Guild Wars 2

A lot of threads have popped up about Wintersday. In order to allow the developers to read a single, focused thread on the subject, we’re merging several existing threads into this single feedback thread.

Please continue to provide your feedback on Wintersday — we appreciate the input!

This is also impacting things like the holographic wings. No worries, the team is on the case!

This is tied to the issue with weapon effects and is being worked on.

Thanks for the details, guys!

Hello everyone! Thank you all for reporting this issue! To aid in the investigation and reproduction of the issue at hand, please remember that the more information you are able to provide about your circumstance, the easier it is for us to replicate the problem! In this case, please consider including the following in your report:

• The fractal level in question.
• Was this was your first, second, or <insert number here> fractal for the day?
• What other fractals (or fractal sets) have you run since the last daily turnover?
• (If you ran a fractal before the fractal in question) did you receive a daily chest for that tier?
• Did other players in your party receive the daily fractal chest?
• Was it was their first, second, or <insert number here> fractal for the day?
• Is there anything else you found odd or relevant to the issue?

Any information will help us as we narrow down the issue!

Thanks, again, everyone, and happy Wintersday!!

I love Lion’s Arch. It’s close to my heart in so many ways, and has been for years.

I feel sure that LA is not destined in remain in ruins forever. But I do appreciate that all the hammering and sawing and carrying on by the workers doesn’t seem to be making fast progress!

Like you, I’m looking forward to seeing the city in its normal beautiful form someday in the future.

The team is looking into this bug right now. So sorry for the issue, but they’ll get this repro’d and fixed as soon as they can.

BTW, are you guys using the in-game report system, aka, the “ladybug” in the report section? I ask because when you do that, the team gets some valuable info on a specific bug, and that info may be the mystery solver.

Thanks for your patience.

I just heard from the team about this, and it is an unfortunate but intended change. The alteration came about because code changes were required in order to stabilize PvP and some Instance Activities. According to one of our lead designers, the change cannot be revisited for this year’s release. Thanks for your understanding concerning this necessary adjustment.

Our team’s producers make waffles for the whole studio on release day. Today’s were gingerbread, with optional chocolate chips, pecans, and various creams.

Fixed. Sorry!

/15charr warriors

Hi,

The in-game bug reports are read daily, but we do not have the means or the time to respond to each one. Please know that there are team members reviewing the reports, and in fact we’re working on a few small issues related to Wintersday right now, based on in-game reports kindly submitted by players.

Thanks for using the system — it really does help us make the game better by smiting those bugs, large and small!

Zanthrax.6538:

I assume the test season hasn’t officially been turned on yet? Phanta on stream just got courtyard pop for ranked.

Oops, my bad. They’re removed now.

All the best to you, Sylv, and I look forward to seeing you in the game very soon!

And I want to say how sweet it was of you to post this, to let us know how thoughtful your GW2 friends have been. It really is a marvelous community of players, and your friends are wonderful examples of that. Hugs to them, and HUGE hugs to you. <3

Thank you for the report, Frosty! The programming team is investigating the crash now! In the meantime, the crash can be avoided if you do not hover your mouse cursor over the item link that appears after selecting and accepting the rune (see screenshot). This will let you utilize your sigil bags while avoiding the crash – at least until a proper fix can be implemented!

Thank you for the report, and happy hunting!

pmargeti.7680:

Hey Gaile, it’s new with the Wintersday content patch. I’ll submit an ingame report too.

Many thanks!!

wwwes.1398:

Good Lord, how much butter is that on that waffle?

Technically, it’s freshly-whipped cream with a scoop of mascarpone cheese.

Hey guys — is this a new situation? Did it arise after today’s build? And have you submitted an in-game bug report using the “ladybug” option in the report menu?

Thank you for submitting the reports via the optional “Send to ArenaNet” system! The team is actively watching for issues that come in that way and is getting them into the bug fix queue ASAP.

You will now get dishonor if you queue dodge or abandon a game.

