Guild Wars 2

Hello everyone! This is my first post on the forums (usually I just lurk). After going through the crazy Player vs RNG event that’s currently being held, I’ve decided to brainstorm some alternate ways players might receive beta keys for perhaps the next closed beta if any.

I want to first thank Anet for stepping out of the box and giving us, the players, a chance to actually work for our beta keys instead of just hoping we get that holy invitation email.

Though, it does make me wonder why this event wasn’t taken a step further. Anet, you usually have some very interesting events that are both creative and rewarding. So to hear that you can only get this Portal through RNG really left me scratching my head. Even if I did get a portal (which I didn’t), I would want to feel like I’ve actually earned it rather than just feeling like I got lucky. I couldn’t help but feel that this event was probably just a last minute decision. There’s not much creativity in it. I also couldn’t help but feel that this was a missed opportunity to bring back some old events with a twist or two.

So here are some ideas I came up with while portal farming.

Maguuma themed Super Adventure Box

Or maybe a reskin of the old SAB. This could have been a nice way to reintroduce and host SAB for a week. Players will be able to get all the rewards from the past SAB, however, the only way to get the Portal key would be through completing all of the stages without dying. Maybe that’s too easy.. Perhaps you could get a portal through the achievement of defeating the final boss without taking damage, under a time limit or with no tools. I feel like there could be numerous ways to get a portal from SAB that would be very challenging but not impossible.

The only issue I see with this is that eventually we would find a way to obtain this achievement and then upload it on YouTube for the more players to follow the successful routine. That would lead to a major influx in beta testers, probably more than the intended amount needed for that beta. This issue leads me to my next idea.

Return of the Hunger Games event
Or perhaps host the old Hunger Games event in DT or SW. This would give Anet more control on the numbers of Beta participants. Let’s say that only one person can win this event that happens once every hour through all 51 servers( both NA and EU = 51. Could be wrong since I’m not counting mega servs). That would be 51 beta participants every hour for a whole week which makes the closed beta pool …8568… Wow ok nvm! That’s way too much for a closed beta. Either the amount of events would have to be lowered or the means of obtaining a portal would have to be changed.

Maybe the winners, or the last remaining party, would receive a portal claim ticket scrap. Turn in 5 scraps to the event vendor to get the beta portal. The numbers would have to be changed to alter the potential pool of beta players. In theory, this should give Anet some control on how many players they’d want in the closed beta while having those players feel like they’re making actual progression towards a beta key rather than just blind RNG luck. This will reward those with both skill and perseverance rather than just perseverance and Magic Find ( assuming mf helps with RNG).

TL;DR
Portal access through RNG should be changed to portal access through winning very challenging ,but not impossible, content (like defeating Liadri even though some didn’t find her hard at all).

Now it’s your turn. Let’s stop complaining and give Anet some ideas. How would you host a future beta key event? Remember, you can’t make it too easy. Make it challenging so that the closed beta remains at a reasonable size. Thanks for reading.

Naw, all them sound like pandering and last thing we need is more pandering.

I like Anet thinking a little outside the box but in the end it’s still all RNJesus. A guy playing days on end might not grab a portal but another guy might hop in for a few hours and grab it after an event. If anything it’s a little more disappointing than the traditional way beta invitations are sent.

Now I’m not blaming Anet for any of this obviously they knew this ahead of time and this is necessary for the system to work. They can only have so many people in this beta event and the drop rates reflect that. Not everyone is going to get one and that’s (on paper) how it should be. The only big con is the natural flaw which I stated above. I hope Anet keeps on thinking of ways to push the envelope with beta invitations to see where they can go with it but it will probably be a looooooooong way away until we see any more beta testing unless there’s another session for HoT xpac before release.

SAB magguma sounds amazing!

I like ur hunger games idea too, but that game is now southsun survival, though i would be open to another mini game.

I just wish i wouldve had a better way to get this item rather than RNGesus, its starting to seems everything in the game is based on RNG rather than time spent, i much rather wouldve had a common drop and then buy the portal, maybe like 10k bandit crests or something, that way i can work toward it.

I feel there is just no way to please everyone.
- Lottery via mail? “oh noes, why didn’t I get a beta ticket! People who don’t even play got a ticket!”
- RNG drop in game? “Oh noes, it’s RNG why didn’t I get a ticket!”
- (hypothesis:) tickets via high difficulty quests? “oh noes, I just started the game, why can’t I get a ticket?!”

I like your ideas, but I think people will complain anyway :P