Guild Wars 2

Available to everyone:
Mad King Book
4 hour time limit weapons
Horns Town Hat
Food recipies

Available to low level crafters:
Sigil of the Night
Mad King’s Rune

Available via gem shop (real cash or large gold amounts)
Mad King’s Outfit
Phantom’s Hood
Witch’s Outfit
Mini Pack

Available to very high level crafters:
Arachniphibia Skin
Lantern Staff Skin
Lunar Shield Skin

Available by Black Lion Chest (Pure luck)
Greatsaw
Chainswords
event pistol
Sythe
Event Shoulders x3

So why are so many event items available only to the lucky or extremely rich, while only a handfull of items are available to the casual player? What shifted the ballance in this direction, rather than making the first event something where everyone could enjoy everything?

It looks like some aspects were an attempt to balance the effects of bots and gold sellers. The games needs a few strong gold sinks to yank the extra gold out circulation. I’m still hoping that the drop rate from the chests was due to a misplaced decimal point. I want a skill based way to get cool looking stuff (skill is not 13+hours a day, that is grind)

You forgot the free horns.

Because all the rare event items have no effect on gameplay at all, while the commons are a combination of skins and useful items (you forgot the food recipes, by the way).

Those superior runes look pretty cool tho. Wonder what that raven effect looks like with Dagger Storm. c.c

Im all for gold sinks, but there’s a severe problem with combining gold sinks with holiday events. This temporary nature does two things:

1. It results in an extreme demand down the line; look at party hats in Runescape, where they sell for upwards of $1000 in real cash these day, and far more in in-game currency. Some of them even trade for more cash than the game allows you to hold; that’s a problem, and it’s the exact same thing we’re facing with these skins, 10 years down the line, but even moreso because of the rate they will be leaving the game due to account bound status.

2. Much like the Mystic Chest goldsink, this is temporary. This will not fix the economy, and will do little more than provide a several day reprieve to the already massive influx of gold that the “elite” players have obtained. When the event goes, the goldsink goes, but the ill-gotten feelings of the players who didn’t exploit events or buy the game on day 1 and grind every day since, will not diminish.

Goldsinks are great. But keep them out of limited-time events, please!

Doggie.3184:

Those superior runes look pretty cool tho. Wonder what that raven effect looks like with Dagger Storm. c.c

Raven effect? O.o

It is safe to say this game isn’t for casuals, I think that proves it. I’m not sure if this is good or bad. But hell, playing 20 hours a week is casual these days in an MMO, so hell if I know. I don’t even have full exotic karma yet (almost) and just made my second mystic pistol. I am considered a casual by most of my guild, so the problem is when you have so many people with so much time on their hands (BLC aside) you have to set the bar high or they would literally be everywhere.

I think there is still plenty fun to do, and this is just the first act, so I’d say give it time. I’d also say that others would have been better suited waiting on pulling the trigger on chests.

The halloween event will repeat next year with presumably the same items offered plus additional content. Arena Net did screw up a few times with exploits that leaked tons of gold out of the system, just like when 55hp monks used to do underworld runs that burned out the economy. When the code is airtight, there will be less need for market manipulation as they can see the currency circulation and demand data better than everyone else. The current price of the rare skins on the market leads me to believe that they’ve already made those calculations beforehand.

Im not saying the items aren’t great; Hell, Im debating on buying black lion keys (or rushing to 80 and trying my luck at map completion) to go for that Greatsword. Im glad they put so much effort into so many items!

Im just suprised that the requirements for so many of these items benefit the players who have extrodinarilly large cash pools. I could see 1 or 2 items angled at maxed players, but more than half? And the lion chest items are completely unobtainable without luck (assuming you’re trying to obtain things on your own, through natural gameplay, rather than buying your way to success).

Having some “elite” rare items is cool, but my question to the developers is, why so many?

MikeRocks.9243:

Doggie.3184:

Those superior runes look pretty cool tho. Wonder what that raven effect looks like with Dagger Storm. c.c

Raven effect? O.o

Yeah if you can find one on the TP it’s a rune of which the sixth skill: launches ravens when you do your elite, (paraphrasing)

Theta Zero.9023:

Im not saying the items aren’t great; Hell, Im debating on buying black lion keys (or rushing to 80 and trying my luck at map completion) to go for that Greatsword. Im glad they put so much effort into so many items!

Im just suprised that the requirements for so many of these items benefit the players who have extrodinarilly large cash pools. I could see 1 or 2 items angled at maxed players, but more than half? And the lion chest items are completely unobtainable without luck (assuming you’re trying to obtain things on your own, through natural gameplay, rather than buying your way to success).

Having some “elite” rare items is cool, but my question to the developers is, why so many?

It really didn’t though for the BLC stuff. Most of the people complaining actually spent tons of gold trying to get these chests.

My problem is the crap that drops off of mobs in the game in general is completely useless vendor trash. I think that’s a bigger problem than cool new event stuff. More world drops plz.

I count 9 gem items and 9 free one. My math could be wrong. Oh wait free tonics making 10 free items

You do realize that those three weapons are here to stay right? You can take all the time you need to craft them, they’re not going anywhere. All you need to do during this event is gather the halloween specific materials to craft the recipes that are needed to make those weapons. You don’t even actually have to make the recipes yet, just gather the halloween materials you will need. Or buy them (which you will also be able to do after the event, but at an ever increasing price of course).

There is no time restriction for any of this. You can get them after halloween.