Queue Dodge: 3 stacks, 6 minutes for the first offense
Abandon: 10 stacks, 17 minutes for first offense

Ok, I’m going to send over a synopsis of this situation. Please “fact check” me, ok?

• Flame for [Incinerator] is not working properly: When you unsheathe it, the flame appears, but then goes out after a second. Then, it only appears briefly again after using a skill.

• Flame for [Bolt] also disappears after half a second

• Flames on [Legendary Weapons] (can we be specific) also have issues.

• Flames on Eternity, Twilight, Sunrise, and Kudzu and reported to be fine.

• [Frostfang] is not breathing ice.

Does that sum it up?

Are you guys submitting in-game bugs using the “ladybug” symbol in the report menu?

We will start investigating – thanks for the heads up. Did you also send the report to ArenaNet, through the in-game reporting?

Cheers

-p

Is this one related to the snowball fight? If so, that is being investigated right now. If related to something else, could you please provide a brief description? Having a verbal description helps me know to whom I should send an inquiry, where an error message isn’t descriptive enough.

Thank you.

Iason Evan.3806:

It just needs to be tighter during the meat of the rising action and tension and body of the story for it to work as a complete thing.

Got it. Tighter meat.

I’m so glad that your Guild Wars 2 friends are helping your spirits through a very difficult time, Sylv. We’re all sending good thoughts your way for positive results and a speedy recovery.

~ Edited Topic to indicate this was a suggestion~ Thanks.

Looking into it, and thanks for the report. (Did you also send the report to ArenaNet, when given the option?)

We’re aware of an issue with world transfers (or in your case, choosing a world) not completing successfully under certain circumstances. It’s being addressed at this time. Apologies for any inconvenience!

Hey Ysabeau. This is most likely intentional, as explained in today’s patch notes:

RubiBayer.8134:

12/16/14 – December 16 Release Notes

New Log-in Reward System
…

• Players logged in after 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 15 will receive their first daily log-in reward chest after 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 16.
• Players last logged out before 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 15 will receive their first daily log-in reward chest immediately after the update.
• For more information, please see this blog post.
  …

Anyone who logged in after 4:00 PM PDT before today’s patch will not receive the login screen until today’s daily rollover. This is most likely the case if you were online at any point last night!

Now, if you do not receive the opening dialogue after today’s daily rollover, then please let us know!

Happy Wintersday!

The ladder will be begin collecting data in one hour.

PST: 11:00
UTC: 19:00

Good luck everyone!

12/16/14 – December 16 Release Notes
Release Notes:
Festival
A Very Merry Wintersday
The nights may be growing longer and colder, but Divinity’s Reach is merry with the warmth of the Wintersday spirit. Celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of the next in this traditional winter festival!
The Wondrous Workshop

• Enter Toymaker Tixx’s workshop inside his golem-shaped airship—Tixx’s Infinirarium—to corral mischievous toys and set things to rights!

Wintersday Festivities

• Celebrate the holiday with festive traditions: leap from snowflake to snowflake in the Winter Wonderland jumping puzzle, ring in the season in the Bell Choir activity, defend gift-bearing dolyaks in Toypocalypse, and store up precious presents in Snowball Mayhem!

Warming Grawnk’s Heart

• It’s your chance to save Wintersday! Grawnk has stolen ornaments from the children’s orphanage in Divinity’s Reach, and it’s up to you to track them down! If you succeed in your mission, you’ll be able to plant a beautiful Wintersday tree in your own home instance.

Wintersday Gift Tree

• The latest trend in Tyrian holiday decor, these trees provide Wintersday gifts year-round and are attractive in any home, whether it’s in the heart of the Black Citadel or the outskirts of Rata Sum. Receive yours by helping the orphans of Divinity’s Reach find their lost ornaments. Also, the Star of Gratitude provides additional rewards for those of you with empyreal fragments to spare.

