is actually just pushing people away from them.

Also also, the fact that you guys ignore anything controversial these days is very concerning. Every time you let something like this go you are sending the message that nothing is wrong. That you think 10,000 drinks is reasonable. That you expected this type of reaction. That you just don’t care enough to actually address these concerns. And more than anything it shows you are completely out of touch with your players.

They do think that 10,000 drinks is reasonable, and that the fact that you need to farm for it is a feature to them, not a flaw. They didn’t create this content to draw people into Wintersday; they created it to draw money & karma out of the economy. They understand that few will be able to farm all their own drinks, and that most will need to buy them through the TP where they take their 15% cut.