Guild Wars 2

Seriously it’s annoying to get ported into instances that are in free play mode over and over, after free play ends, you get ported into a new starting instance anyway so it’s a complete total waste of time when you’re trying to do your wintersday dailies.

There’s now 2 permanent options + consumable bells up the wahoo from gifts to just play the bells freely, so there’s no need to waste time porting into an instance for a minute of wasting time.

Yes please. It is incredibly frustrating and it doesn’t add anything to the gameplay. Very few people ever actually use that time to play their own piece. It’s a waste of time and it seems far too common to be ported into an instance that has entered free play only have to reload the entire instance when that’s done…

I like it. Now I’ve mastered Frosty the Snowman during that break. Gives me time to unwind between the songs. Maybe rush to the bathroom or grab a drink. I think that’s the purpose of the break. You know . . . to take a break.

But, these days, most people get their daily and get out. Sorry if you happened to zone in when the break happens.

It may be an inconvenience to you, in your haste to get it done and over with, but it’s not a waste of time for those staying to do more than just dailies.

Just something to consider.

Free play is great, hit about 50 buttons at random and you’ve got the daily. Don’t even have to time anything.

@Morte. Freeplay does not satisfy the daily. At least it never has for me.

@Ardenwolfe. The bells that you can use in the open world are a common drop, so anyone who wants to practice specific songs can do it outside of the instance. There’s not really any need for the freeplay in there.

You know, I tried that. And the finger placement is different than in the choir. It always throws me off. Besides, again, the break also gives, for those staying there to get something more than just their dailies, a moment to stretch.

You can actually farm gifts pretty easily if you choose the higher part.

So, the freeplay is there for more than that. It’s can also be a break if you need one while farming rarer gifts.

Or for a moment to post on the forum. . . .

By all means, keep the free play. Just don’t let people port in there once the last song is started.

Cormac.3871:

By all means, keep the free play. Just don’t let people port in there once the last song is started.

This would be my big solution; I consider the free play a waste but it’s really only a hindrance when you join at the wrong time. I mean for some reason they’ve decided that they’d rather put people into activities that are already functionally done than let them queue up for a new instance (they’ve done this for the bells, for sanctum sprint after it’s impossible to finish and where it’s REALLY a nuisance for all involved because the race can’t end for those who’ve finished, for southsun survival after the grace period is over, etc.), and in each case it’s awful. I wouldn’t expect much change to it now though, activities don’t seem like they’re high on the priority list to be optimized.

Cormac.3871:

By all means, keep the free play. Just don’t let people port in there once the last song is started.

This, absolutely this. People keep complaining about the grinding for wintersday, so far, the only grinding I’m doing is trying to find an instance where the last song hasn’t started so I can actually do my daily bit…

That seems fair. Maybe next year they’ll add your solution.

I have to agree that free play needs to be removed, I just want to do my daily/infinite achievement there and therefore I want those done as efficiently as possible. I understand that many people like free playing but there are other options for that (choir bells going for a few copper each on tp) and also that the activities a designed to be fun, but for some people like myself I feel forced to do things in game I really don’t want to (I admit it is my own fault) just to get some more AP and for people that find the bell choir fun, they will also enjoy playing the songs before the break.
If the free play was removed both the achievement hunters and the people who want to play the activity for fun can both get what they want.

I play with the instrument volume off so free play is nothing but a bother to me…especially when I join a match that is in the process of playing the last real song and all that’s left is “free play” that doesn’t satisfy anything besides the “Daily Activity” daily when we happen to have it. I don’t see the point in it being there.

Need a break? skip a round…exit and jump back in. If you just stand there during free play you’ll get “kicked for inactivity” if you don’t do anything during that time anyways.

I agree with the OP, i have 100 choir bells in my storage, an unbreakable bell, and a magnanimous bell. I can free play anytime I want.

Please. I would like to spend more time doing bell choir because I find it fun, but every time I try it I can’t even make it through a whole round because you spend more time waiting around than you do actually doing the activity. The loooong wait between every single song capped off with waiting for “free play” to be over is unbearable.

For me the real mood killer is the loading screens. I don’t have an SSD so loads are about 30s long for me if not longer. 30s to load in, a few sec to jump onto a platform, learn it’s free play, use some choice language, click the button to leave instance, 30-60s load screen, followed by another automatically because of some bug it always auto enters you right back in when you first leave, which loads you probably back into the one you just left so you leave again, more choice language, another 30-60s now you’re back in town to try again, repeat until you actually get in an instance where you can play a song.

Devildoc.6721:

For me the real mood killer is the loading screens. I don’t have an SSD so loads are about 30s long for me if not longer. 30s to load in, a few sec to jump onto a platform, learn it’s free play, use some choice language, click the button to leave instance, 30-60s load screen, followed by another automatically because of some bug it always auto enters you right back in when you first leave, which loads you probably back into the one you just left so you leave again, more choice language, another 30-60s now you’re back in town to try again, repeat until you actually get in an instance where you can play a song.

You should have stayed in the first instance. Freeplay (60s) → one loading screen → new instance starting at the very beginning.

Olvendred.3027:

Devildoc.6721:

For me the real mood killer is the loading screens. I don’t have an SSD so loads are about 30s long for me if not longer. 30s to load in, a few sec to jump onto a platform, learn it’s free play, use some choice language, click the button to leave instance, 30-60s load screen, followed by another automatically because of some bug it always auto enters you right back in when you first leave, which loads you probably back into the one you just left so you leave again, more choice language, another 30-60s now you’re back in town to try again, repeat until you actually get in an instance where you can play a song.

You should have stayed in the first instance. Freeplay (60s) -> one loading screen -> new instance starting at the very beginning.

Ideally, it should only need to be 1 time that you leave and you get into a new instance not in free play right away.

Or better yet, remove the freaking thing because it’s pointless anyway.

I got 5 in a row in free play before I finally got an actual game going tonight. I kind of feel like filling a dev’s gas tank with sugar water.

I was just thinking this yesterday after I entered three Bell Choir instances in a row (which took a while because of the bug that prevents you from leaving when you try to), all of which were starting free play when I entered.

The problem is largely that people do one song and then leave, or just leave at the end of Fear Not This Night so new people get brought into these instances instead of new ones.

Hyper Cutter.9376:

The problem is largely that people do one song and then leave, or just leave at the end of Fear Not This Night so new people get brought into these instances instead of new ones.

The problem is that free play exists in the first place, and that people can get ported into a waste of an instance that is a free play instance.