Toys and Treasures

• Tixx has an assortment of new goodies for the citizens of Tyria! Complete three new collections to receive exclusive rewards, such as the Endless Gift Box Tonic.
• Enjoy other festive rewards like the new Magnanimous Choir Bell and the Rime-Rimmed Mariner’s Rebreather.

NEW FEATURES AND CONTENT
New Daily Achievement System

• Achievements have been divided into 3 categories: PvE, WvW, and PvP.
• The number of available achievements per day is based on the highest-level character on an account:
  • Levels 1 – 10: 1 achievement per category
  • Levels 11 – 30: 3 achievements per category
  • Levels 31 – 80: 4 achievements per category
• Completing daily achievements now awards players with items and/or experience based on their corresponding content type, such as WvW daily achievements rewarding world experience.
• Completing daily achievements no longer awards players with achievement points.
• A new Daily Completionist achievement has been added and is earned by completing any combination of daily achievements from the three categories.
• Completing the Daily Completionist achievement rewards players with 10 achievement points.
• December will be the final month to include monthly achievements.
• Existing daily and monthly achievement rewards have been rolled into the new log-in reward system.
• For more information, please see this blog post.

New Log-in Reward System

• The first time you log in each day, you’ll receive a new item from the reward track.
• Progress on the log-in reward track will reset only after claiming the 28th and final reward.
• Players logged in after 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 15 will receive their first daily log-in reward chest after 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 16.
• Players last logged out before 4:00 p.m. PDT on December 15 will receive their first daily log-in reward chest immediately after the update.
• For more information, please see this blog post.

World vs. World

• The World vs. World Sneak Attack event begins December 16. For the next month of World vs. World, the following rules will apply:
  • All player kills will award 1 point of world score. Using a finisher on a player while you have Borderlands Bloodlust will award 2 points.
  • The white crossed swords that appear when an objective is under attack have been removed from all objectives in World vs. World. Now a player must scout the objectives in order to see them being attacked.
  • All players will receive a Mist War Summons effect, which increases WXP gain by 15%, experience gain by 15%, and magic find by 50% while in WvW.

Structured Player vs. Player

• The PvP Ladder test season begins December 16. For the next month of Player vs. Player, the following rules will apply:
  • Between the dates of December 16 and January 13, enter Ranked Arena during the ladder test season and compete for the top spots on the leaderboard to earn PvP-exclusive rewards.
  • At the end of the season, the top 250 players on the ladder in each region will each receive a PvP-exclusive Mini Llama.
  • The top 20 players in each region will receive a piece of the PvP-exclusive Glorious Hero’s armor, available only through tournaments and special events.
  • The top five players from each region will receive an additional piece of Glorious Hero’s armor.

BALANCE, BUG-FIXING, POLISH
General
The Contacts and LFG panel no longer resets continually when new entries are listed.
Items
Major Sigil of Leeching: Fixed a bug that occasionally caused this sigil to begin cooldown without triggering correctly.
BLACK LION TRADING COMPANY GEM STORE
New Items and Promotions

• A new Gifts Mail Delivery mail carrier is available in the Upgrades category of the Gem Store for 350 gems.
• The new Arctic Explorer Outfit is available in the Style category of the Gem Store for 700 gems.
• New Wintersday weapons are available from the Black Lion Weapons Specialist for 1 ticket each.
• Every Black Lion Chest also includes a guaranteed Personalized Wintersday Gift (for a limited time).
• The Royal Pass (2 weeks) has returned to the Special category of the Gem Store for 300 gems (for a limited time).

Spectremercy.5904:

So I am thinking about when I was in a ranked game, I was playing but somehow a que pops and I just clicked “yes” then I get to choose a map and go to the new map.
Does this considered as desertions or bugs? I would not click “yes” if I know my points would go down.

This shouldn’t be happening anymore. Are you sure that is the case? Either way I’ll look into it some more.

If you do get a queue pop while in a match, hit cancel. This will not affect your ladder standing, but leaving your current match will.

insanemaniac.2456:

dont cancel queue pops

This will not affect your ladder standing, but will give 3 stacks of dishonor when it’s enabled. If you had no current stacks, that’s about a 6 minute timeout.

Meri.7512:

And before it starts: There are still bugs..
I q’ed to see the time and left the q. Started to play at the silverwastes and got a q-pop…

Hmm. Your leave queue message must have got lost. I’ll check on it tomorrow.

Looking at your game history, you have 3 desertions, which count as full loses. They have cost you a total of -4 points over the last 2 hours.

These desertions are not yet shown in the losses column, but that will most likely change in the near future.

Also, the website takes snapshots every hour, so it may be some time before they update.

ArrDee.2573:

Why is there such a large emphasis on effort! Why is it that someone who has 3000 games played with a 40% win rate can be higher on the leaderboards than someone who has 1000 games played and an 80% win rate! It doesn’t make any sense at all! It defeats the whole concept of a leaderboard!

Wahoo! Bye frands!

Well budzy, probably because the 1000 games weren’t during the ladder period?

You can’t compare account lifetime games played to ladder standing and assume it’ll match up.

Personally, I think the perception of an over-emphasis on effort is caused by the false start. I could be wrong though, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this plays out.

:)

Laserbolt.6731:

“don’t put me against that player because I’m a 2 star playing and shouldn’t be facing any 5 star players”

Well, yeah, but strict matchmaking does that already. Right?

If the star rating implied skill, matchmaking should already be doing that through MMR. Could probably correlate star rating to MMR, either validating it or pointing out issues. Could also be matched with professions to see which need looking at.

Like I said, would be a very interesting metric for us.

uberkingkong.8041:

I like shorter que’s because you cant really do anything in hotm anyways.
There should be a playerbase rating system added tho. Like if the entire losing team knows they lost because of that one or two players on the enemy team, they should be able to flag them or give them stars like 5 stars, indicating don’t put me against that player because I’m a 2 star playing and shouldn’t be facing any 5 star players.

This might be a very interesting metric for us (ArenaNet) to have. Maybe correlate perceptions with other pieces of data. I can’t imagine ever sharing that information in-game.

Something like “Community Awards” at the end of a season might be interesting though, assuming it wasn’t being gamed.

I’d rather see it be a generic vote, something like “How would you rate the other players on your team?”. We could still tease individual ratings out of that, without worrying about individual bias against particular players.

Skady.5916:

Current ladder is an utter joke (no offense meant)

Most of top players are just pvp bots with <50 games won and over 9000 games grinded.

Please don’t belittle other players like this.

Skady.5916:

Ladder should reflect skill (winning %, personal scores etc.) over time spent in pvp.

The goal of this scoring method is put emphasis on both skill and effort. Take Rank 1 in both EU and NA. EU has virtually the same score as NA, but had NA to play more than 150 games to achieve the same score. Both represent things that deserve credit: perseverance, consistency, and skill.

We know some players would like skill to be weighted higher than effort, all I can say as that we will review the data and be looking at feedback throughout the season, and especially at the end.

Also, do not forget that the current ladder data isn’t a good test of the system. We had matchmaking errors, configuration changes, etc, not to mention the ladder had a false start where data was being collected before people knew it would be visible.

mistsim.2748:

hey Justin. what makes the map not competitive is that spawn camping is possible and rampant! have you thought about adding multiple spawn points to the map?

it’s a fun map if youre with a team. consider adding more DM maps.

I joked with Hugh that we should put a big burning oil siege at the main exit.

We’re looking into serious ways to improve things, but it isn’t as high of a priority as the new game mode.

Exedore.6320:

In regards to map selection, I know the map selection on ranked is restricted to Temple, Khylo, Nifelhel, and Foefire. But can unranked play still get Courtyard, Skyhammer, and Spirit Watch?

They will remain in unranked. Sorry, I’ll go edit that other thread to include that information.

As some of you may have found by now, we’re shifting the rules for Courtyard a bit in hopes it improves the playing experience.

We’ve changed respawn time to 5 seconds, and the total time limit to 8 minutes.

Please let me know if that makes the map more competitive.

Also, as a reminder, this map, along with Skyhammer and Spirit Watch, will not be available during the beta ladder in ranked arena. These maps will still be available in unranked arena.

Archaon.9524:

If it’s gonna be like this noone would actually care about it anyway

Hater’s gonna hate.

In all seriousness though, we’ll be looking for feedback after this iteration.

Psientist.6437:

John Smith.4610:

Psientist.6437:

John Smith,

You brought up currency velocity in another thread. In most ways I think mmo economies are far simpler systems that RL systems except when it comes to calculating currency velocity. If I understand currency velocity correctly, there are units of currency that will never experience velocity; any units that are newly discovered and subsequently spent at vendors and/or WPs.

Is that a correct assumption?

That’s a way of thinking of it. Usually velocity of currency is used as an aggregated statistic grouped around some other fact. For example, very top level we would have the total money supply and the total velocity of money; it would be pretty normal to measure the changing velocity of all the game’s gold relative to the total money supply.

In the RW economies, are there units of currency that have 0 velocity? I would think a game economy would have a much higher ratio of 0 velocity units making an aggregate less accurate or at least more difficult.

I don’t think of it as units of currency having velocity, I think of it as the currency as a whole has velocity. There are definitely units of currency in RL and in-game that don’t move, but I’ve never really though about something like fort knox having no velocity before.

The Baws.5164:

The current MMR system is pretty ridiculous. I just got stomped in a game from a big lead due to playing against CM Collero in a 3 man party…

I’m rank 22.

You just came off a 7 game winning streak, in the middle of the night in EU. There is only so much I can do. :/

BuddhaKeks.4857:

Well if his last name is any indication he is probably a frisian and in Germany they are known to be exceptionally cunning… uhm no wait they are known for something “different”

:(

JayMack.8295:

Aww, I want a post it note on your desk with my name on it…

The back-end servers have been updated in preparation for tomorrow’s build. This means we get all the matchmaking fixes early!

I’ll update the wiki page with the details shortly, but the tl;dr of it is this.

We are now targeting a 2 minute queue time average, with an 8 minute maximum. Queue times will vary around those numbers based on population, but please let me know if you are stuck in the queue for longer than 8 minutes.

Please let me know if you notice any changes in quality (good or bad).

Just as a reminder, the beta ladder starts tomorrow shortly after the new build goes live. Before the ladder starts we will disable progression and reset all ladder data except MMR.

We will not start the beta ladder immediately after the build, but soon after when we are sure everything is working correctly.

We will give a one hour notice before the new ladder will begin collecting data.

Good luck!

Psientist.6437:

John Smith,

You brought up currency velocity in another thread. In most ways I think mmo economies are far simpler systems that RL systems except when it comes to calculating currency velocity. If I understand currency velocity correctly, there are units of currency that will never experience velocity; any units that are newly discovered and subsequently spent at vendors and/or WPs.

Is that a correct assumption?

That’s a way of thinking of it. Usually velocity of currency is used as an aggregated statistic grouped around some other fact. For example, very top level we would have the total money supply and the total velocity of money; it would be pretty normal to measure the changing velocity of all the game’s gold relative to the total money supply.

<3 these.

Keep ‘em coming — this is tubs o’ fun and I love the creativity.

I’ll get in touch with Bobby and see how we best can accommodate his team’s needs as far as player reports regarding narrative issues.

Thanks a lot for your help so far!

Stinkehund.3012:

Ruenathorn Mirianim.1902:

Just imagine how cute a Charr or Asuran would be with kitten ears…

But Charr already have cat ears… giving them a third pair would just confuse them.

Charr are infinitely sensible creatures. They’ll get it.